The Australian Library Journal

No man (or woman) is an island: information literacy, affordances and communities of practice

Anne Lloyd

Manuscript received April 2005

This is a refereed article

Introduction

The discourse that currently focuses many librarians' attention towards information literacy draws on research that has been carried out largely within the library and education sectors. Empirical research in these sectors has either identified a suite of skills and attributes which characterise an information-literate person and the phenomenon of information literacy in an educational context, or it has focused on the variations in experience with information that constitute the relationship that individuals have with information, also in an educational context (Doyle 1994, Bruce 1996, Limberg 2000).

These present conceptions of information literacy frame the experience of those who are engaged with learning and teaching and those who are identified as knowledge workers (Bruce 2004). This approach limits our understanding of information literacy as a learning process in other contexts, where the learning environment may be considered informal or unstructured, and where learning is constituted through collective practices and focused on the development of collective competence as opposed to individual competence.

In the higher education sector, an outcome of research and thinking about information literacy has been the development of frameworks that recognise information literacy as a competency and outline the skills and attributes that should be attained to become information literate (ACRL 2000, Bundy 2004). The creation and implementation of these frameworks drives the development of information literacy programs in the higher education sector, where information literacy is being linked to generic graduate outcomes. Thus, the focus of information literacy in the educational discourse becomes the accomplishment of a predetermined set of skills, which focuses on information discovery (Kirk 2004). In contrast, the findings of the study reported here indicate that, in the workplace, information literacy takes on a different shape wherein it is collaborative and underpinned by social practices which turn the focus of engagement with information towards the construction of shared meanings about practice and the development of collective outcomes.

This paper aims to

• introduce the concepts of community of practice and affordance, which can be used to illustrate the relationships and processes in which information literacy plays a critical role;
• illustrate the complexity of information literacy as central to learning in the workplace, through a case study of firefighters in New South Wales; and
• discuss the implications of this conceptualisation for librarians who are involved in information literacy education.

Exploring information literacy from a social constructivist perspective

My research into information literacy in the workplace suggests that, when it is explored from a social constructivist perspective, it acquires a different focus and takes on a different shape. In this alternative focus, information literacy should be viewed as a collaborative process which enables newcomers to the workplace to engage with information relating to practice and profession and to engage with the agreed meanings that underpin the collective practices of the workplace community.

A social constructivist approach attends to information as a product of social relations, constituted and effected by practices that occur among people within particular contexts. Throughout their interaction, information is used to create meaningful constructs about practice and profession. From this perspective information literacy is not viewed as an abstract process, but as something that can be affected by the social, historical and political relations among people engaged in practice. This enables access to information and directs the process of becoming information literate. In this respect, information literacy manifests as a dynamic interaction between people which enables them to work collectively and to develop a collective view of practice and profession.

In the workplace, the shape and focus of information literacy changes, because people and their experiences of practice become valued as primary sources of information, in contrast to the educational context where text (print and digital) is valued as a primary source. In the workplace, the interaction between people relates strongly to developing inter-subjective meaning, which allows groups to work in consort and develop collective competency. Developing an understanding about the nature of workplace information literacy and the processes which facilitate its acquisition may assist with the improvement of information literacy education in higher education institutions by making information literacy programs more relevant to students, particularly in technical and vocational settings.

Connecting workplace concepts to information literacy: a case study

As part of my doctoral research, a study was undertaken with a cohort of fire fighters in the New South Wales Fire Brigade. Between 2002 and 2004 I conducted a series of semi-structured interviews with twenty members of three platoons, two of which were based at one fire station and the other at a different station. I also observed these fire fighters in regular practice and training sessions and in the course of their ordinary working day. The data gathered from the interviews and observation was then analysed, using a constructivist grounded theory approach, and reported back to the participants. Each stage of the gathering and analysis of the data was discussed with the participants, which allowed me to negotiate an understanding of fire fighters' experience with information. The aim of the study was to explore how fire fighters use and engage with information to learn about practice and profession. Three conclusions are drawn from this study.

1. Information literacy is gained through access to information from the social, physical, and textual sites of the knowledge that characterises the practice and profession of fire fighting.
2. Becoming information literate in the workplace is dependent upon the opportunities [affordances] offered to newcomers by experienced practitioners within the community of practice.
3. Information literacy acts as a connector to learning about workplace practice and profession by facilitating the engagement between information sites that relate to conceptual knowledge and information sites that relate to embodied knowing.

