Chapter 1

Introduction to Information
Literacy
 What is Information Literacy?
 Why is it important?
 Foundations of Information Literacy
 Components of Information literacy
 Information Literacy Process
 The beginning of the 21st century has been referred to as
the Information Age due to the explosion of information
output and information sources.

 In this Information Age, students and professionals must be

able to find the information they need and put it to use
effectively. It is clear that students cannot learn everything in
their field of study in a few years. Information literacy equips
them with the critical skills necessary to become information
literate and independent lifelong learners.
 There are many different definitions of
information literacy, one of the more
comprehensive one:
 Information literacy is a set of abilities
requiring individuals to “recognize when
information is needed and have the ability
to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the
needed information” (American Library
Association, 2006).
 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, 2013)

CILIP; Information Literacy Definition

Source: http://www.cilip.org.uk/get-
involved/advocacy/information-literacy/pages/definition.aspx
 In the Alexandria Proclamation in 2005,
endorsed by UNESCO’s Information for All
Programme (IFAP), Information literacy (IL)
is described as a basic human right.

 a means to “empower people in all walks of

life to seek, evaluate, use and create
information effectively to achieve their
personal, social, occupational and
educational goals”
 Information Literacy is teaching people the
capacity to:

 Recognise their information needs;

 Locate and evaluate the quality of information;
 Store and retrieve information;
 Make effective and ethical use of information,
and
 Apply information to create and communicate
knowledge.

(Alexandria Proclamation, 2005) adopted by

UNESCO.
According to the Alexandria Proclamation:

 Information Literacy lies at the core of lifelong

learning. It empowers people in all walks of
life to seek, evaluate, use and create
information effectively to achieve their
personal, social, occupational and educational
goals. It is a basic human right in a digital
world and promotes social inclusion of all
nations.
 Full declaration of the Alexandria
Proclamation:
http://archive.ifla.org/III/wsis/BeaconInfSoc.h
tml
UNESCO considers Information literacy
programmes as critically important to all
nations.

UNESCO Information literacy programmes

come in several world major languages.

International
Information Literacy
Logo
 The sheer abundance of information in the world
today make it necessary for people to be
information savvy and to be information literate
to be better informed citizens.

 Being information literate improves our quality of

life to help make informed decisions when
buying a house, choosing a school, hiring staff,
making an investment, voting for our
representatives and many others. Information
Literacy is, in fact, the basis of a sound
democracy.
Problem solving
Legal / consumer rights
Lifelong learning
Decision-making
Greater independence
Citizenship
Future planning
Saving time
 To use information effectively, we
need to gain the necessary skills.
We need Information Literacy
Programme:

 To gain set of skills to find, retrieve,

analyze, and use information.
 To encourage creativity in solving
research problems.
 To develop skills which contribute to
lifelong learning.
 To effectively apply information literacy, it
is necessary to have the knowledge of
basic skills.

These basic generic research skills provide

the foundation for information literacy

 Critical thinking
 Creative thinking
 Problem solving
 Effective communication and
 Organisational Skills
Critical Thinking Skills contributes
to Information Literacy Skills
Critical thinking skills processes:

 Infer: to draw conclusions from evidence or

facts.
 Analyse: break down complex concepts into parts
& relate
 Evaluate: examine critically
 Interpret: to comprehend the meaning or
significance
 Explain: to make clear the thought process
 Synthesize: to combine separate thoughts to
form a concept.
 Creative thinking is the process of keeping an
open mind towards change and combining
ideas to create something new or to view old
concepts in a new way.

Think out of the box

Exercise: Write a brief description of ‘creative

thinking’
 Information Literacy covers several types of
literacy. With each type of literacy comes
its required skills sets.

1. Traditional literacy of reading, writing &

numeracy
2. Technology/Computer Literacy;
3. Media Literacy;
4. Distance Education and E-Learning;
5. Cultural Literacy.
 Traditional literacy is defined as
“being literate; knowledge of letters;
condition in respect to education, esp.
ability to read and write” (OED Online,
“literacy”)
 The traditional literacy skills set
contains the traditional literacy of
oreading
owriting
onumerical
ospeaking and listening
 Ability to use a variety of technology – to
know how to use computers as information
processing machines.

