Information Literacy

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Information Literacy



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Table of Contents

• Background, definition of information literacy
• Information seeking strategies (Google
  generation)
• Information literacy higher education
• Instructional concepts
• Exercises
• Note this module focuses on information literacy
  for health professionals in academic, research,
  and clinical settings. It does not address
  information literacy for the general public
  (patient education and consumer health).

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Hierarchy of Literacy

• Alphabetic literacy writing name
• Functional literacy reading and writing
• Social literacy communication in a cultural
  context
• Information literacy critical location,
  evaluation and use of information
• Digital information literacy application of
  information literacy in the digital environment
• Caroline Stern (2002) Information literacy
  unplugged teaching information literacy without
  technology. White paper prepared for UNESCO, the
  US NCLIS and National Forum for Information
  Literacy. http//www.nclis.gov/libinter/

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UNESCO/Prague Declaration 2003

• Information Literacy encompasses knowledge of
  ones 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

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• Information Literacy, in conjunction with access
  to essential information and effective use of
  information and communication technologies, plays
  a leading role in reducing the inequities within
  and among countries and peoples.
• http//portal.unesco.org/ci/en/files/19636/1122886
  3531PragueDeclaration.pdf/PragueDeclaration.pdf

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Basic Definition

• 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.
• Chartered Institute of Library and Information
  Professionals, UK http//www.informationliteracy.o
  rg.uk/Information_literacy_definitions/Definitions
  .aspx

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Is Information Literacy the Same as Computer
Literacy?

• No, an information literate person is one who has
  developed an effective information-gathering
  style
• Information literacy goes beyond the skills used
  to manipulate computer databases
• It involves decision-making about the appropriate
  information sources to use and judgments about
  the validity and relevancy of information

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The Google Generation

• Most students entering our colleges and
  universities today are younger than the
  microcomputer, are more comfortable working on a
  keyboard than writing in a spiral notebook, and
  are happier reading from a computer screen than
  from paper in hand. Constant connectivity
  being in touch with friends and family at any
  time and any place - is of utmost importance.
• Information Behavior of the Researcher of the
  Future

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• 89 percent of college students use search engines
  to begin an information search (while only 2 per
  cent start from a library web site)
• 93 per cent are satisfied or very satisfied with
  their overall experience of using a search engine
  (compared with 84 per cent for a
  librarian-assisted search)
• Search engines fit college students life styles
  better than physical or online libraries and that
  fit is almost perfect
• College students still use the library, but they
  are using it less (and reading less) since they
  first began using Internet research tools
• College Students Perceptions of the Libraries
  and Information Resources A Report to the
  OCLC Membership. Dublin, OHOCLC, 2006
  http//www.oclc.org/reports/perceptionscollege.htm

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New Research Style

• Not only students information seeking has been
  fundamentally shaped by massive digital choices,
  unbelievable (24/7) access to scholarly material
  and search engines.
• Same environment has impacted on professors,
  lecturers, researchers and health practitioners.
• All groups use new styles of information seeking.
  
• College Students Perceptions

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Characteristics of Digital Information Seeking

• Horizontal information seeking users view one
  or two pages of a site, then bounce to another
  site, and often never return.
• Navigation considerable time spent in finding
  their way around often as much time as actually
  viewing information.
• Viewing time at a specific site is short (4-8
  minutes) often power browse through title,
  contents page, and abstracts

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Characteristics

• Squirreling behavior save material by
  downloading unclear if ever read.
• Checking information seekers users access
  authority quickly by cross checking across
  different sites and relying on favorite tools
  (e.g. Google).
• College Students Perceptions

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Importance of Information Literacy

• Critical in environment of rapid technological
  change and proliferating information resources.
• Users are faced with diverse, abundant
  information choices - in their academic studies,
  in the workplace, and in their personal lives.
• Information comes to individuals in unfiltered
  formats, raising questions about its
  authenticity, validity, and reliability.
• Information is available through multiple media,
  including graphical, audio, and textual formats.

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Characteristics of Information Literate User

• Determines the nature and extent of the
  information needed.
• Accesses needed information effectively and
  efficiently.
• Evaluates information and its sources critically
  incorporates selected information into his or her
  knowledge base and value system.
• Uses information effectively to accomplish a
  specific purpose.
• Understands the economic, legal, and social
  issues surrounding the use of information
  accesses and uses information ethically and
  legally.
• http//www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/issues/info
  lit/standards/stnd5/index.cfm

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Lifelong learning

• Information literacy forms the basis for lifelong
  learning.
• Is common to all disciplines, to all learning
  environments, and to all levels of education.
• Is strongly connected with critical and
  reflective thinking.

