Information Literacy And Social Justice

"Discusses information literacy and its social justice aspects, through a selection of chapters addressing the values of intellectual freedom, social responsibility, and democracy in relation to the sociopolitical context of library work"--Provided by publisher.

Libraries, Human Rights, and Social Justice: Enabling Access and Promoting Inclusion examines the interrelationships between digital literacy, digital inclusion, and public policy, emphasizing the impacts of these policy decisions on the ability of individuals and communities to successfully participate in the information society. It is the first large-scale consideration of digital literacy and digital inclusion as policy problems and provides policy recommendations to promote digital literacy and digital inclusion. This book is intended to help librarians better understand and articulate their roles in promoting human rights and social justice, as well as to educate policymakers, government officials, professionals in other fields, and researchers in other disciplines about the contributions of libraries to human rights and social justice. It explores the intersections of information, human rights, and social justice from a range of perspectives and addresses the differing roles of library institutions (public, school, academic, and special libraries), library professionals, professional organizations, governments, and library patrons. Discussion focuses on the practical side of human rights and avoids most of the philosophical discussions of the term. Similarly, this book emphasizes the practical nature of social justice and the social and societal structures that foster equality. Related issues of digital literacy and digital inclusion are considered as essential to providing information in human rights and social justice contexts. Digital literacy, the ability to use the Internet to meet information, combines with access to the Internet in order to successfully apply the skills of digital literacy is discussed under the topic of digital inclusion. These topics are discussed through legal, policy, social, cultural, and economic lenses. Issues are examined both in terms of efforts to support equity in communities as a whole and the efforts intended to promote equity in specific disadvantaged or marginalized populations, such as the homeless, immigrants, people with disabilities, and the socioeconomically disadvantaged. Many examples of the issues discussed are drawn from the original research that the authors have conducted. The ideas and suggestions in this book should help members of the library community understand where their roles related to human rights and social justice originate, how they fit within the broader policy context, how to improve their related services and practices, and how to advocate for better support of these roles. The authors of this book have been involved in this research for many years and this breadth allows the book to offer comprehensive policy recommendations, solutions, and best practices for an area that is currently extremely fragmented. The writing is at a level to make it useful to undergraduate and postgraduate students, researchers, and policy makers.

Offering a new and thought-provoking look at media literacy education, this book brings together a range of perspectives that address the past, present, and future of media literacy, equity and justice. Straddling media studies, literacy education, and social justice education, this book comes at a time when the media’s role as well as our media intake and perceptions are being disrupted. As a result, questions of censorship, free speech, accountability abound, and nuance is often lost. This book is an antidote to the challenges facing media literacy education: chapters offer a careful examination of important and hot topics, including AI, authenticity, representation, climate change, activism and more. Addressing the continually evolving role of media and its impact on our society and shared knowledge base, the volume is organized around five themes: Misinformation and Disinformation; Media Representation; Civic Media, Politics and Policy; Eco Media Literacy; Education and Equity, Ethical Quandaries and Ideologies; and Emerging Technologies. Ideal for courses on media literacy and new literacies, this book furthers the conversation on the ways literacy and social justice are connected to educational communities in local and global contexts.

Practicing Social Justice in Libraries provides practical strategies, tools, and resources to library and information workers and students who wish to drive change in their classrooms, institutions, and communities and incorporate social justice into their everyday practice. With contributions from a diverse group of librarians, who have experience working in different types of institutions and roles, the book showcases the actions information professionals, largely from historically marginalized groups, are taking to create a more socially responsible environment for themselves and their communities. The chapters reflect on personal experiences, best practices for programming, professional development, effective collaboration, building inclusive community partnerships, anti-racist practices in the classroom, and organizational culture. Exploring how and why library workers are incorporating anti-racist and anti-oppressive work within their everyday roles, the book demonstrates that library workers are increasingly sending messages of protest and advocating for equity, justice, and social change. Highlighting their experiences of marginalization and exclusion, contributors also reflect upon the impact social justice work has on their mental health, careers, and personal lives. Practicing Social Justice in Libraries is essential reading for library and information workers and students who are searching for practical ways to implement more inclusive practices into their work

In achieving civic engagement and social justice in smart cities, literacy programs are offered in the society by three essential information service providers: libraries, archives, and museums. Although the library and museum services are documented in literature, there is little evidence of community-led library or museum services that make a full circle in understanding community-library, community-archive, and community-museum relationships. The Handbook of Research on the Role of Libraries, Archives, and Museums in Achieving Civic Engagement and Social Justice in Smart Cities examines the application of tools and techniques in library and museum literacy in achieving civic engagement and social justice. It also introduces a new outlook in the services of libraries and museums. Covering topics such as countering fake news, human rights literacies, and outreach activities, this book is essential for community-based organizations, librarians, museum administrations, education leaders, information professionals, smart city design planners, digital tool developers, policymakers engaged in diversity, researchers, and academicians.

This book constitutes revised selected papers from the 4th European Conference on Information Literacy, ECIL 2016, held in Prague, Czech Republic, in October 2016. The 52 full and 19 short papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 259 submissions. They were organized in topical sections named: inclusive society and democracy; employability and workplace; various literacies; reading preference: print vs electronic; theoretical aspects; higher education; discipline based studies; research methods; children and youth; country based studies; academic libraries; librarians; and teaching methods and instruction.

Elementary-aged children are often positioned as not developmentally ready to learn about race, racism, and injustice. Yet, the classroom materials used in most schools misrepresent history, withhold knowledge about racial injustice, or fail to uplift stories of resilience and resistance. For almost a decade, this groundbreaking resource has been one of the most highly used textbooks in justice-oriented social studies methods courses for grades 3-8. The author has thoroughly revised her bestseller to provide additional lessons that are more deeply situated within the current context of converging pandemics--COVID-19, racism, and impending environmental catastrophe. Grounded in the daily realities of public schools, Agarwal-Rangnath shows teachers how to use primary and other sources that will offer students new ways of thinking about history while meeting language arts standards for information text proficiency and critical thinking. Educators will also learn how to teach language arts and social studies as complementary subjects. New for the Second Edition: More concrete connections between theory and practice. Additional lesson examples that are centered in today's context of converging pandemics. Reflection questions that challenge readers to think about ways to navigate curricular constraints and standardization in the classroom.