What is Information Literacy?
Information literacy is a term constantly used within the LIS field as it is one of the core values for librarianship itself. The definition of information literacy varies from source to source but many organization and librarians refer to the ALA definition of "..to be information literate, a person must be able to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate and use effectively the needed information." An example of information literacy in a real world situation is you're looking at a recipe, wanting to cook something nice for dinner and a unique technique that you've never heard of before, like mincing an onion, pops up. What do you do? The information literate person would know that you can refer to a variety of sources such as cookbooks that may explain the technique, search a library's website for cooking resources in databases or electronic books for a definition, or simply use select key words to do a Google search. The non-information literate person would most likely give up and wind up being hungry. Being information literate means having the skills needed to find information, process it, apply it and then evaluate if the information received was the correct information needed for the situation.
Libraries and librarians are expected to fill in the gaps for information literacy, they act as the bridge between what is taught in school and in real world situations, making sure that their users are equipped with the skills needed to succeed in life, both personally and in work situations. The Association of College and Research Librarians (ACRL) has established Information Literacy Competency Standards to create standards, definition, and methods of instruction for information literacy in a college setting. One of the important reasons for information literacy is that technology is in a constant state of flux but information literacy skills transcend all forms of technology, it is the foundation skill set to be able to adapt using information. Information literacy is compromised of three main elements: network literacy (the ability to negotiate networked information such as social networks, professional networks, etc), media literacy (the ability to evaluate information from various media forms), and visual literacy (the ability to use and evaluate information in a multitude of formats).
Many people believe that after graduation from either primary, secondary, or higher education, we're done learning. Information literacy proves that learning is never done, it becomes more a matter of where we do the learning and how we learn. The difference is there won't be any homework at the end, no test at the end of the semester and information literacy skills can be practiced and applied to real world situations, in the workplace or in personal matters. In her first chapter of Information Literacy: An International Perspective, Sandy Campbell expresses the different faces of information literacy skills in action. In an example, she describes Innuit people's ability to find navigation information through experts and maps in order to successfully cross an icy sea. While it seems that would not be an example of information literacy, it is as the Innuit people had to seek information for survival and using the knowledge of where information is most accurate and up-to-date, they found the information and managed their crossing. Information literacy does not have to refer to the ability to read and write, it comes in many forms -- learning takes all kinds of shapes and information literacy is in the same manner.
Libraries and librarians are expected to fill in the gaps for information literacy, they act as the bridge between what is taught in school and in real world situations, making sure that their users are equipped with the skills needed to succeed in life, both personally and in work situations. The Association of College and Research Librarians (ACRL) has established Information Literacy Competency Standards to create standards, definition, and methods of instruction for information literacy in a college setting. One of the important reasons for information literacy is that technology is in a constant state of flux but information literacy skills transcend all forms of technology, it is the foundation skill set to be able to adapt using information. Information literacy is compromised of three main elements: network literacy (the ability to negotiate networked information such as social networks, professional networks, etc), media literacy (the ability to evaluate information from various media forms), and visual literacy (the ability to use and evaluate information in a multitude of formats).
Many people believe that after graduation from either primary, secondary, or higher education, we're done learning. Information literacy proves that learning is never done, it becomes more a matter of where we do the learning and how we learn. The difference is there won't be any homework at the end, no test at the end of the semester and information literacy skills can be practiced and applied to real world situations, in the workplace or in personal matters. In her first chapter of Information Literacy: An International Perspective, Sandy Campbell expresses the different faces of information literacy skills in action. In an example, she describes Innuit people's ability to find navigation information through experts and maps in order to successfully cross an icy sea. While it seems that would not be an example of information literacy, it is as the Innuit people had to seek information for survival and using the knowledge of where information is most accurate and up-to-date, they found the information and managed their crossing. Information literacy does not have to refer to the ability to read and write, it comes in many forms -- learning takes all kinds of shapes and information literacy is in the same manner.
Fabbro, E. (2009). Information literacy. In P. Rogers, G. Berg, & J. Boettcher, Encyclopedia of distance learning (2nd ed.). Hershey, PA: IGI Global. Retrieved from https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/igidl/information_literacy/0
Reflection on User Education
A part of my journey through the MLIS program was plagued with self-doubt that maybe librarianship was not the career for me. A good portion of my database retrieval course was spent discussing how librarians are expected to bridge the gap between what is taught in primary school and what is necessary for information literacy. It was extremely frustrating as it seemed like what was being taught in the standard curriculum of primary school was not covering even a tenth of what the average adult needs to know to properly answer basic questions of everyday life. In our discussion boards, I voiced that it seemed like librarians were expected to be superheros and miraculously teach our users everything from how to talk to how to operate a computer. It seemed like an impossible task that I did not feel equipped to handle.
