What Is Information Literacy and How to Improve It?

Abstract

Information literacy is a controversially discussed topic with heterogeneous defi-nitions. In the context of a project on “Information Literacy and Democracy” in Germany, 21 experts from diverse scientific backgrounds submitted position papers in which the authors provided their perspectives on the following questions: What is information literacy? How to foster information literacy? What are the central developments in the field of information literacy? What other aspects are relevant? Based on document analysis, this contribution unites the core mes-sages of the 19 position papers for an international audience. Such a combined view of 21 experts from diverse scientific backgrounds is rather scarce. By merg-ing the views of many experts and transcending disciplinary borders, this paper hopes to make a small contribution to stimulate multidisciplinary discussions on information literacy and corresponding approaches to improve it.