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Seven Faces of
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Information Literacy in Academia

• Gives the user the skills to know when he or she
  needs information and where to locate it more
  efficiently.
• Includes the technological skills needed to use
  the modern library as a gateway to information.
• Enables users to analyze and evaluate the
  information, thus giving the user confidence in
  using that material to make an informed decision.
  http//www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/issues/
  infolit/overview/intro/index.cfm

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Instructional Goals

• Course integrated instruction
• Information literacy skills is a key part of the
  course
• Learning outcomes are measurable
  achievements/part of overall grade
• Resource based teaching
• Students must use skills to find information from
  a variety of sources

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Collaborative Effort

• For successful development of information
  literacy skills, program must
• Incorporate information literacy across curricula
  in all programs and services.
• Include support by the administration of the
  university, and
• Require the collaborative efforts of faculty,
  librarians, and administrators.
• ALA

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Role of Libraries

• Information literacy model requires positive
  change in the instructional mission of the
  library.
• Library's expanded instructional role emphasizes
  information-seeking behavior within the context
  of an information need.
• Librarians and support staff are uniquely
  qualified to support and teach information
  literacy skills for lifelong learning and
  critical thinking.
• Information Literacy An Overview Robin Angeley
  and Jeff Purdue May 2000 http//pandora.cii.wwu.e
  du/dialogue/issue6.html

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Role of the University

• To embrace a successful across-the-curriculum
  information literacy model, a close collaboration
  of faculty, librarians, and administrators is
  necessary, with essential support needed from the
  higher administrative levels.

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Academic Perspective (health)

• Education for health information professionals
  must be based on a solid foundation of the
  changing paradigms and trends in health care and
  health information as well as technological
  advances to produce a well-prepared information
  workforce to meet the demands of health-related
  environments. Based on this premise, we need
  to connect health care, library and information
  sciences, and other information-centered
  disciplines.
• Miles to go before we sleep education,
  technology, and the changing paradigms in health
  information. Cleveland, A. J Med Libr Assoc.
  2011, January (99)1 68 http//www.ncbi.nlm.nih.
  gov/pmc/articles/PMC3016652/

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Student Perspective

• I now understand that education is about being
  empowered to learn rather than about being
  dependent on the teacher for acquiring knowledge
  and skills.

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Broad Perspective

• Information literacy is not a discrete set of
  skills, but rather a way of learning.
• Information literacy is an appreciation of the
  complex ways of interacting with information. It
  is a way of thinking and reasoning about aspects
  of subject matter.
• Information literacy research dimensions of the
  emerging collective consciousness Christine
  Bruce, Queensland University of Technology
  http//www.anziil.org/resources/papers/archive/bru
  ce/1_multipart_xF8FF_2_AARLsub.pdf

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Developing World Perspective

• Developing country librarians are beginning to
  recognize the importance of evaluating their
  value for research and teaching staff.
  Communicating the value of their role however
  remains a key challenge There is limited
  awareness of how librarians can better support
  research and teaching staff beyond these
  traditional parameters.
• Library Value in Developing World . Neil
  McCreadie. August, 2013 http//www.uk.sagepub.com/
  repository/binaries/pdf/LibValReport-2013.pdf

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Summary
Information Literacy Project, Philadelphia
University, 2009 t/ http//www.philau.edu/infolit/
definition.htm
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Key Resources

• Seven Faces of Information Literacy Towards
  inviting students into new experiences.
  Christine Bruce, Queensland University of
  Technology (Brisbane, Australia), 2003
  http//www.bestlibrary.org/digital/files/bruce.pdf
  
• ACRL Information Literacy Website, Association of
  College and Research Libraries (Chicago, U.S.)
  http//www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/issues/info
  lit/
• Information Behavior Researcher of the Future,
  University College London (U.K.) January 2008
  http//www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/programmes/r
  eppres/ggworkpackageii.pdf

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• Please complete the following
• hands-on exercises. Thank you!

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Exercises individual experience

• How do you use information seeking skills in your
  work environment and everyday life?
• Remember the details of a time when you used this
  process effectively.
• What is your picture of an effective information
  user ( or information literate person)?
• Think about your experience of being ( or trying
  to be) an information literate person. What did
  you do? Was it easy? What do you struggle with?

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Exercises institutional level

• In your environment, how is information literacy
  integrated in your activities?
• Is it integrated between units (e.g. library,
  academic discipline, research groups, clinical
  wards)?
• How could it be better integrated?
• What information literacy activities would you
  add?
• Which groups would benefit?

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• What is the role of instructors and
  administration?
• How could this role be enhanced?
• What aspects of the institutional culture impact
  on information literacy needs? (positively and
  negatively)
• What would you do to foster a better culture?
• Updated 2013 10