La integración de la Alfabetización Informacional (ALFIN) en la formación del estudiante universitario: análisis de iniciativas en Brasil y España

The aim of this study is to analyze, describe and evaluate how Information Literacy (IL) is being implemented in Spanish and Brazilian public university libraries and how IL can be incorporated into the student’s training while they are studying at the university. To accomplish this, a set of guidelines and recommendations have been proposed, which support the implementation of information competencies in the teaching-learning process. This work is based on an articulated theoretical framework and with a field research at 33 university libraries from public universities in Brazil and 28 public university libraries in Spain. The analysis of the empirical data was made using a quantitative and qualitative approach. Although different authors coincide that the integration of IL in the university student’s training life must be accomplished via the curriculum, the findings suggest that universities and their libraries find it difficult to integrate IL in a generalized and systematic manner into the study plan; moreover, they even find it difficult to integrate it gradually into the different levels. From this study we can conclude that between Spanish universities there is an strong trend to include IL in the student’s curriculum in most universities. In some of them IL even is included as institutional and transversal initiative. However, in Brazilian universities this kind of training is still in an introductory phase and represents a great challenge for most of them. Regarding integration strategies, universities are using different approaches that include IL courses out of the curriculum, sessions inside not IL courses, and specific IL courses as part of the curriculum. Courses and sessions can be taught individually as well as in groups and distributed at different moments during the student’s time at the university. The main institutional factors or requirements that have an effect on the stable, progressive and extended integration are: the acknowledgement of information competences in national and institutional educational policies, institutional support, the defining of institutional IL policies and the defining of collaboration and coordination mechanisms. Among the main educational factors, the following are noteworthy: the explicit acknowledgement of IL in educational study plans and guides, the planning of classes and the educational co-responsibility between librarians and professors, as well as the diagnostic, formative and summative evaluation. As barriers to integration we found out: the lack of understanding of the concept, the lack of institutional support, lack of personnel, very little collaboration between teachers and librarians and the lack of clarity regarding who is responsible for IL training. We conclude that in order to provide an equal opportunity for university students regarding information competences training, and guarantee and sustain the IL program in the long term, from an institutional perspective we must integrate it in the curriculum, in a transversal and mandatory manner, and design it to be taught gradually through the collaboration and co-responsibility between librarians and professors