Biosketch: Professor Louise Limberg

Dr. Louise Limberg is Senior Professor of Library and Information Science (LIS), specialising in information seeking and use, at the Swedish School of Library and Information Science, University of Borås, Sweden. Her research interests concern the interaction between information seeking and use and learning, linked to issues of information literacy. A series of studies have been conducted, where the particular object of research was directed to students' ways of interacting with information systems and sources as well as with fellow students and adults throughout the learning process. Other studies have focused on educators’ (teachers and librarians) perspective of the same theme of interaction between teaching, learning and information seeking practices in school environments. Main conclusions are that variation of the quality of students' information seeking and use interacts closely with variation of the quality of their learning outcomes, indicating information literacy as a critical feature of learning via digital tools and information sources. Theoretical approaches adopted have been phenomenography and a socio-cultural perspective of learning.

Dr. Limberg is an Adjunct Professor at Queensland University of Technology, School of Information Systems, Brisbane, Australia, and
Adjunct Professor at Charles Sturt University, School of Information Studies, Wagga Wagga, NSW, Australia.

Current research activities/projects

Dr. Limberg is a member of the senior advisory board of the Linnaeus Centre for Research on Learning, Interaction and Mediated Communication in Contemporary Society (LinCS).

Dr. Limberg is a member of the permanent committee of the international research community ISIC, the Information Behaviour Conference http://informationr.net/isic/index.html

She is also chair of the International Network on Information Literacy Research http://iilresearch.wordpress.com/

Current projects

• Smart Information Use. Application to the Australian Research Council - under review. PI: Professor Christine Bruce.
• EXpertise, Authority and Control on the InterneT (EXACT): a study of the formation of source credibility in Web 2.0 environments for learning. Swedish Research Council (VR). PI: Professor Olof Sundin.
• The role of school libraries in Swedish library politics

A few recent publications (in press)

Limberg, L., Sundin, O., & Talja, S. (forthcoming). Three theoretical perspectives on Information Literacy. Human IT.

Lundh, A. & Davidsson, B., & Limberg, L. (forthcoming). Talking about the Good Childhood: an Analysis of Educators’ Approaches to School Children's Use of ICT. Human IT.

Francke, H., Sundin, O., & Limberg, L. (2011). Debating credibility: the shaping of information literacies in upper secondary schools. Journal of Documentation 67, (4), 675-694.

Pilerot, O., & Limberg, L. (2011). Information sharing as a means to reach collective understanding: a study of design scholars' information practices. Journal of Documentation 67, (2), 312-333.

Limberg, L., & Alexandersson, M. (2010). Learning and Information Seeking. In M. Bates & M. N. Maack (Eds.). Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences. 3rd Edition. New York: Taylor and Francis Group. (3252-3263).

Rydsjö, K., Limberg, L., & Hultgren, F. (Eds.) (2010). Det samtida barnbiblioteket – ett bibliotek i barnens tjänst. [Contemporary children’s libraries – libraries at the service of children]. In K. Rydsjö, F. Hultgren & L. Limberg (Eds.) Barnet, platsen, tiden: teorier och forskning i barnbibliotekets omvärld. [Child, place and time: theories and research in the world surrounding children's libraries]. Stockholm: Stockholm County Library. (271-286).

Alexandersson, M., & Limberg, L. (2009). Elevers "forskning” via datorn - mantra, metod eller meningsfullt lärande? [Students' 'research' via the computer - mantra, method or meaningful learning?] I. J. Hedman & A. Lundh (red.) Informationskompetenser: om lärande i informationspraktiker och informationssökning i lärandepraktiker. [Information literacies: on learning in information practices and information seeking in learning practices] Stockholm: Carlssons bokförlag. (85-107).

Limberg, L., Sundin, O., & Talja, S. (2009). Teoretiska perspektiv på informationskompetens [Theoretical perspectives on Information Literacy]. I J. Hedman & A. Lundh (red.) Informationskompetenser: om lärande i informationspraktiker och informationssökning i lärandepraktiker. [Information literacies: on learning in information practices and information seeking in learning practices] Stockholm: Carlssons bokförlag. (36-65).