RETHINKING INFORMATION LITERACY

COMPETENCY STANDARDS IN THE 21ST CENTURY A Presentation made by LiLi Li Associate Professor/E-Information Services Librarian Georgia Southern University Library Statesboro, GA 30460-8074 United States E-Mail Address: LiLiLi@GeorgiaSouthern.edu Singapore, Singapore on August 15-16, 2013

Copyright © 2013 Georgia Southern University. All Rights Reserved.

A Unit of the University System of Georgia

Table of Contents

Introduction

Focusing Information Literacy Competence

Dilemma of Academic Information Literacy Instruction

Information Literacy Instruction in Academic Learning Environments

Practical Suggestions

Summary

References

Introduction

In the age of information explosion, the advance of cutting-edge and emerging information technologies has provided more innovative ways of delivering and disseminating information resources and services in the cyberspace. Many academic administrators, instructors, IT specialists, librarians, and other professionals worldwide are engaged in exploring how to improve student-centered information literacy skills in dynamic academic learning environments.

This presentation explores key relationship among computer literacy, information literacy, and library literacy in academic learning environments. From the perspective of an academic information service librarian who is teaching first-year students, this presentation offers practical suggestions for improving academic information literacy instructions in the digital age.

1. Focusing Information Literacy Competency

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.”

--- ACRL : Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education

Web Reference: http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/informationliteracycompetency#ildef

Association of College and Research Libraries

The web site of Association of Colleges and Research Libraries has become an information gateway for information literacy instructors to promote information literacy competency in the world.

Association of College and Research Libraries

Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education has become a benchmark to guide information literacy programs and instructions in academic learning environments.

Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education

ACRL currently provides 5 Standards and 22 Performance Indicators to measure a student’s information literacy competency level:

Standard One: Determine information needs.

Standard Two: Access the needed information effectively.

Standard Three: Evaluate information and its source critically.

Standard Four: Use information effectively.

Standard Five: Use information ethically and legally.

Web Reference: http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/informationliteracycompetency

2. Dilemma of Academic Information Literacy Instruction

Among dynamic academic learning environments, there is a dilemma for integrating information literacy instruction into academic programs:

Many academic institutes have not implemented a standard full-credit academic course to promote information literacy instructions.

Many academic information services librarians do not have a full-faculty status to teach formal credited courses in academic learning environments.

Many academic programs have not set their specific requirements for information literacy competency standards in different academic subject fields.

Due to some big gaps between higher education and secondary education, many first-year undergraduates still do not know where to access and locate peer-reviewed scholarly information.

2. Dilemma of Academic Information Literacy Instruction

Only a few academic instructors prefer to collaborate with information services librarians in their classroom instructions.

In most cases, academic instructors take their students into an academic library building and ask an academic information services librarian to show his/her students how to locate peer-reviewed scholarly information.

In a short 45-minute session, a lot of academic information services librarians are busy at explaining and showing students how to access and search information from different local academic databases or other academic library consortia services.

And more ...

3. Information Literacy Instruction in Academic Learning Environments

Information Literacy = Computer Literacy + Library Literacy

Computer Literacy is a set of abilities and skills to utilize computer software and hardware in the networking environment.

Library Literacy is a set of abilities and skills to utilize information resources and services provided by a library or a library consortium.

4. Practical Suggestions

From the perspective of an academic information services librarian, the following issues are so crucial to enhance the ACRL’s “Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education” in academic learning environments worldwide:

1. What is information?

2. Information Media and Information Format

3. Information Literacy Instruction Model

4. Scholarly Literature in Academic Information Sources

5. Scholarly Information Delivery in the Academic World

6. Using Information Ethically, Legally, and Safely

If we do not help students understand what is information, it looks as if we are trying to build a tower building without a foundation:

What is Information?

Information has a broad domain. Information is everything perceivable around us.

Information is only perceivable through our senses.

Information exists in many different forms, including codes, colors, events, facts, graphs, images, letters, lights, news, numbers, pictures, signs, signals, sounds, tables, texts, waves, and so on.

Information can be collected, modified, processed, and stored for specific purposes.

What is Information?

The Relationship between Information and Data:

Data is one of expressive forms of Information. Information is not equal to Data.

