Oh, the Humanities: Understanding Information Behavior to Foster Information Literacy

Abstract

Information literacy (IL) is a crucial pedagogical issue in higher education despite the fact that it may not be recognized as such by educators outside of a library setting. Thus, the ability of instructional librarians to develop and promote content- and context-specific information literacy sessions with a clear collaborative emphasis directly affects the role of the library as a viable and visible agent of learning within the university. This essay focuses on promoting an understanding of, and partnership with, a particularly important group of patrons—humanities scholars and students. By examining the unique information behavior of humanists, including their characteristic research aims and methods, the author maintains that instructional librarians should have the knowledge necessary to increase the authenticity and relevancy of IL services, as well as the opportunity to strengthen a range of related outreach efforts.