Lesson 1: Fundamentals of Information Literacy

INFORMATION LITERACY

Information Literacy: the ability to access, evaluate, organize and use

information from a variety of sources.

Reason: An individual should be able to know why they need that info. Once
gaining an objective, they need to know how to retrieve that info, and know
when to acknowledge the sources.

An Information Literate person should be able to:-

● Define and articulate each various need for information;

● Access the needed information effectively and efficiently;
● Evaluate information and resources critically;
● Use the information to accomplish at specific purpose; and
● Understand the economic, legal and social issues that surround the use
of information and use the information ethically and legally.

SEVEN LITERACIES:
1. Media literacy
2. Network literacy
3. Computer literacy
4. Traditional Alphabetic literacy
5. Library Instruction
6. Cultural literacy
7. Visual literacy

1 Media literacy an ability to create, access, analyze and

evaluate the media resources

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2 Network literacy basic knowledge of the internet era & network
society. Digital literacy deals with computer
knowledge and skills.

3 Computer literacy Ability to use computers and related

technology efficiently.

4 Traditional Alphabetic an ability to communicate with the context

literacy
and familiarity with letterforms, names and
corresponding sounds as measured by
recognition, production as well as writing task.

5 Library Instruction user education on library orientation, which is

also known as Bibliographic Instruction (BI).

How to locate info quickly and efficiently.

6 Cultural literacy an ability to understand and participate

fluently, such as read, write and share in a
given culture.

7 Visual literacy an ability to interpret & communicate

graphically presented info such as image,
picture, diagram and illustration.

TYPES OF RESOURCES:
The basic types of resources can be differentiated between scholarly and
non-scholarly resources based on several main criteria in terms of:-
1. Writer

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 2. Reviewer
3. Coverage
4. Target Audience
5. References
Scholarly Differences Non-Scholarly
Written by a scholar or Writer/Author Usually a staff
someone who has done writer/reporter.
research in the field Name/credentials not
always indicated.
Experts in the field Reviewer/Editor Staff members or none
(peer-review) at all.
Discipline covered; in- Coverage Articles are fairly short
depth analysis or (overview on a focused
review topic)
For academicians, Target audience/ For laymen, the general
scholars, researchers. Language public.

Use of jargon & specific Use of common daily

terms in the language.
discipline/field.
Always cite their References A bibliography is
sources: usually not provided.
footnotes/ references/
bibliographies
Journal Example Articles from
magazines/
newspapers
CATEGORIES OF RESOURCES:

PRIMARY SOURCE

Humanities Sciences
● Original, first-hand account of ● Report of scientific discoveries
an event or time period ● Results of experiments

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● Usually written or made during
or close to the event or time
period
● Original or creative writing
● Factual, not interpretive
Examples
1. Diaries, journals, letters
2. Newspaper & magazine
articles
3. Government records
4. Photographs, maps, postcards,
posters
5. Speeches, debates,
discussions
6. Interviews
● Results of clinical trials
● Social & political science
research results
● Factual, not interpretive
Examples
1. Published results of research
studies
2. Published results of scientific
experiments
3. Published results of clinical
trials
4. Proceedings of conferences
and meetings

SECONDARY SOURCE

Humanities Sciences
● Analyzes & interprets primary ● Analyzes and interprets
sources research results
● Secondhand account of an ● Analyzes interprets scientific
event discoveries
● Interprets creative work
Examples Examples

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 1. Biographies 1. Publications about the
2. Histories significance of research or
3. Literary Criticism experiments
4. Book, Art & Theater Reviews 2. Analysis of a clinical trial
5. Interpretive newspaper 3. Review of the results of
articles several experiments or trials

Primary Resources Provides direct or firsthand info about:

1. Autobiography
2. Interview
3. Survey
4. Debates & discussions
5. Diaries, personal journals & blogs
6. Historical documents
7. Photographs
8. Events
9. Artifacts
10.Government documents
11. Patents
12. Emails & letters

Also referred to as raw data.

Primary sources:

1. Historical & legal documents

2. Artifacts
3. Experiment results
4. Statistical data
5. Speeches
6. Audio & video recording

Secondary Resources Documents written after an event has occurred.

Provides secondhand accounts of an event,

person or topic.

