An introduction to
Information Literacy
LIS560
Information Age
Need for students to be learners
 Knowledge growth
 Technology overload
 More flexible career paths
 Changes in working conditions
 Need for critical thinking skills and
problem solving

LIS560
LIS560
Information Literacy
“To be information literate a person
must be able to recognise when
information is needed and have the
ability to locate, evaluate and use
effectively the needed information.”
A.L.A. Presidential committee on information
Literacy.
Final Report (1989). Chicago (ED 315 074)
LIS560
Further reading
Presidential report on Information
Literacy
Full report (Many other interesting articles here)

Falling through the Net: Digital
Inclusion. Department of Commerce
Executive summary
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LIS560
WHAT IS DOES IT MEAN TO USERS?
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Doyle (1992) with a Delphi study
established that “ Information
Literacy is the ability to access,
evaluate and use information form a
variety of sources
Doyle, C.S (1992) Outcomes Measures for
Information Literacy
Within National Education Goals of 1990.
Final Report to National
Forum on Information on Information Literacy.
Flagstaff, Az: National
Forum on Information Literacy
LIS560
Quality


Researchers (Rand) checked out 6
health Web sites and 12 sites dedicated
to specific diseases.
How frequently Web sites are complete
and accurate:
 Breast cancer
63%
 Depression
44%
 Obesity
37%
 Childhood asthma 33%
U.S. News & World Report, June 4, 2001 v130 i22 p10
LIS560
Quality
“More than 2/3 of teens said
within the last year that they
use the Internet as their major
resource when doing a big
project for school..."
Lester, Will "High School Students Love Net for Research."
Syracuse Post Standard, 8/21/01 (from AP )
LIS560
Quality
In a study of 500 sites used by
Colorado high school students to
do research, only 27% of the
sites were judged to be reliable
for academic research!
Ebersol, Samuel, “Uses and Gratifications of the Web among Students,” Journal of
Computer-Mediated Communication, 6(1): September 2000,
www.ascusc.org/jcmc/vol6/issue1/ebersole.html
Colhoun, Alexander. "But - - I Found It on the Internet!" Christian Science
Monitor. 25 April 2000: 16.
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Quality
Advice on the Net:

The top legal advice person on
Askme.com turned out to be a 14 year
old whose only legal training was from
Court TV and cop shows
But – just as interesting, when he was finally “uncovered,”
the demand for his advice still continued!
Michael Lewis, New York Times Magazine, July 2001; also Next (Norton, 2001)
LIS560
Information Literacy as a process
Information Process models (1980s)
Big Six ( Eisenberg, Berkowitz) 1986
 Kuhlthau: 6 steps affective side of IL
 NSW (Australia) Information Process
1986
 Pitts/ Stripling 1988: reflective
aspect to the process
 Now users and producers of
information

LIS560
Eisenberg and Berkowitz’s
Life long learning
 Information process is in all parts of
life
 …not enough to know content;
processes are more important
 based on Bloom’s taxonomy (1956)
see module 3LIS560
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Information Literacy
Big 6
1. Task Definition
2. Info Seeking Strategies
3. Location & Access
4. Use of Information
5. Synthesis
6. Evaluation
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The Big6: Non-Linear
TD
E
ISS
S
L&A
UI
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The Big6: Not Linear
TD
S
ISS
L&A
UI
S
UI
S
E
ISS
L&A
UI
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S
E
User and producers cont..
Trial and error navigation
 Non linear
 Multitasking a way of life
 Ethical issues seem overlooked
 Whilst stereotypes

Digital natives
 Web generation
 2007 national school board report found
96% use social networking tools

Lorraine Bruce
How do librarians respond to
this?
Learn
 Immerse
 Scan
 Be creative
 Read current literature
 Observe trends
 Build learning communities

Lorraine Bruce