Communications networks

Abstract

Scholarly communications networks for information literacy (IL) have been very valuable in highlighting the growing importance of IL as a maturing discipline. IL is an area that has been in the limelight for a very long time now due to its importance in enhancing access to information. In certain spheres, IL is well entrenched, while in some countries the struggle for its recognition continues, despite its relevance in both academia and everyday life (Ilett, 2019; Mercado-Sierra & Northam, 2023). With regards to academia, IL has been provided with varying degrees of success. While in most cases IL is offered as a standalone course, it is also a fact that elsewhere it is embedded in other modules, such as academic literacy, computer/digital literacy and many other such courses or modules, which usually cut across disciplines. IL is required in other courses or modules in order to enhance students' information-handling skills. Similarly, in other settings such as the work environment and social spaces, IL is required to make decisions and informed choices, among other reasons (Munatsi, 2023). The interest in IL has led to people who believed in it forming formal gatherings which may be in the form of conferences, symposia, or seminars for the purposes of advancing and sharing research. Similarly, the interest in IL has led to growth in manuscripts ready for publishing, which has resulted in the establishment of journals such as the Journal of Information Literacy (JIL) (see Chapter 7.6), Communications in Information Literacy (CIL) (Chapter 7.2), and the Nordic Journal of Information Literacy in Higher Education. These peerreviewed journals are published open access in order to enhance wider access to knowledge in IL. In addition, since the renowned coining of the phrase "information literacy" by Paul Zurkowski in 1974 (Badke, 2010; Machin-Mastromatteo & Lau, 2015), monographs have been authored and published. A search on WorldCat Discovery Tool, limited to books only in libraries worldwide, resulted in more than 36,000 titles. The results included both print and electronic books with a wide range of foci, including kindergarten to higher education, and more broadly on the role of IL in the information society or the digital age. The monographs have been published by various and reputable publishers such as Facet Publishing, Springer, and Chandos Publishing, among others. This demonstrates the importance of IL as a discipline. The following parts of the section overview presents an overview of the entries presented in this section and their contributions to the discipline of IL.