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 Offers different perspectives, analysis, and
conclusions of those accounts.

1. Social Policy
2. Handbook
3. Reviews
4. Criticism & Interpretations
5. Dictionaries
6. Guide to Literature
7. Political Aspects

RESOURCES FORMAT:

1 Printed a. Printed books

b. Magazines
c. Journals
d. Newspapers

2 Multimedia a. CDs
b. DVDs
c. Cassettes
d. VHS tapes

3 Electronic a. Online databases

b. Electronic books
c. E-journals
d. Websites

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INFORMATION

DIKW HIERARCHY

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IMPORTANCE OF INFORMATION

Raja Abduallah Yaakob (1996) - Information is important for the current rapid
economic growth.

Politics For national and political stability

Technology Can boost the development of technology
Education To support teaching and learning
Culture To promote cultural and social activities

CHARACTERISTICS OF INFORMATION

Good Characteristics Poor

RELEVANT RELEVANT IRRELEVANT
Related to topic or Not related at all
subject
CONCISE CONCISE SWAMPING
Can understand easily Too voluminous,
Low quality
UPDATE TIMELY OUT OF DATE
The content is available The content is not valid
to be used as to be used as
references references

CYCLE OF SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION

Info Cycle: The succession of sources that are created and disseminated after
an event occurs.

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Info cycle helps users to understand when & why an info source was
generated, and with selecting appropriate sources for research projects &
questions.

Progression:
1. Starts with an idea/research topic
2. Develop research questions to gather info
3. Get data & info to analyze
4. Use of primary/secondary literature to support & achieve the
objectives of research
5. Research results are then disseminated to enable audience access to
research

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Primary & secondary literature are accessible through literature & data
repositories, library catalogues, bibliographies and search engines.

In summary, the cycle of scientific information born as an idea or topic until it

is mature and becomes available to the public.

RESEARCH:

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Purpose:
1. Learn something
2. Gather evidence

Original/Primary Research Research that looks for information

that nobody else has found, to
discover something new.

a. observation (e.g observing

people's response to
advertising;how prison
sentences influence crime
rates)
b. doing tests, interview,
questionnaire, experiments.

Original research requires two

things:

1) knowing what has already been

discovered, having a background
on the subject; and

2) formulating a method to find out

what you want to know.

▪ you decide how best to find the

information you need to arrive at a
conclusion. This method may be
using focus groups, interviews,
observations, expeditions,
experiments, surveys, etc.

Secondary Research A Research that finds out what

others have discovered through
original research and
• trying to reconcile conflicting

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 viewpoints or conclusions,
• and arrive at your own conclusion
based on others' work.

Examples:
• Literature review
• Handbooks/manuals
• Encyclopaedia

Examples:

Primary Research 2003: A research on Ginseng found that it

has properties that can help alleviate
menopausal symptoms

Researcher Y created a survey to find out the

relevancy of the criteria by measuring client
satisfaction of 10 different companies

Secondary Research 2010: A report stated that nearly all of the world’s
80,000 tons of ginseng in international commerce
was produced in four countries: South Korea, China,
Canada, and the United States

Researcher Z did a literature review on good criteria

for a building, create a simpler checklist, and relates
on how the checklist can improve online advertising
for a construction company

Topic 2: Reference Resources

Characteristics:

Non-Circulating Cannot be checked out of the library.

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Quick Facts Not a thorough read. Reference for quick/basic info.
Overview Provides a quick intro to topic, brief overview.
Bibliographies, Provides suggestions to review related articles within
Cross References, the book and citations to other related materials.
See-also References
Specific Organized in very specific ways.
Arrangement
Chronological - by date (Chronologies)
Alphabetical - in word order (Dictionaries)

Type Purpose
Almanacs Brief statistical info & facts
(Current & retrospective coverage of topics)
Directories List of names, addresses, phone no, locations
Bibliographies List of compilations of sources on a particular topic
Yearbooks A summary of the current status of a year’s work in a

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 particular field by institutions/companies
Handbooks Facts, formulas, technical info;
quick reference about a broad subject area.
Encyclopedias Background info on topic,
usually written by a subject specialist
Dictionaries Definitions of words in a particular field;
For word meanings/etymology (origin)
Government Official documents/statistics produced by government
& Statistics institutions.
documents E.g. Laws, regulations, agency documents.
Atlases Geographical info.
Statistical info - population, economic stats, weather, etc.