Data is generated by arranging some form of coded Information.

Data analysis will dig out deeper Information.

Correct Data generates correct Information while false Data generate Errors.

Information vs. Data

A Sample Table for Employee Information:

Information Media and Information Format

Without knowing what is information and how information is delivered in the modern information society, it is only a vacant slogan to foster information literacy competency:

1. Information Media: It refers to either a mass of communication or many other different tools for information delivery and dissemination.

2. Information Format: It is a specific way of encoding and converting data in a computer hard drive or a flexible medium. In the modern information society, multiple formats are available for information delivery and dissemination.

3. How will information format and information media impact on information delivery in the age of information explosion?

4. How will information formats and information media impact student when he searches information?

Information Literacy Instruction Model

To promote excellence in teaching and learning, information literacy instructors must use different information literacy instruction models to improve teaching and learning effectiveness:

Information Literacy Instruction Model: Based on the theory of behavioral psychology, an information literacy model is a multi-stage process how to access, retrieve, evaluate, use, and process information.

During the course of teaching information literacy, academic librarians in the world should play a pioneering role of enhancing the current ACRL’s “Information Literacy Standards for Higher Education.”

Scholarly Literature in Academic Information Sources

A lot of undergraduate students are confused with the following questions:

1. What is literature?

2. Which information materials are included in scholarly literature?

3. Where to find specific academic information sources?

4. How to access and search them?

5. Which information search methods can be used?

6. What recommendations can be made if they cannot find the information?

7. And more …

Scholarly Information Delivery in the Academic World

In dynamic academic learning environments, printed and online scholarly information is delivered and disseminated by specific academic databases, digital libraries, institutional repositories, library consortia, open sources, and other web search engines:

1. What is the role of information formats and information media for delivering printed and online information?

2. What is the roadmap to search scholarly information in an academic institute?

Using Information Ethically, Legally, and Safely

Many efforts have been made to help students use information ethically and legally. However, few information literacy programs have done enough to show students how to use information safely. The following questions :

1. What are differences between private-accessed computing environments and public-accessed computing environments?

2. Who is spying on you in the cyberspace?

3. How to adjust settings in Web browsers to protect privacy in the cyberspace?

4. How to select appropriate proxy servers to surf over the Internet?

Info6: Information Literacy Model

5. Information Use + Creation

4. Information Review

3. Information Methods and Search

2. Information Resources + Locations

1. Information Needs

6. Information Process

Big6: 1. Task Definition 2. Information Seeking Strategies 3. Location and Access 4. Use of Information 5. Synthesis 6. Evaluation

Georgia Southern University Library, USA

Copyright © LiLi Li. All Rights Reserved

Copyright © LiLi Li. All Rights Reserved

Roadmap for Scholarly Information Delivery in the Academic World

1. Government Agencies 2. Law Enforcement 3. Business Companies 4. Hackers

Social Networks

Vehicles

Internet Activities

You

Who’s Spying on You in the Cyberspace?

Credit Card Instant Messaging

Television (TV)

Online Shopping

Cell Phone

Web Reference: http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/how-to/computer-security/surveillance-state-whos-spying-on-you

Summary

With the rapid development of computer technologies, network technologies, and web technologies, information literacy competency will play more and more important roles to impact academic performance and career development of undergraduates and graduates in the competitive working environment.

Instead of teaching students how to access and search information resources and services in one library settings, in fact, the most serious challenge for academic librarians and other information literacy instructors is how to foster their information literacy competencies to use new applications, databases, networks, and systems via innovative information media and formats that they have never tried and used in the age of information explosion.

References

ACRL. (2013). Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education.

Retrieved from

http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/informationliteracycompetency#stan

ACRL. (2013). Information Literacy Defined. Retrieved from

http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/informationliteracycompetency#ildef

Big6.com. (2013). Big6 skills overview.

Retrieved from http://big6.com/pages/about/big6-skills-overview.php

Coburn, D. (2013, January). Surveillance State: Who’s spying on you? Popular

Mechanics, 190(10), 46-53.

Li, L. & Lester, L. (2009). Rethinking information literacy instructions in the digital age.

International Journal of Learning, 16(11), 569-578.

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