Critical Information Literacy Beyond the University: Lessons From Service in a Women's Health Interest Group

Abstract

Library instruction methods most frequently focus on teaching students searching skills to navigate the maze of library databases to locate appropriate research materials. The current theory of critical information literacy instruction calls on librarians to spend more of their time in the classroom focused on understanding the social, political, and cultural construction of knowledge. In this article, the author provides a case study of the information environment in the National Women's Health Network, a women's health interest group, to help librarians facilitate nuanced discussions with students on the applicability of interest group literature inside and outside of the university classroom.

KEYWORDS:

• Information literacy
• critical thinking
• pressure groups
• political science
• public policy
• information sources

Acknowledgments

The author thanks the National Women's Health Network for opening its doors and opening her mind to feminist-centered medicine.