That Which Cannot Be Named

The Absence of Race in the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education

Authors

  • Marcia Rapchak University of Pittsburgh

Abstract

This article examines how information literacy is situated in a history of white supremacy in academia and academic libraries and provides an overview of some of the historical critiques of information literacy, to which the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education is ostensibly responding. Using Critical Race Theory, I provide a close reading of the Framework, highlighting the ways in which issues of race and racism are elided and white academia is centered. This article also examines critiques of information literacy and how critical information literacy has responded to the Framework. I then propose some ways to emphasize antiracist pedagogy in the information literacy classroom.

Downloads

Published

2019-10-17

Issue

Vol. 5 (2019)

Section

Research Articles: Race and Power in Library and Information Studies

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g. post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g. in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).

The points concerning acknowledgment in clauses 1 and 2 are waived if an author chooses to publish work under a Creative Commons CC0 Public Domain license. This waiver in no way affects standard academic conventions for the need to cite prior work.

If you have any queries about the choice of license, or which to discuss other options, please contact us at stuart@journal.radicallibrarianship.org