Information literacies in school and everyday life : Swedish young people’s information literacies in different contexts

Abstract: The aim of this thesis is to investigate how Swedish young people’s information literacies are learned and enacted in different contexts. This study contributes to the information literacies research area by comparing information literacies across contexts rather than focusing on either the school context or everyday life, which most previous research has done. The study has a societal relevance linked to the library and education professions. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven Swedish students in their last year of secondary school. The study’s understanding of information literacies is based on sociocultural theory and practice theories. The empirical data was analysed from a sociocultural perspective. Concepts such as cultural tools, mastery and appropriation, cognitive value, cognitive authority, imposed questions, and infrastructural meaning-making were used in the analysis. The results illustrate that information literacies in school are affected by the students being judged and graded. Outside of school more information is passively encountered rather than actively searched for. Finding ways to minimise time and effort is part of the participants’ information literacies. Across contexts, information literacies are socially shaped and negotiated. How information literacies are conceptualised and learned in school affects what is considered searching for information and assessing credibility outside of that context. In school, credibility assessments are learned explicitly, while outside of school they are learned implicitly. The study also indicates the importance of educating students about search engines and algorithms.