Beyond database training: reconceptualizing information literacy and reading competence as a shared cognitive architecture in medical education
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2026.2385Keywords:
information literacy, medical education, metacognition, cognitive load theory, epistemic development, health sciences librarianshipAbstract
Medical librarians have long observed that medical students who struggle with reading complex textbooks also demonstrate weak information literacy skills. For decades, these have been treated as separate problems requiring separate solutions—offering reading workshops and database training sessions with limited lasting impact. This commentary proposes a reconceptualization: textbook literacy and information literacy are not sequential competencies but rather parallel manifestations of the same underlying cognitive architecture. Drawing on research in medical education, cognitive psychology, and educational neuroscience, this commentary argues that both literacies depend on three interconnected cognitive capacities: metacognitive self-regulation, working memory management, and epistemic sophistication. Understanding this shared foundation has profound implications for how health sciences librarians design interventions, plan instruction, and position themselves as essential contributors to medical education. This commentary presents a framework and outlines practical implications for library instruction, assessment, and collaboration with medical educators.
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