Topic 3: Searching Skills

5 STEPS FOR EFFECTIVE SEARCH STRATEGIES

1. Define topic
2. Select your sources
3. Search, Locate & Access Materials
4. Evaluate sources
5. Use Ethically

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 SEARCHING TECHNIQUES

Effective searching - refining keywords

Singular/Plural
Variations of words
Alternative Spelling
Alternative Terms
(synonyms/other culture)
Specialist Terminology
Acronyms
Foot/feet
Pollute-pollution-polluting
Organisation/Organization
Football/soccer
Co-worker/colleague
Vitamin C/Ascorbic acid
WHO - World Health Organisation

Broader Terms
Related Terms
Narrower Terms

Visual Charts, presentations, graphics

Listing Bullet points,
organization of words by category

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Boolean Operators

Phrase searching Search a particular phrase, theory, framework

“.............................” e.g.
“Research methodology”
Research methodology
Truncation Include variant endings of the root word

* E.g.

Age*
Aged
Ageing
Ageless

Wildcards Include variants of a word/alternative spelling

? Organi?ation - organisation organization

#
Colo#r - color colour

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Nesting Use more than one searching technique in the same search
statement
“.........”
?#* “Computer crimes” AND (america OR US OR USA)

NAVIGATING RESOURCES

https://times.taylors.edu.my/mod/resource/view.php?id=1583034

https://times.taylors.edu.my/mod/resource/view.php?id=1583073

EVALUATING RESOURCES
1. Currency
2. Relevance
3. Authority
4. Accuracy
5. Purpose

Currency Last updated or revised & relevance to current time.

1. Date of source
2. Up to date
3. Publication date
4. Historical
5. Latest edition

Current source - newest research

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 Oldest source - history

Relevance Relatability and amount of info to topic, detailed analysis,

readership level appropriate to reader.

Authority Who published/wrote/edited the info + expert on topic.

Author & qualification, scholar publisher, peer-reviewed,

website (.gov/.edu)

1. Author published
2. Qualified
3. Cited
4. Recommend
5. Expert
6. Commercial
7. Funded/Sponsored

Accuracy Accurate/reliable info, other sources verify info.

Source match understanding of topic, info verified in other

sources, bibliography list, resource references and
relevance to discussed topic.

Important for credibility.

Purpose Purpose of info + biased to one POV?

Purpose stated, standpoint (bias), identify nature and

degree of bias, how info presented affect the findings.

1. Inform
2. Explain/Educate
3. Persuade
4. Debate
5. Entertain
6. Sell

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Why is evaluating websites important?
INTERNET
1. Anyone can put something on the Internet
2. Not all information is accurate or true
3. Documents can easily be copied with omissions and errors, or falsified

To evaluate credibility online:

1. Identify URL
2. Credibility of website

Topic 7: Information Ethics & Plagiarism

Ethics The discipline dealing with what is good or bad, and

with moral duty and obligation.

Info ethics The branch of ethics that focuses on the relationship

between the creation, organization, dissemination and
use of info, and the ethical and moral codes governing
human conduct in society.

Plagiarism The use of someone else’s language, information,

original materials, ideas without acknowledging the

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 source.

PLAGIARISM

The use or attempted use of unauthorized aids in examinations or other

academic exercises submitted for evaluation
Fabrication, falsification, or misrepresentation of data, results, sources
for papers or reports
Copying from another student's work
Actions that destroy or alter the work of another student
Unauthorized cooperation in completing assignments or examinations
Submission of the same written work in more than one programme without
prior written approval from both lecturers

Major Themes:
Plagiarism The practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing
them off as one's own

Copyright The exclusive legal right to reproduce, publish, sell, or distribute

the matter and form of something (such as a literary, musical, or
artistic work)
Censorship The process or idea of keeping things like obscene words or
graphic images from an audience.

