Evolving from Disability to Diversity

It is my great pleasure to join readers as the new editor of the Information Literacy and Instruction column. Librarians who specialize in reference, instruction, and other user services are regularly challenged to provide both the tools and the materials that enable patrons to find and use the information they seek. Literacy and instruction are essential components of our discipline, and I encourage you to consider how important your contributions are in helping librarians become more informed, aware, and instructed on these and other important topics. A simple Google Scholar search for “information literacy” retrieves more than 60,000 citations. Since its infancy, the term information literacy itself has taken on many meanings in many contexts. Today, information literacy can occur in the library, in the classroom, or in aisle seven of the grocery store. Information literacy doesn’t just mean fluency; it means competency and critical thinking. Readers of our journal serve patrons in settings as diverse as public, corporate, and prison libraries, and they provide these services to individuals of all ages, races, creeds, and abilities. This column also offers readers an opportunity to learn about information literacy and instructional approaches that they can integrate into their own, unique settings. Please consider this a call not only for papers about information literacy and instruction, but also a call for our continued pursuit to better understand literacy and instruction in novel, unique ways.