Communications in Information Literacy - Issue 1 - Article 9 - That Was Then, This Is Wow: A Case for Critical Information Literacy Across the Curriculum

Oct 15, 2026

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This article applies a writing across the curriculum approach to critical library instruction in response to a rapidly shifting information landscape. It argues for critical library instruction that is more robust, sustained, and integrated than brief one-shot lessons. Drawing on the author’s perspective as an English teacher, it identifies critical information literacy as central to higher education and proposes a collaborative model using writing across the curriculum to provide students ongoing, increasingly advanced CIL exposure across undergraduate years.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages17

Reading Time43 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Writing across the curriculum and critical library instruction

Critical information literacy in higher education

Challenges with one-shot approaches

Proposed collaborative CIL model

Communications in Information Literacy | Volume 14 Issue 1 | Article 9 | | --- | --- | | 6-2020
That Was Then, This Is Wow: A Case for Critical Information Literacy Across the Curriculum
Margaret Rose Torrell
SUNY Old Westbury, [torrellm@oldwestbury.edu](torrellm@oldwestbury.edu)
Follow this and additional works at: [https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/comminfolit](https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/comminfolit)
Part of the Information Literacy Commons
Let us know how access to this document benefits you. | | Recommended Citation Torrell, M. (2020) . That Was Then, This Is Wow: A Case for Critical Information Literacy Across the Curriculum. Communications in Information Literacy, 14 (1), 118-133. Retrieved from [https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/comminfolit/vol14/iss1/9](https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/comminfolit/vol14/iss1/9) This Perspective is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Communications in Information Literacy by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. For more information, please contact [pdxscholar@pdx.edu](pdxscholar@pdx.edu). That Was Then, This Is Wow: A Case for Critical Information Literacy Across the Curriculum Margaret Rose Torrell, SUNY Old Westbury Abstract This article applies a writing across the curriculum approach to critical library instruction. The information landscape has drastically shifted over the past ten years, altering the ways we perform, interact with, access, and understand research. These changes call for critical library instruction programs that are more robust and sustained than the one-or two-shot critical library instruction lesson I had described in 2010. However, college classroom practices, due to a variety of challenges, have been slow to adapt to this need. In this article written from my perspective as an English teacher, I identify the central place of critical information literacy (CIL) in higher education, aligning it with calls for a new educational approach for the 21st century. As one possible way forward, I draw on insights from writing across the curriculum to recommend a collaborative critical information literacy across the curriculum model that would provide students with sustained and increasingly advanced exposure to CIL throughout their undergraduate years. Keywords: writing across the curriculum, critical information literacy, one-shot library lesson, Critical Library Instruction Special issue edited by Maria T. Accardi, Emily Drabinski, and Alana Kumbier Torrell, M. R. (2020). That was then, this is wow: A case for critical information literacy across the curriculum. Communications in Information Literacy, 14(1), 118–133. That Was Then, This is Wow: A Case for Critical Information Literacy Across the Curriculum I am a college English teacher working at one of the most diverse comprehensive colleges in the State University of New York system. Hoping to reflect my college’s long-cherished mission of cultivating social justice, I embrace critical pedagogy as I teach my composition and literature students. In my 2010 chapter, I outlined ways to use contact zone theory to adopt a critical library pedagogy in teaching the research paper. Over the past ten years, I have continued to work with my students on decoding and using research sources, but writing this retrospective has made me realize that a disconnect has formed between the increasingly insulated space of my classroom and the seemingly ever-growing and turbulent seas of information just beyond it. Frankly, it seems to me that me and my kind (college professors) are one of the biggest impediments to librarians who practice critical library instruction. We often won’t let librarians into our classes. And if we do, we want the one-shot lesson, maybe because that’s all we have time for, or perhaps because some of us don’t believe a librarian can offer much beyond the standard search techniques we trust that ou

FAQs

What does the article propose for critical library instruction across the curriculum?

It proposes a collaborative critical information literacy model integrated through writing across the curriculum, offering students sustained and increasingly advanced exposure throughout their undergraduate years.

Why does the article argue that one-shot library lessons are insufficient?

The information landscape has changed significantly, and college practices have been slow to adapt, leaving students with limited guidance for deep, sustained critical learning.

What challenge does the author identify between instructors and librarians?

The author suggests that college instructors may impede critical library instruction by keeping librarians out or expecting only a standard one-shot session, even though students increasingly use tools like Google to find relevant ideas.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by kopisore