The study found that information literacy was not related solely to access to information through text or technology, but also to access a range of information sites required in order to know the workplace as an information universe. These sites (outlined in Lloyd 2004) include:

• Social sites of knowledge, which provide novice fire fighters with access to experiential information (relating to the accumulated knowledge gained through the experiences of others) and with affective information (such as group values and attitudes towards work) that affect the workplace and workplace performance. Social sites also reinforce textual information that is valued by the community of practice.
• Physical sites of knowledge which are constituted through the actions of the body in rehearsal and practice. This type of access assists the development of 'fire sense' and connects the practitioner to conceptions of safety, risk and danger.
• Textual sites, which are constituted through access to information through the formal statements of work and practice. This information remains abstract and predictable until experienced by the practitioner.

In the transition from acting as a fire fighter to being a fire fighter, new practitioners must engage with information from all three sites. This engagement is facilitated by the platoons, who, as a community of practice, work collaboratively to afford information opportunities to new practitioners. These opportunities assist the transfer of learning from paper and digital sources of knowledge, accessed through textual sites, to embodied knowledge that can be only be known through the experiences gained by practice. Affordances have been described by Billett (2002, Billett, Barker and Hernon-Tinning 2004) as the 'invitational qualities' or opportunities afforded to individuals to engage in the activities and interactions that are central to the values and practices of the workplace (Billett, Barker and Hernon-Tinning 2004: 233). In the context of the present study, the outcome of these 'invitational qualities' is access to information about practice and profession.

Connecting to social sites of knowledge

Novice fire fighters initially connect with the institutional discourse and discursive statements of their practice by engaging with print information sources (training texts, technical manuals and the formal statements of work, such as policy and procedural documents). Engagement with institutional information assists with the formation of a personal construct of fire fighter practice, safety and culture. In effect, novice fire fighters learn to act as fire fighters.

Having formed a personal construct of fire fighting, novices are deployed to fire stations and assigned to a platoon, where they must learn to engage with information in those sites of knowledge which are valued by experienced practitioners within the community of practice. In this context the role of the platoon becomes critical. The platoon facilitates information access and enables the new recruit to move beyond a personal construct (knowing how to act as a fire fighter individually) to the formation of an inter-subjective construct (accepting shared meanings and knowing how to act as part of a team of fire fighters).

The community of practice plays a critical role in providing affordances such as guidance, 'scaffolding' (the monitoring of learners' performance of tasks (Billett 2002: xvii)) and mentoring. Communities of practice are constituted through conversation among participants about the meaning of practice, enterprise, identity, mutual engagement, the sharing of artefacts and narratives, and a 'rapid flow of information between members' (Wenger 1998: 125). Developing competence in practice is underpinned by the sharing of information about relevant sites of knowledge that enhance practice and profession, and through guidance in authentic (real-life) activities that provide access to information (Billett 1995) which can be used in the development of meaningful constructs about practice.

In this context, information literacy becomes a cultural practice in that experienced practitioners facilitate novice access to information and to sites of agreed knowledge about practice and profession. As novices observe the demonstration of practice and procedures in the persons of experienced practitioners, they absorb information about the experience of physical practice. Conversely, experienced fire fighters observe novices in practice and rehearsal, and this provides opportunities for them to identify information gaps in the knowledge of novices. This is the basis of the close relationship between novice and experienced fire fighters that is fundamental to achieving effective levels of information literacy in their workplace.

Within the boundaries of the community of practice, affordances are also provided through story-telling and deconstruction of events. Experienced fire fighters are able to connect novices with the story lines and agreed sites of knowledge through story-telling and the deconstruction of critical events. In providing these affordances, experi enced officers mediate and interpret the practice of fire fighting for novices. These affordances influence the initial formation of novice perspective about practice and profession and, later, facilitate the transformation from learning to act as a fire fighter to becoming a fire fighter.

Conceptualising information literacy in the workplace

Our understanding of information literacy in the workplace is still emerging. My research demonstrates that no one is an island and that information literacy is a much broader concept with a more complex set of processes than is currently accepted. Drawing as it does on workplace studies, my research conceptualises information literacy as a cultural practice that is critical to workplace learning and the development of collective competency. My study highlights the role of the community of practice in affording access to information for new practitioners. It also highlights the importance of understanding information literacy as a situated and contextual practice which is constituted through the development of inter-subjective views of practice and which leads to the embodiment of professional practice by the new practitioner.

