Moving beyond the descriptive. The grounded theory of mitigating risk and the theorisation of information literacy
| Date | 04 October 2019 |
| Published date | 04 October 2019 |
| Pages | 126-144 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-07-2019-0126 |
| Author | Alison Hicks |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Records management & preservation,Document management,Classification & cataloguing,Information behaviour & retrieval,Collection building & management,Scholarly communications/publishing,Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information management,Information & communications technology,Internet |
Moving beyond the descriptive
The grounded theory of mitigating risk
and the theorisation of information literacy
Alison Hicks
Department of Information Studies, University College London, London, UK
Abstract
Purpose –Information literacy has been consistently undertheorised. The purpose of this paper is to
contribute in the ongoing theorisation of information literacy by exploring the meaning and implications of
the emergent grounded theory of mitigating risk for information literacy research and practice.
Design/methodology/approach –The grounded theory was produced through a qualitative study that
was framed by practice theory and the theoretical constructs of cognitive authority and affordance, and
employed constructivist grounded theory, semi-structured interviews and photo-elicitation methods to
explore the information literacy practices of language-learners overseas.
Findings –This paper provides a theoretically rich exploration of language-learner information literacy
practices while further identifying the importance of time, affect and information creation within information
literacyresearch and practice as well as the need forthe continued theorisation of informationliteracy concepts.
Research limitations/implications –The paper’s constructivist grounded theorisation of information
literacy remains localised and contextualised rather than generalisable.
Practical implications –The paper raises questions and points of reflection that may be used to inform the
continued development of information literacy instruction and teaching practices.
Originality/value –This paper contributes to an increasingly sophisticated theoretical conceptualisation of
information literacy as well as forming a basis for ongoing theoretical development in the field.
Keywords Information literacy, International students, Time, Affect, Information practices,
Information creation
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Information literacy has consistently been undertheorised (Limberg et al., 2012; Lloyd,
2005, 2017; Tuominen et al., 2005). While “literacy”has been identified as a growth word
within the Library and Information Science (LIS) literature (Larivière et al., 2012) and there
has been a steady increase in information literacy dissertations (Webber and Johnston,
2017, p. 163) and peer-reviewed articles (Sproles et al., 2013), it was not until 2017 that the
field was able to point to its first theory (Lloyd, 2017). There are many potential reasons
for this lack of theorisation. On the one hand, information literacy has been dominated by
conceptualisations that draw upon normative professional practice and policy-making
approaches rather than analytically driven research-based understandings (Pilerot and
Lindberg, 2011). On the other hand, the field may have been distracted from theory
building by the prolongation of (often acrimonious) discussions regarding the shape and
purpose of information literacy, which has variously been described as a skill, a habit of
mind or a social practice (Hicks and Lloyd, 2016). A lack of theorisation may also reflect
issues within the broader field of LIS, which has been critiqued by North American library
historian, Wayne Wiegand (1999), for neglecting to engage beyond its discursive
formations. However, as Lloyd (2017, p. 91) points out, a continued failure to engage
in theory-building challenges our ability to situate information literacy within LIS
research as well as to translate and “champion”its benefits within workplaces, broader
communities and funding agencies.
This paper contributes to the ongoingtheorisation of informationliteracy by exploring the
meaning and implications of the emergentgrounded theory of mitigating risk (Hicks,2019) for
information literacy. The grounded theory of mitigating risk emerged from an exploration of
Journal of Documentation
Vol. 76 No. 1, 2020
pp. 126-144
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0022-0418
DOI 10.1108/JD-07-2019-0126
Received 1 July 2019
Revised 13 September 2019
Accepted 15 September 2019
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0022-0418.htm
126
JD
76,1
language-learner information literacy practices and states that the academic, financial and
physical stresses that are produced through engagement within new information landscapes
catalyse the enactment of the information literacy practices that mediate transition to and
within a new setting. As an interpretive theory that was produced through a constructivist
grounded theoretical methodological approach (Charmaz, 2014), the grounded theory of
mitigating risk offers a contextual explanation for the situated actions of undergraduate
students who are learning a language overseas. At the same time, the theorisation of
connections between language-learner activity and broader social structures means that the
grounded theory of mitigating risk also offers abstract understandings pertaining to the
enactment of information literacypractices during a complex period ofchange. The emergent
approachof constructivist groundedtheory means that the groundedtheory of mitigating risk
is subsequentlypositioned as forming a basis for ongoingtheoretical development in the field
of information literacy.
2. Theorising information literacy
Information literacy, which falls under what Bates (1999, p. 1048) refers to as the social
question within the field of Information Science or how people relate to, seek and use
information, is a complex phenomenon that is further complicated by the array of
understandings that scholars and librarians use to conceptualise the field. Most generally,
informationliteracy constitutes a field of research that centreson “theoretical understandings
of information, learning and knowledge”(Limberg et al., 2012, p. 95). The key role that
learning and information play within complex social worlds illustrates the importance of
interpretingand conceptualising information literacyin more detail. However, the tendency to
position information literacy as a teaching rather than as a learning object (Limberg et al.,
2012, p. 94) has limited the construction of theoretical understanding about how it is shaped
and mediated as wellas how it relates to the connected areas of information behaviour( Julien
and Williamson, 2010), information seeking (Limberg and Sundin, 2006) and information
practices (Lloyd, 2010). Even the employment of more rigorous phenomenographic,
socioculturalor discourse analysis perspectives, which formthree of the most common lenses
through whichinformation literacy hasbeen explored (Limberg et al., 2012,p. 95), has failed to
lead to sustained interest in the theorisation of information literacy. The use of grounded
theory as a methodof inquiry has similarly tendedto stop short of informationliteracy theory
building (Hicks, 2018a).
One of the few exceptions to this oversight is found in the work of Lloyd (2017), whose
empirical research in the workplace as well as in community and health settings forms the
basis of the field’s first theory of information literacy. Influenced by practice and
sociocultural theory, Lloyd’s theorisation positions information literacy as a situated
practice that is shaped by a social site. Within this conceptualisation, information literacy
forms a way of knowing that scaffolds a person’s intersubjective understanding of and
engagement within an information environment. Highlighting the sites of knowledge that
are valued within a community, information literacy is seen to centre on the development of
understanding about how knowledge is located, valued and accessed within a specific
setting. In further facilitating awareness of and connections to the shared meanings that
drive the development of subjectivity, information literacy is also positioned as shaped in
relation to the social, material and corporeal dimensions of practice as well as more
traditional textual information modalities. As a mid-range theory, Lloyd’s theorising
incorporates earlier work that explores the concept of an information landscape to establish
foundational elements of information literacy as well as to reflect on the design of
pedagogical interventions. At the same time, the emphasis on observable practice as well as
its antecedents in empirical, grounded theoretical research means that the theory also forms
the basis for future aggregable findings (Lloyd, 2017, p. 100). While the grounded theory of
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Moving
beyond the
descriptive
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