Cruel optimism, or, this time will be different!

Q2 Social Sciences

Journal of Information Literacy Pub Date : 2024-06-02 DOI:10.11645/18.1.594

Maura Seale, Karen Nicholson

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Information literacy (IL) is an important means by which academic libraries prove their value within higher education and to broader (sceptical) society. Yet if IL is an array of sociocultural practices that are ultimately about how we find meaning in and engage with the world, then it cannot be taught or obtained in a classroom, even through the most carefully considered (critical) pedagogy. As a result, we find ourselves in a "stuck place", in a relation of “cruel optimism” (Berlant, 2011) with IL, a relation in which we return again and again to the thing we desire, with the expectation that this time, things will be different; everything will work out. What if academic librarians were to acknowledge and refuse the ambivalence of our cruel relation with IL and envision ourselves as helping students learn “how to library” instead? If we de-centred this particular version of IL within academic librarianship, what might we make room for? What alternative spaces for thinking might open up?

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残酷的乐观主义，或者说，这次会有所不同！

信息素养（IL）是学术图书馆向高等教育界和广大（持怀疑态度的）社会证明其价值的重要手段。然而，如果信息素养是一系列社会文化实践，归根结底是关于我们如何发现世界的意义并与世界打交道，那么，即使是通过最慎重考虑的（批判性）教学法，也无法在课堂上传授或获得信息素养。因此，我们发现自己处于一个 "困顿之地"，与 IL 处于一种 "残酷的乐观主义"（Berlant，2011 年）的关系之中，在这种关系中，我们一次又一次地回到我们所渴望的事物上，期望这一次，事情会有所不同；一切都会解决。如果学术图书馆员承认并拒绝我们与图书馆学之间残酷关系的矛盾性，而将自己设想为帮助学生学习 "如何图书馆 "呢？如果我们在学术图书馆学中不再以这种特定的 IL 为中心，我们会腾出什么空间？会有哪些其他的思考空间？

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Information Literacy Social Sciences-Library and Information Sciences

CiteScore

1.40

自引率

0.00%

发文量

审稿时长

24 weeks

期刊介绍： JIL is an international, peer-reviewed journal that aims to investigate information literacy in all its forms to address the interests of diverse IL communities of practice. To this end it publishes articles from both established and new authors in this field. JIL welcomes contributions that push the boundaries of IL beyond the educational setting and examine this phenomenon as a continuum between those involved in its development and delivery and those benefiting from its provision. This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. The journal is published under the Gold Open Access model, because the CILIP Information Literacy Group believes that knowledge should be shared. It is therefore free and requires no subscription. In addition authors are not required to pay a fee to be published in JIL. The Journal of Information Literacy is published twice a year. Additional, special themed issues are also possible and the editor welcomes suggestions. JIL has an acceptance rate of 44% for articles submitted to the journal.