Privacy The right to be free from secret surveillance and to determine

whether, when, how, and to whom, one's personal or
organizational information is to be revealed.
Children’s Access to To block or filter Internet access to pictures and information that
Internet/Filtering are obscene; links to child pornography; or that are harmful to

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 minors. This is to reduce access by minors to inappropriate
matters on the Internet.
Search Engine Ranking Refers to the position at which a particular site appears when a
search engine query is initiated. It is influenced by a multitude of
factors, including age of the site, the quality of a site’s link
portfolio, relevancy of the page, social signals and level of
competition.

The search engines are also focused on creating a more

personalized search experience for users and take an individual’s
search history into account.
Advertising vs Info Advertising is bringing a product (or service) to the attention of
potential and current customers.

Advertising is:

Focused on one particular product or service.

Done with signs, brochures, commercials, direct mailings or e-
mail messages, and personal contact.
Information on the other hand is defined as knowledge, facts or
news. Information is presented in many forms:

It can be complete or incomplete.

It can be biased or deceptive

Complete information is telling someone everything there is to

know about something: what it is, what it looks like, how it
works, what its benefits and drawbacks are.

Complete information is impossible to provide in an

advertisement. In an advertisement, what appears is everything
the writer thinks the customer needs to know about the product
in order to make a decision about the product. Therefore, this
can lead to biased information.
Spam & Phishing Spam is the term used to describe unwanted emails that are

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 typically distributed in bulk.

Spam messages will typically contain commercial content –

examples include pornography, pharmaceuticals or dubious
financial transactions.

Spam can also be used to launch phishing attacks where users

are sent emails tricking them into ‘updating’ their personal details
online via a fake website similar to a bank’s website. Spam can
also be used as a means of distributing malicious software which
can install key-logging software on your PC without your
knowledge.
Creative Common One of several public copyright licenses that enable the free
distribution of an otherwise copyrighted "work".

Plagiarism in Digital Age:

1. Cutting and pasting from one electronic source to another without
attribution
2. Downloading papers from online paper repositories (paper mills)

Fair Use Exemption:

a legal principle that defines the limitations on the exclusive right of copyright
holders. It permits certain limited uses without permission from the author or
owner.

1. Can use copyrighted work on a limited basis according to Fair Use.

2. Allows you to quote passages from other work in your paper without
granting their permission.
3. Limits: Educational purpose, Fair Use vs. Copyright

Traits of Plagiarism:

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 a. Literary theft: present as new and original of an idea/product derived
from an existing source.
b. Copy and paste without quotation marks and referencing.
c. Intentional use of someone else’s ideas, words or concepts
d. Improper or inaccurate citations
Acknowledge when:

1. Quoting another person’s actual words

2. Using another person’s ideas, opinions, theories
3. Paraphrasing the words, ideas, opinions, theories of others
4. Borrowing facts, statistics or illustrative material
5. Offering materials assembled by other in the form of projects or
collections without acknowledgment

Identifying plagiarism:

YES: Directly copy or summarize someone else’s work or ideas without

acknowledging the source.

NO: If you write or speak about your own ideas or common knowledge.

Common Knowledge: consists of well-known facts.

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Types of Plagiarism:
Clone Submitting another’s work, word-for-word, as one’s
own, without adding or subtracting

CTRL - C Contains significant portions of text from a single source

without alterations; only minor changes

Find - Replace Changing keywords and phrases but retaining the

essential content of the source
Remix Paraphrases from multiple sources, made to fit together
seamlessly

Recycle Borrows generously from your own previous work

without citation

Hybrid Combines perfectly cited sources with copied passages

without citation (non-cited) in the same passage

Mash-up Mixes copied material from multiple sources and original

content without attribution

404 Error Includes citations to non-existent or inaccurate info

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 Aggregator Includes proper citations but the paper contains almost
no original work - only paraphrases

Re-tweet Includes proper citations but relies too closely on the

text’s original wording and/or structure, quotations vs
own arguments

Example:

Original Text
I think if you do something and it turns out pretty good, then you should
go do something else wonderful, not dwell on it for too long. Just figure
out what’s next.
- Steve Jobs, 2006 -

Quote
As said by Jobs (2006), ……………………………………

Exceptions:
1. Well-known facts
2. Results from own research or experiments
3. Own opinions

Reason Plagiarism Happens:

● Lack of research skills in students
● Inexperience in distinguishing between a paraphrase, summary, and
"common knowledge.“
● Lack of understanding of plagiarism, copyright, and public domain
● Poor time management and organizational skills lead to procrastination

Plagiarist:
1. Incorrectly cite resources

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 2. Submit work that is not your own (fully or partly)
3. Simply retype info (Copy & Paste)
4. Copy the majority of text but change only a few words.