The conceptualisation of information literacy as an engagement with information from a range of sites which enable learning about work and learning to work challenges claims for the efficacy of information literacy that is taught in one context and then transferred in practice to another. The underlying issue to be addressed when considering the efficacy of transfer is the situated nature of information and the nature of authentic practice. Tennant (1999: 177) suggests that transfer may be facilitated through access to authentic practices in the context of supportive communities who share a common discourse that focuses on the central meanings of practice and profession.

From my research it is evident that engagement with a platoon offers information benefits for the novice as experienced members mediate and interpret the working environment. This type of information access connects emerging practitioners with information about the values and views of experienced practitioners. This, in turn, facilitates the novice's transition towards an inter-subjectively constructed view of practice and profession.

Implications for librarians

Can librarians teach information literacy which has relevance for the individual workplaces which offer rich and diverse information environments for examining information literacy practices (Lloyd 2004). Librarians are encouraged to think about information literacy as a cultural practice and social process which is situated and contextual. My findings suggest that the process of teaching information literacy skills in the educational context differs from teaching information literacy in the workplace. Understanding workplace information environments and the information practices of the communities they serve will enable librarians to develop strategies for the provision of information literacy skills training which are relevant to those communities and workplaces.

The implications for librarians are that:

• They need to recognise that becoming information-literate does not arise merely from the proficient use of textual information. It may also involve engagement with information from a range of physical, social and textual sites whose relevance varies according to their context. Librarians undoubtedly play a critical and significant role in the information literacy process. Librarians in educational institutions need, however, to recognise that engagement with practitioners in fields of interest to the community that their institution serves is critical, in order to learn what information is being used, what is valued, and what activities (related to information access) are relevant to learning about practice.
• They should think about how information literacy is facilitated in the workplace and accommodate this in their information literacy education processes. The practice of affordance has value in the teaching of information literacy and implications for the effective transfer of information literacy skills beyond the library and the educational context.

The concepts identified can be adopted and adapted in teaching information literacy. Drawing on those workplace practices that facilitate information access and on an awareness of relevant information sites in the workplace can lead to greater affordance opportunities. Some examples of their adoption and adaptation follow.

• Guiding students in their engagement with information, rather than teaching a prescribed set of information sources.
• Mentoring the development of students' information skills throughout their study, rather than covering it in a one-off teaching activity.
• Encouraging students in the same discipline to work collaboratively in developing information skills. This implies that information literacy sessions should not be 'one-off' sessions but should be closely integrated in the curriculum and should involve an incremental approach, allowing students to construct their own discipline-related information frameworks. Engaging students with tasks related to information skills which have a genuine practical application in the workplace: this may involve inviting practitioners into information literacy classes to work with students.
• Encouraging teachers to develop more collaborative approaches to information skills development through the use of assessment tasks that focus on group information seeking and use.

Conclusion

Information literacy has many faces and shapes that need to be considered when determining the broad nature of the phenomenon and its place in the learning agenda in educational and workplace contexts. A 'one-size-fits-all' approach to information literacy and the setting of generic standards may not be feasible. More broadly based approaches to teaching information skills may need to be considered, and these may not be in line with current approaches to information literacy programs in the educational sector.

The study reported here illustrates the complexity of the phenomenon and highlights the role of information literacy as a process which connects conceptual knowledge and embodied knowledge. Information literacy, as it is conceived in the educational context, is strongly related to educational processes and outcomes and may, therefore, remain a quantifiable, outcome-based process. In the workplace, the demands of learning and the processes which underlie learning take a different shape. This suggests that information literacy processes may differ correspondingly. This has implications for the relevance of the current standards for information literacy to the workplace.

In adopting and adapting concepts from workplace studies and applying them to information literacy education, librarians may contribute towards bridging the gap between educational and workplace domains.

References

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Biographical information

Anne Lloyd joined the School of Information Studies at Charles Sturt University after professional experience in TAFE NSW. Her research interests are information literacy in workplace contexts and in embodied learning, information affordance and communities of practice and her doctoral thesis is on the nature, role and manifestation of information literacy in fire fighters' workplaces.