 Computer Literacy :
❑a. Hardware literacy
• Operations for computers, laptop, ipads,
smart phones etc.
❑b. Software Literacy: “invisible”
 Requires knowledge of procedures and
instructions for computer and
telecommunications hardware
❑c. Applications Literacy
 skills necessary to use software packages
 Media literacy is the ability to access,
analyse, evaluate, and learn from various
forms of media (video, audio, Internet, print
sources) and create media messages of all
kinds.
 Media literacy embraces old and new media.
 At individual and societal level.
 Able to critically understand and have critical
consumption of mass media which has
powerful impact on society.
To be media literate you have:

 To be able to access the media, to access,

analyze, evaluate, and create messages in
a variety of forms - from print to video to
the Internet.
 understanding of the media: understand
the role of media in society and the
essential skills of inquiry.
 able to create / express oneself using the
media: self-expression when necessary
(Buckingham; 2005, Livingstone; 2005)
 In a critical analysis of any media message, ask some or all of the
following questions:

1. Who made—and who sponsored—this message, and for what

purpose?

2. Who is the target audience, and how is the message specifically

tailored to that audience?

3. What are the different techniques used to inform, persuade,

entertain, and attract attention?

4. What messages are communicated (and/or implied) about certain

people, places, events, behaviors, lifestyles, etc.?

5. How current, accurate, and credible is the information in this

message?

6. What is left out of this message that might be important to know?

Source: Scheibe, C. & Rogow, F. (2008). 12 Basic Principles for Incorporating Media Literacy
and Critical Thinking into Any Curriculum. Ithaca, New York: Project SHARP.
Information literacy is a set of abilities requiring individuals to
"recognize when information is needed and have the ability to
locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.
(ALA, 1989)

In Library literacy, one has to understand and match

the above needs and locate the information from
the different kinds of information resources in a
Library.

• Books and Periodicals

• Databases e-books, e-journals
• Catalogues and Indexes: OPAC
• Media Resources: Audio visual, Videos
• IR-Internal Repository - digital collections e.g.
Exam papers, digitised theses etc.
Definition: “the ability to analyze and understand a
particular society or culture; familiarity with the
customs and characteristics of a culture.”
Source: “cultural, adj. and n." The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 1989. OED
Online. Oxford University Press. 29 April 2000
<http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50055630>.

Cultural Literacy means a knowledge and

understanding of:

▪ Cultural values
▪ Religious beliefs
▪ Ethnic group
▪ Traditions, beliefs,
▪ Symbols and icons, celebrations
▪ Traditional means of communication (e.g. oral)
In studying cultural literacy one has to:

 Appreciate the diverse beliefs,

appearances and lifestyles;
 Be aware of the similarities and differences
between groups of different cultural
backgrounds;
 Understand the dangers of stereotyping
and other biases;
 Aware of sensitive issues of racism and
prejudices;
 Have familiarity with the current cultural
norms of new technology environments
(instant messaging etc.)
An information literate individual can :

 determine the nature and extent of the information needed.

 access the needed information effectively and efficiently.

 evaluate information and its sources critically and incorporate

selected information into his or her knowledge base and value
system.

 use information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose.

 ethical and legal issues uses information ethically and legally.

 1. What
information

2. Where

3. How--Strategy

4. How good--
evaluate

5. How to use it
Information Literacy is a survival skill in
the information age.

To be Information
Literate means to
be ‘information
smart’
 Discuss the positive impacts on the
society gained from an information
literate community.
Ralph Catts, R. & Lau, J. (2008).
Towards Information Literacy
Indicators. Paris: UNESCO.
Retrieved from
http://www.uis.unesco.org/Library
/Documents/wp08_InfoLit_en.pdf