information literacy

Shawn HartmanAssistant Director of Public ServicesReta King Library308.432.6271 ext. 6150shartman@csc.edu

one who has the ability to locate, critically evaluate, organize, and use information to become an independent, life-long learner…

An information literate person is…

In a 1989 report, the American Library Association states that “Information Literacy is a survival skill in the Information Age.”

Selecting the appropriate terminology,

Formulating a search strategy,

Analyzing the data collected for value, relevancy, quality, and suitability,

Knowing how to clearly define a subject or area of investigation, and

Subsequently turning this information into knowledge.

(ALA 1989)

Computer Literacy

The technological ability to manipulate computer hardware and software.

Library Literacy

The ability to use a

library’s collection and its services.

A computer and/or library literate student has basic skills in the use of computers and the library’s collection but is not necessarily information literate.

Coordinate

Collaborate

Faculty(Specialists)

Librarians(Generalists)

Identify the learning needs of the students, Develop teaching units that offer meaningful practices, and as a result Produce lifelong, critical thinkers!

Establish a faculty/librarian liaison relationship that can grow from coordination to collaboration.

Faculty•Course content expert

Librarian•Library resource expert•Information Literacy expert

Student•Learner

QuizzesAssignmentsLecturesCommunication

Reserve MaterialsElectronic DatabasesWeb LinksPrint MaterialsCommunicatio

nResource SharingEvaluation

Teaching

Paradigm

Learning Paradigm

Discovery

Paradigm

Telling students what

they

need to learn…

Engaging students

in learning how to

learn…

Encouraging students to seek out new knowledge…

1) Provides a unique opportunity for faculty to address key teaching and learning issues, to re-evaluate old practices, and to incorporate meaningful assignments and activities into the curriculum.

(Florida International University, 2000)

2)

Provides faculty with practical tools to address and substantially reduce student plagiarism and academic dishonesty.

(Florida International University, 2000)

3)Focuses faculty’s attention on the need to integrate process into the teaching/learning environment, thus increasing the probability that students will produce the highest quality products of learning.

(Florida International University, 2000)

4)Provides faculty and students with up-to-date research tools and methods by which to locate, evaluate, and properly use information from electronic databases and internets.

(Florida International University, 2000)

5)Supports the gradual integration of technology into traditionally taught

classes.

(Florida International University 2000)

Students need to:Verify the authority, accuracy, and credibility of a web site or printed text,Consider the source of that authority, Investigate bias (All information is biased!!),Ask themselves what is worthy of learning, andKnow when and how use it?

• Authority• Objectivity• Quality • Coverage• Currency• Relevance

“Critical Evaluation of Information Sources: Or, But is it Credible.” University of Oregon Libraries. 13 July 2009. http://libweb.uoregon.edu/guides/findarticles/credibility.html.

Anyone who has access to the Internet

can contribute to Wikipedia.

Google is not an information service, it is a data aggregator! It

indexes anything, without regard to accuracy, truth, or

content.

Search engines, like Google, are

increasingly focused on ecommerce. Most of the initial hits of

information retrieved from these search engines are there because someone

paid for it to be placed!

73 % of today’s college students use the Internet more than the library to locate information.

The Google Effect: Ease and Convenience

*Pew & Internet & American Life Project (Surveyed 2000 undergrads from 27 U.S. colleges and universities)“New Allies in the Fight Against Googling: Students Check out the Web Instead of Library”ARL Statistics 2000-01.

The iPod supplanted beer as the most “in” thing for undergraduates, andFacebook tied beer for second.

Lorenzo, George, and Charles Dziuan. “Ensuring the Net Generation is Net Savvy.” EDUCAUSE (2006).

To attract greater support from the faculty,To increase the credit value of information literacy,To blur the edges of the faculty/librarian divide, andTo ensure every student that graduates from Chadron State College is information literate.

Students who are taught

(and understand)

critical-thinking skills are those who

are most successful, not only in college, but also in life

beyond college.

Determine the nature and extent of the information that is needed,Access the needed information effectively and efficiently,Evaluate information and its sources critically and incorporate selected information into his/her knowledge base and value system,Use information to accomplish a specific purpose, andUnderstand many of the economic, legal, ethical, and social issues surrounding the use of information.

Ultimately, information literate people are those who have learned how to learn. They know how to learn because they know how knowledge is organized, how to find information, and how to use information in such a way that others can learn from them. They are people prepared for lifelong learning, because they can always find the information needed for any task or decision at hand….a talent necessary to survive in the information age!(ALA’s Presidential Committee on Information Literacy, 1989, p.1)

Making it Happen

Building Campus Partnerships