Concepts of information literacy
What does information literacy
mean to you?
• Discuss in pairs
• 15 minutes
• One person from each pair will report
back
Terms used in libraries
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Library skills
Library instruction
Bibliographic instruction
Information skills
Information literacy
• “information literacy encompasses knowledge
of one’s information concerns and needs, and
the ability to identify, locate, evaluate,
organize and effectively create, use and
communicate information to address issues
or problems at hand: it is a prerequisite for
participating effectively in the Information
Society, and is part of the basic human right
of life long learning”
• (UNESCO, 2003)
Information literacy
“an intellectual framework for understanding, finding, evaluating, and
using information – activities which may be accomplished in part by
fluency with information technology, in part by sound investigative
methods, but most important, through critical discernment and
reasoning”
• “… able to recognise when information is needed and have the
ability to locate, evaluate and use effectively the needed
information”
(ALA, AC&RL Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education, 2000)
Information literacy
• “Information literacy is knowing when
and why you need information, where to
find it, and how to evaluate, use and
communicate it in an ethical manner”
• (CILIP,1999)
Wikipedia definition
Take a look at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Informationliteracy
Information literacy
• The critical literacy for the 21st century
(Bruce, 2003)
• A critical life-skill
IFLA 2006 IL Theme
• Transitions to College: How Information Literacy Answers
the Knowledge Society Challenge
As a result of the Internet, dramatic changes have affected the
way information is stored, located, and retrieved. Many students
feel that libraries are no longer relevant and that everything they
need can be found using search engines on the Web. A rude
awakening may be in store when they discover that their
college or university professors require them to use
scholarly resources. Information Literacy is crucial to student
success in an academic information environment. The ULS/ILS
joint conference program will focus on effective pedagogy and
best practices in teaching the skills students need to survive the
critical first year of college and beyond.
Overlap with…
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Critical thinking
Technology competency
Problem solving
Research skills
Information literacy and IT
• Information literacy is not synonymous
with IT
Basis for IL definition and
initiatives
• Central government
– Promotes democracy and good
governance
• Professional organizations
– E.g. CILIP, ALA
• Business-based
Importance of IL
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To users e.g. a student
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To libraries
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Libraries as information literacy centres
To institutions
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New education models are based on Inquiry approach
to learning rather than on transmission approach to
teaching
To prepare students to know and to be able to do
IL university – fundamental to teaching, learning and
research activities
Lifelong learning
Importance of IL
• To the work-force
• Workers are moving from routine to richthinking activities
• Workers need to be learning constantly, jobs
are for a short-time span
• Education for future citizens is focusing on
learning how to learn in information-rich
environments
The Prague Declaration
“Towards an information literate society”
http://www.sconul.ac.uk/activities/inf_lit/
papers/outcomes.pdf
IL is …
• the legal tender for intellectual growth,
the mechanism that shapes public
opinion, and the stimulus that supports
economic development.
(Voices From the Future, 2006 -The First
International Information Literacy Coalition
Conference)
Why is IL important in the S.
Caucasus?
• Socio-political transition
• “Socio-economic and political
development is best advanced by
people who recognize their need for
information, and identify, locate, access,
evaluate and apply the needed
information” (Lau, 2003)
Why is IL important in the
S.Caucasus?
• Institutional strengthening
– Need for valuable, accurate and up-to-date
resources
• Require a strong pool of researchers
– To help facilitate policy-makers and public
institutions in their role in civil society
– Information professionals and end users who
know how to work with information
Information literacy – current
issues
• Greater expectations to provide IL
training
• Resources
– Staffing of programmes
– Production of materials
• Ways of providing web-based IL
Readings
• Andreatta, Susie. (2005). Information literacy:
A Practitioner’s Guide. Oxford: Chandos
Press.
• Bruce, C. S (2002) Information literacy as a
catalyst for educational change: A
background paper
Readings
• Durisin, Patricia. (Ed.). (2002). Information literacy programs.
New York: Hawthorn Information Press.
• Gibson, C. (2004). Information literacy develops
globally: The role of the national forum on information
literacy. Knowledge Quest, 32(4). March/April 2004,
p. 16-18.[2] http://ourworld-top.cs.com/harlancleve/
• Kiondo, E. & J. Msuya. (2005). User information literacy: Case
studies from university library programmes in the SCANUL-ECS
region. Oxford: INASP & SCAUL-ECS.
Readings
• Martin, A.& H. Rader. (Ed.) (2003).
Information literacy and IT literacy: Enabling
learning in the 21st century. London: facet
Publishing.
• White paper prepared for UNESCO, US
National Commission on Libraries and
Information Science and the National Forum
on Information Literacy
http://dlist.sir.arizona.edu/300/01/brucefullpaper.pdf
Forthcoming Conference
• Voices From the Future: The First International
Information Literacy Coalition Conference
• Hosted by The University of the Virgin Islands and
the National Forum on Information Literacy,
December 2006
http://library.uvi.edu/InfoLitConf_files/frame.htm
Take a look at the issues being discussed
IL around the globe
• Take a look at what is happening at
http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlissues/acr
linfolit/infolitresources/global/globalil.htm
Exercise
• Current practices in your institution
• See exercise handout