Information Literacy: Essential skills for the digital age
Information Literacy has been defined in many ways by many scholars. For example, The Association of College and Research Libraries states:
“Information literacy forms the basis for lifelong learning. It is common to all disciplines, to all learning environments, and to all levels of education. It enables learners to master content and extend their investigations, become more self-directed, and assume greater control over their own learning (TACRL 2000)
While some prefer to call it Information Management or even Information Fluency, regardless of its title, it remains the basic skills set for the 21st century (Eisenberg 2008). It is, therefore, vitally important that today’s students are equipped with the skills to successfully navigate the vast amount of information available on the worldwide web. Despite the assumption that our students are "digital natives" and, as such, have a firm grasp on technology, it is shown they often lack sophistication and critical thinking skills when using search strategies and when evaluating information sources for relevance and credibility (Hough 2011 ; OECD 2011).
Information Literacy has been defined in many ways by many scholars. For example, The Association of College and Research Libraries states:
“Information literacy forms the basis for lifelong learning. It is common to all disciplines, to all learning environments, and to all levels of education. It enables learners to master content and extend their investigations, become more self-directed, and assume greater control over their own learning (TACRL 2000)
While some prefer to call it Information Management or even Information Fluency, regardless of its title, it remains the basic skills set for the 21st century (Eisenberg 2008). It is, therefore, vitally important that today’s students are equipped with the skills to successfully navigate the vast amount of information available on the worldwide web. Despite the assumption that our students are "digital natives" and, as such, have a firm grasp on technology, it is shown they often lack sophistication and critical thinking skills when using search strategies and when evaluating information sources for relevance and credibility (Hough 2011 ; OECD 2011).
Image: Information Tsunami (Gunawardene 2013)
Information Literacy directly relates to the Australian Curriculum General Capabilities areas of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Critical and Creative Thinking, Personal and Social Capability and Ethical Understanding (ACARA 2013). Information Literacy includes such skills as:
Students can access help mastering these vital Information Literacy skills by seeking out Ms Costello, the Teacher Librarian in the school library. They can also avail themselves of a wealth of information found on our Virtual Library webpage at www.virtuallibrary.info
- Digital citizenship: safely, appropriately and ethically using and sharing information, images and multimedia
- Researching and locating information in books and online
- Evaluating information sources for relevance, reliability and credibility
- Summarising information, note taking and paraphrasing
- Creating and presenting information products
- Respecting intellectual property to avoid plagiarism
- Referencing and citing (Eisenberg 2008)
Students can access help mastering these vital Information Literacy skills by seeking out Ms Costello, the Teacher Librarian in the school library. They can also avail themselves of a wealth of information found on our Virtual Library webpage at www.virtuallibrary.info
References
ACARA (2013) General capabilities in the Australian Curriculum, Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). Retrieved from: http://v7-5.australiancurriculum.edu.au/generalcapabilities/overview/general-capabilities-in-the-australian-curriculum
Eisenberg, M. B. (2008). Information literacy: Essential skills for the Information Age. Journal of Library & Information Technology, 28(2), 39-47.
Hough, M. (2011). Libraries as iCentres: Helping Schools. ACCESS, 25(1) 5-9.
Gunawardene, Nalaka, (2013). Surviving info tsunami: How can Librarians help? Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/NalakaG/surviving-info-tsunami-what-can-librarians-do-11-march-2013
OECD (2011), Pisa 2009 Results: Students online: Digital Technologies and Performance, (Volume VI). Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Retrieved from: http://www.ecdl.org/media/PISA_2009_Results.pdf
The Association of College and Research Libraries (2000). Information literacy competency standards for higher education. Chicago, IL: The Association of College and Research Libraries. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/standards/standards.pdf
Ms C Costello
Teacher Librarian
ACARA (2013) General capabilities in the Australian Curriculum, Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). Retrieved from: http://v7-5.australiancurriculum.edu.au/generalcapabilities/overview/general-capabilities-in-the-australian-curriculum
Eisenberg, M. B. (2008). Information literacy: Essential skills for the Information Age. Journal of Library & Information Technology, 28(2), 39-47.
Hough, M. (2011). Libraries as iCentres: Helping Schools. ACCESS, 25(1) 5-9.
Gunawardene, Nalaka, (2013). Surviving info tsunami: How can Librarians help? Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/NalakaG/surviving-info-tsunami-what-can-librarians-do-11-march-2013
OECD (2011), Pisa 2009 Results: Students online: Digital Technologies and Performance, (Volume VI). Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Retrieved from: http://www.ecdl.org/media/PISA_2009_Results.pdf
The Association of College and Research Libraries (2000). Information literacy competency standards for higher education. Chicago, IL: The Association of College and Research Libraries. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/standards/standards.pdf
Ms C Costello
Teacher Librarian
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