Information Literacy

This topic has been on my mind lately because of both my e-portfolio and a job posting I saw. On my way to work this morning (which is a time when I think about a lot of things), I began to wonder what challenges information literacy a few decades ago would have faced compared to today. This page provided by ACRL on information literacy implies that the concept wasn't even around then. I find that worthy of exploring further because of how I envision information literacy and teaching individuals information literacy skills. The main concepts could have been applied to one's search and use of information ten, twenty, or even fifty years ago. Perhaps back then these ideas were simply called research skills.

I see information literacy as teaching proficiency in three areas: how to search for information, how to analyze information, and how to use information. Obviously, the techniques for searching for information have been refined with the adoption of online and digital resources. However, the search for information still takes places within physical materials--skills that were relevant long before the Internet and that still are helpful to know now. The techniques used for analyzing information I don't see as having changed too much. The purpose of analyzing information is to be sure that the information is accurate and comes from an authoritative source (when doing publication-worthy research, authoritative sources are important). With digital resources, such as websites or webpages, finding the identifying information that one normally uses to determine this can be somewhat elusive; but the things we look for (author, author's bio, date of publication, etc.) haven't changed terribly much. How we use the information we find also is relatively the same. Sources still need to be properly cited and plagiarism is still considered the grave sin of writing. Citation styles have been updated to include the variety of materials one can find online or in digital formats, but again, the concepts of how to use others' works is still consistent with how it was done before we could "find everything online."

So what is the big challenge with information literacy today? Why would we need to coin a phrase for a process that is basically researching with a bigger pool of information? The "bigger pool of information" is the key here. Information literacy, in addition to teaching research concepts with more types of materials that one can use, is also teaching how to navigate the ocean of information that exists. It's about quantity. There is so much information out there that it's often hard for the information "newbies" to even complete the first task of searching for information. It would be like sending a sea captain out on a boat without any navigational tools and tell him to sail across the Pacific and land on a specific island out of the more than 7,000 that make up the Philippines. Setting a fresh-faced student in front of a computer and giving her a topic to research without any preparation is like what the sea captain would be up against. The student probably has some basic knowledge that she can draw from to start searching (as the sea captain would have to head in the right direction), but she's probably not able to find and use the resources that would be perfect for her needs (just as the sea captain would not be able to find that single tiny island without some navigational help). It also doesn't help that anyone can put any information on the Internet they want, as long as they have a site and host server--which means our student may think she found the information she needs when actually it's completely inaccurate.

This is where librarians come in. We have the skills to pay the bills, and we are willing and able to teach our patrons information literacy skills. In libraries that serve post-secondary student populations, this exchange is already happening; I suspect that it's also occurring in K-12 school libraries and media centers with a dedicated librarian or other individual that fills that role (but it's not always the case that the school has such a person on staff). The reality is that information literacy instruction isn't always reaching the students because (1) school or campus libraries may not provide it or (2) the instruction may not be compulsory so students choose not to participate (which is often the case at post-secondary institutions). Information literacy skills use critical thinking skills and Bloom's taxonomy of cognitive skills, so teaching information literacy not only serves to improve ones skills in finding and using information but also builds competence in these other areas. I guess my point here is that information literacy skills should be a required component of the classroom and library instruction in all school districts and at all levels of education up to and including undergraduate (and instruction should be compulsory). This can be done either by having instruction in the library that students would attend, or coordination between librarian and faculty that would allow the librarian to provide instruction in the classroom that would tie in to the course. It's not an impossible feat, and I'm sure it would be easily accomplished if everyone supported the idea and was willing to help make it happen.

I'll step down from my soapbox now. I get worked up about this because I want students to leave school with all the skills that will make them successful, and too often I see the product of an incomplete education. I don't by any means blame the teachers (believe me, I KNOW how hard you all work to teach kids, teens, and adults), but I think there is a way that we can do better by our students and make them competitive in all industries.