Information Literacy Education in Asian Developing Countries: cultural factors affecting curriculum development and programme delivery

• Published in: IFLA journal Vol. 32; no. 4; pp. 281 - 293
• Main Authors: Dorner, Daniel G., Gorman, G. E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Thousand Oaks, CA SAGE Publications 01.12.2006; Saur
• Subjects: Cultural aspects; Developing countries; Education; Exact sciences and technology; Information and communication sciences; Information literacy; Information science. Documentation; Information service management; Library and documentation centre management; Sciences and techniques of general use; User service management; Asia; Developing countries; Information literacy; Information literacy education; Geert Hofstede; Cultural context; Educational program; Cultural aspect; User training; Educational policy
• ISSN: 0340-0352; 1745-2651
• DOI: 10.1177/0340035206074063

The prevailing models of information literacy education (ILE) are contextually grounded in Western social and intellectual structures. For the most part these models follow the taxonomy developed in the 1950s by Bloom, which has been adopted as appropriate for developing societies without considering the contexts from which they are derived, and in which they are being applied. For ILE to be meaningfully embedded in the educational fabric of a developing country, it is important to take account of a range of contextual variables that affect how and why individuals learn. Focusing on ILE through the lens of cultural contextuality, this paper addresses three questions in relation to ILE in developing countries: How do we define information literacy in a developing country context? How do we best determine the educational objectives of information literacy education in a developing country context? How can cultural awareness improve information literacy education?