The Information Professionals Alumni Chapter

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2013

QUT Information Professionals Alumni Chapter present

An evening with Dr Drew Whitworth: Radical Information Literacy: What is it and why do we need it?

The QUT Information Professionals Alumni chapter is pleased to welcome back Dr Andrew Whitworth. Dr Whitworth is Senior Lecturer at the School of Education, University of Manchester, and the Programme Director of the Master's of Arts: Digital Technologies, Communication and Education. In 2013 he is a Visiting Academic at the Queensland University of Technology.

His work lies at the intersection of three fields: critical theory and the politics of organizations; education; and information and technology. He is the author of the book Information Obesity (2009), focusing on the failure of individuals to turn information (food) into knowledge (energy). Some of you will remember his presentation on this topic in Brisbane in 2011.

This seminar will explore the need for a 'radical information literacy'. Despite a great deal of work done on the many different forms, or frames, of information literacy, and the wide range of studies into information behaviour, the information experience, IL in diverse workplace contexts and so on - why has so much actual IL teaching and research since the 1980s remained focused on basic competencies?

Via an exploration of the communication theories of Jürgen Habermas, theories of institutions, and sociocultural approaches to IL, among others, this question will be explored. The answers may lie in how both school and higher education are positioned in late capitalist society, and the way that IL has become an institution, assigning labels to learners and forming itself around procedures that largely do not necessarily match the way IL is actually practiced in most contexts. He suggests that while there are honorable exceptions, the general failure by IL educators to move beyond competency-based approaches has contributed to the marginalisation of IL in educational discourse. Is it too late for a radical IL, aimed at transformation, to be developed: and if not, what should it look like? Additional information about Dr. Whitworth is available at: http://personalpages.manchester.ac.uk/staff/drew.whitworth/

Parking

The Short Term Car Park is located under the South East Freeway and has 193 spaces. There is a maximum time period of four (4) hours per day. Infringement notices will be issued to vehicles that overstay the four (4) hour limit.

Availability of this parking is extremely limited in the daytime during the university semester, and there may be queuing times. However, for events after-hours you may be lucky enough to find a space.

There are also several public transport options.

Alternatively, commercial parking is available on Charlotte Street at Wilson Parking (Brisbane Central), or you may consider parking at South Bank Parklands, which is just a short stroll across the Goodwill Bridge.