Books and journals Case studies Expert Briefings Open Access
Advanced search

Introduction — Information Literacy and Information Behaviour, Complementary Approaches for Building Capability

Mark Hepworth
Geoff Walton

Developing People’s Information Capabilities: Fostering Information Literacy in Educational, Workplace and Community Contexts

ISBN: 978-1-78190-766-5, eISBN: 978-1-78190-767-2

ISSN: 1876-0562

Publication date: 1 September 2014

Abstract

This chapter gives a general overview of the book, indicates the rich diversity of information literacy (IL) and information behaviour (IB) work carried out and is organised into four broad areas moving from the strategic to the highly contextualised. The four areas are specifically: strategic view; delivering information literacy education; the link between university and work; beyond higher education. The approach for each chapter is summarised. This chapter also examines the inter-related nature of the concepts of information literacy and information behaviour. It shows how these ideas are contextualised, theorised and researched. The authors argue that far from being conflicting approaches to the same problem of information capability, they are, in fact, complementary. Though these are epistemologically different both have much to offer in terms of explanation and also as tools for fostering information capability. The history of information literacy and information behaviour is overviewed and their inter-relation explored. It is argued that information literacy can be viewed as the practitioners’ model for delivering information capability whilst information behaviour, being more research focussed, explains it. A diagram is presented at the end of the chapter which helps to highlight and summarise the distinctions and similarities between IB and IL research.

Keywords

  • Information behaviour
  • Information literacy
  • Information capability

Citation

Hepworth, M. and Walton, G. (2014), "Introduction — Information Literacy and Information Behaviour, Complementary Approaches for Building Capability", Developing People’s Information Capabilities: Fostering Information Literacy in Educational, Workplace and Community Contexts (Library and Information Science, Vol. 8), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp. 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1876-0562(2013)0000008005

Download as .RIS

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2013 Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Please note you do not have access to teaching notes

You may be able to access teaching notes by logging in via Shibboleth, Open Athens or with your Emerald account.
Login
If you think you should have access to this content, click the button to contact our support team.
Contact us

To read the full version of this content please select one of the options below

You may be able to access this content by logging in via Shibboleth, Open Athens or with your Emerald account.
Login
If you think you should have access to this content, click the button to contact our support team.
Contact us
Emerald Publishing
  • Opens in new window
  • Opens in new window
  • Opens in new window
  • Opens in new window
© 2021 Emerald Publishing Limited

Services

  • Authors Opens in new window
  • Editors Opens in new window
  • Librarians Opens in new window
  • Researchers Opens in new window
  • Reviewers Opens in new window

About

  • About Emerald Opens in new window
  • Working for Emerald Opens in new window
  • Contact us Opens in new window
  • Publication sitemap

Policies and information

  • Privacy notice
  • Site policies
  • Modern Slavery Act Opens in new window
  • Chair of Trustees governance statement Opens in new window
  • COVID-19 policy Opens in new window
Manage cookies

We’re listening — tell us what you think

  • Something didn’t work…

    Report bugs here

  • All feedback is valuable

    Please share your general feedback

  • Member of Emerald Engage?

    You can join in the discussion by joining the community or logging in here.
    You can also find out more about Emerald Engage.

Join us on our journey

  • Platform update page

    Visit emeraldpublishing.com/platformupdate to discover the latest news and updates

  • Questions & More Information

    Answers to the most commonly asked questions here