Topic 8 : Citation & Referencing

CITATION STRATEGIES

Types of Referencing Styles Examples

Author-date (Parenthetical system) Harvard, APA
Author-Page number MLA
Numeric system (Scientific system) Vancouver, IEEE
Numeric-Footnote + Reference list Chicago (Turabian), OSCOLA

Citation: the way you tell your readers that certain material in your work
came from another source.

Referencing: the way you acknowledge the source of your ideas and quotes
in sufficient detail so that your readers can locate the item.

Rules of Referencing:
1. Cite all references
2. Must appear in two places
3. Use correct methods

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Cite all references A reference must be included every time you use
someone else’s info.

Referencing is to be provided when:

Quote Use exact words of the source with

quotation marks
Paraphrase Restate in your own words
Summarize Draw out the key points or main
arguments of the original text
Copy Reproduce a diagram, graph or
table from existing work

Must appear in two 1. In-text citation

places 2. Reference list

Use correct methods According to the referencing style format used by

school.

How Do I Reference?

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 Author’s family name Year of publication Page numbers
(if appropriate & where available)
(Noble, 1987, p.13)

Author’s family name

1 - 2 authors
Always cite all
E.g.
● Bernstein
● Stella and Bernstein

3-4 authors
Cite all authors the first time
E.g. Walker, Allan, Smith, Lee and Lim

6 or more authors
Put ‘et al’ after the first author’s family name -> Walker et al.

Corporate author
Spell out in the first time
E.g. American Psychological Association
Subsequent: Only use abbreviation: APA

Multiple works
List 2 or more works by different authors who are cited within the same
parentheses in alphabetical order.
Separate with semicolon
E.g. (Grace, 2009; Haynes, Butcher & Boese, 2004; National Council, 2008)

No authors name
Put the ‘Article Title’

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Year of Publication
E.g.
Many factors are known to affect the successful outcomes for students at
university (Johnston, 2004)

Or

Johnston (2004) claims that there are many factors that are known to affect
the success of students at university.

Multiple works by the same authors in the same year

Use a/b etc to differentiate between works in the same year
E.g. (Napier, 1993a, 1993b)

Multiple works by the same authors

Give the author’s surname once; for each subsequent work, give only the
date
(Brown, 1982, 1988)
Page number

Use direct quote from an original source

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Copy table or figures or provide particular details like date
E.g. p.53 / pp. 12-13

Missing Information - No Date

Use n.d.
E.g.
In-text citation: (McDonald, n.d.)
Reference list: McDonald, J (n.d.). More burgers, more fun, more life.
Retrieved from http://www.whymcdonaldsisawesome.org

MORE INFO

Quotation: Only quote passages directly relevant to subject.

If quotation is fewer than 40 words, place (“..............”)

EXTRA
GOOGLE SCHOLAR
PROS 1. Familiar and relatively simple to use, similar UI to Google
2. Allows users to search for a wide variety of materials
including articles, books, "grey literature" like conference

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 proceedings on a vast number of topics.
3. Can see articles related to the one that might interest you,
how many times an article has been cited and by whom,
and provides citations for articles in a number of styles.
4. Display links to articles and books held through ECU
Libraries.
5. Can save both citations and articles to read later.
CONS 1. Coverage is wide-ranging but not comprehensive.
2. Does not provide the criteria for what makes its results
"scholarly". Results often vary in quality and it is up to the
researcher to determine which of the results are suitable
for their purposes.
3. Does not allow users to limit results to either peer
reviewed or full text materials or by discipline.
4. Does not provide notice of when its materials are updated.
5. Citation tracker can be difficult to use and inaccurate.

OPEN ACCESS
PROS 1. Wide dissemination
2. Speedy publication
3. Access in developing countries
CONS 1. Expensive for researchers
2. Quality concerns
3. Financial issue for journals
4. Not peer-reviewed
5. Not online database

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