Coming from a public library setting, I knew the difficulties and frustrations of the older generations not wanting to learn the new technology or having the desire but then not having the rudimentary skills, such as how to operate a mouse, to complete the simplest of tasks. Then I switched to academic libraries where I believed it would be easy teaching, with students already having basic research knowledge when I was blindsided with students who knew absolutely nothing about research or even how to use Microsoft Office. In my personal experience, I was fortunate as I grew up in the stacks of Z. Smith Reynolds Library at Wake Forest University and my parents were college educated and beyond, having the ability to supplement my education with additional research and writing skills.
Essentially, what it all boils down to that if you had to rank the importance of librarianship values, it starts with service as we are an information service portal first, acting as gatekeepers to reliable information and then closely followed by our role as information literacy educators. It circles back to the parable of "give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day, but teach him how to fish and he'll eat for a lifetime" and how librarians are the center role in educating the public on how to use information to the enrichment of their lives.
Coming from a public library setting, I knew the difficulties and frustrations of the older generations not wanting to learn the new technology or having the desire but then not having the rudimentary skills, such as how to operate a mouse, to complete the simplest of tasks. Then I switched to academic libraries where I believed it would be easy teaching, with students already having basic research knowledge when I was blindsided with students who knew absolutely nothing about research or even how to use Microsoft Office. In my personal experience, I was fortunate as I grew up in the stacks of Z. Smith Reynolds Library at Wake Forest University and my parents were college educated and beyond, having the ability to supplement my education with additional research and writing skills.
Essentially, what it all boils down to that if you had to rank the importance of librarianship values, it starts with service as we are an information service portal first, acting as gatekeepers to reliable information and then closely followed by our role as information literacy educators. It circles back to the parable of "give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day, but teach him how to fish and he'll eat for a lifetime" and how librarians are the center role in educating the public on how to use information to the enrichment of their lives.
Information Literacy in Public Libraries
Reader's AdvisoryThrough Reader's Advisory services, information literacy skills are encouraged as librarians create new pathways to unfamiliar information and skills. An example of Reader's Advisory could be the design and promotion of reading maps, such as the one linked in the image above. Reader's Advisory doesn't always have to refer to trying a new genre in fiction, it can include non-fiction areas such as woodworking skills. The services provided can include workshops, video tutorials, bringing guest speakers, hosting meetings for clubs and community groups and more. Reader's Advisory services provide the introduction and available information, encouraging to step out of one's comfort zone to learn or try something new.
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Technology WorkshopsAn ever-increasing user education service for public libraries is technology workshops and classes. Personally, I've taught several computer classes ranging from the basic components of a computer and how to use them, to basic Internet searching skills, a social media course where patrons set up their accounts and found some of their "friends", and e-reader workshops where we set up their devices and then we walked them through selection, download, and returning processes.
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Life-Long LearningLife-long learning is essential to the success of a society -- if no one learned a new skill or new ideas then society would stop as it would not have the opportunity to expand. Life-long learning does not necessarily mean sitting in a classroom or having required homework assignments, it is the opportunity to explore new avenues of the world. Life-long learning can be the librarian hosting a TED-Talk night in a community room with select topics, or introducing a new activity to the community like adult color books and new shading techniques not taught when you're a kid.
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Information Literacy in Higher Education
When it comes to higher education, there is an inherent expectation that students will come into an institution with a basic knowledge of how to conduct research and how to cite resources. Unfortunately, this is not the case for all students as each student's background varies vastly from person to person. An international student may not have any research background and therefore needs to have resources in order to catch up. Through various services, both in person and online, librarians strive to improve information skills through video tutorials, online reference material through certain databases, and by design online services such as LibGuides. Librarians work closely with faculty to offer an instructional segment within each course to provide students with a basic overview of the resources available through the library and also to offer help for future assignments and papers.
Video GuidesVideo tutorials are great ways to showcase advanced searching skills for database searching. The two videos are for history majors, conducting research on the U.S. Civil War.
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LibGuidesLibGuides are very popular in higher education as a ready reference source and to help students begin their research. It provides resources and background as well as more in-depth exploration by subject resources. The linked LibGuide is for history majors researching topics in the U.S. Civil War.
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