Pursuing Information Literacy

Roles and Relationships

Emmett Lombard

• Publisher: Chandos Publishing
• Year: 2010
• Print ISBN: 9781843345909
• eBook ISBN: 9781780630281
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Library & Information Science
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

The primary purpose of Pursuing Information Literacy is to inspire individual thinking and application. The book reviews important information literacy and its social significance and the application of information literacy in a number of different sectors. The future of information literacy is explored in concluding chapters.- Philosophical framework and practical approaches- Beyond academia; different equations- Consistency and comfort as concept; expansion of domain

1

Introduction

Why Information Literacy?

It is widely acknowledged that the Industrial Age is over, and we are now in the Information Age. Without information, most organizations cannot succeed. Therefore, it is important that governments, organizations and individuals be information-literate. It was stated at the 32nd UNESCO General Conference Roundtable Discussion:

‘No society can claim to be a genuine knowledge society if access to knowledge and information is denied to a segment of the population. We therefore affirm the need for universal access to information and knowledge. By access we imply: infrastructure and connectivity; content; affordability; information literacy.’¹

Access is not enough: skills to effectively analyze and use information are also needed. The Information Age could as accurately be called the Misinformation Age: in addition to giving legitimate information providers more opportunities to share ideas, opportunities for charlatans have also increased. Additionally, thanks to the phenomenon known as the Information Explosion, it is nearly impossible to keep pace with all available information. Information literacy helps individuals to identify useful information and coexist with its multitudes.

Roles

This book universally considers the roles of Seeker and Provider, and their relationships with information and one another. Although information is often the focus in information literacy study, it is seekers and providers who drive it. Without human interest information is useless. When roles and relationships are considered, usually the focus is on the seeker. This book gives them equal attention.

Seekers pursue information and information literacy; providers provide information and facilitate information literacy. Providing information and facilitating information literacy are two different relationships. For example, those who work in the library do not always answer questions with finite information: they also instruct seekers on how to do research for themselves. Although the precise information the seeker imagines might not be possible to provide, an environment conducive to information literacy can be. For example, a manager may not be able to give a subordinate a direct answer to every particular work problem that arises; however, he or she can foster a climate conducive to information literacy that enables the person to do their work effectively.

Often seekers and providers are unaware of their roles, or that they need to pursue information literacy (or have even heard of the term). Additionally, the roles of seeker and provider are not static. For example, during a medical examination, a doctor can be a provider then a seeker or both simultaneously.

This book identifies only some of the relationships by considering seven societal sectors: business, health care, media, government, justice, defense and education. The categories are broad and their boundaries in information literacy not always clear; however, they offer familiar, important and stimulating contexts for anyone seeking to increase information literacy and awareness of it in society. As roles and relationships rely on individuals, and individuals are influenced by different cultures, this book also considers the information literacy perspectives of people from different parts of the world.

Before we consider their perspectives, however, it is helpful to first establish and understand some points about information literacy.

History

Many cite the works of Paul Zurkowski and Lee Burchinal in the 1970s as the first to formally recognize modern information literacy. Whereas Zurkowski referred to information in general society, Burchinal focussed on education. Both identified the Information Explosion as a global phenomenon that is both beneficial and overwhelming. The overwhelming aspect of it was attributed to failings in information infrastructures. Both agreed that organizations and individuals needed new resources and skills to be successful, and publicly coined the term ‘information literate’ to label such success. Key here was the notion that retrieval was not the only component of information literacy, but also thinking or problem-solving skills.²

Diane Lee observed a shift when ‘library literacy’ was distinguished from ‘information literacy’ in the 1980s.³ Despite Zurkowski’s application of the term to overall society, information literacy was still most closely associated with higher education, especially academic libraries.

The American Library Association (ALA) Presidential Committee defined information, and developed competencies for information literacy in 1989; these competencies have set the tone for the present. Of considerable use was the formation of the National Forum on Information Literacy in 1990, a coalition of more than 90 international organizations that globally monitor and facilitate information literacy in response to the ALA competencies.

Definition

There are many definitions available, but most are more descriptions of what an information-literate individual is capable of. Professional organizations, schools and individuals have all provided their own thoughts. Below are just a few:

From Australia: ‘… ability to identify an information need, and then to find, collect, organise, evaluate, and use the information’.⁴ ‘Organize’ here could be the idea of ‘information management’ as described by Genoni and Partridge.⁵

From New Zealand: ‘… life-long ability to locate, evaluate, use and create information’.⁶ ‘Life-long’ is an interesting addition to the definition: most information literacy providers would agree that one goal is for seekers to be able to attain information literacy indefinitely no matter what time or subject.

From Germany: ‘Diese Fähigkeiten beziehen sich auf alle Aspekte des problembezogenen Erkennens eines Bedarfs an Informationen, ihrer Lokalisation, ihrer Organisation, ihrer zielgerichteten Selektion durch Analyse und Evaluation und ihrer zweckoptimierten Gestaltung und Präsentation’.⁷ Roughly translated: Recognition of an information need, and the location, selection and presentation of it with purpose.

ALA: ‘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.’⁸

This is a small sample; a Google search for ‘def: information literacy’ provides hundreds of definitions and descriptions. Most of them acknowledge four common components: Identify, Locate, Analyze, Use. Rather than refer to a specific definition throughout this book, I will discuss information literacy in terms of these components.

The four components

Information literacy is both process and state of mind. As process it is usually non-linear; as state it is subjective to individual and topic. Therefore, roles and relationships between information seekers, providers and the information itself all decide information literacy at a given time. However, it is useful to understand the four components that comprise it as a process.

Identify

Before an individual can pursue information literacy, he or she must have a topic or goal in mind. This does not amount to declaring: ‘I want to buy a car’ or ‘I want to learn about concussion’; the seeker must understand why they want to buy, learn, vote or any of the other things individuals do in society. Not only must the topic or goal be identified by the seeker, but reasons why should be well understood. Self-awareness is an excellent thing for an individual developing Identify.

Locate

Identify established, it is time to Locate (the information literacy process is rarely this linear; sometimes through Locate, Identify is revised). Locate is arguably the most considered component of the four, particularly its tools (e.g. Google, EbscoHost, WorldCat). Accessing and effectively using resources that enable seekers to Locate is indeed very important (and now much more user-friendly thanks to the Web). However, without clear connection with Identify, it is difficult to imagine one’s Locate prowess leading to information literacy. As a librarian, I often observe discrepancies between seeker Locate ability and that of the other components. Researchers who use the library often think that Locating information sources is enough: ‘I found five sources. I’m done.’

Analyze

After sources are Located, seekers must be able to evaluate and integrate them into their own framework (established during Identify). Two things about the information need to be determined: relevancy and quality. For example, in academics the barometer of quality is whether a source is peer reviewed. However, in terms of the relationship and diverse sector focus of this book, relevancy is just as important as any perceived notions about quality, and again it is always connected to Identify. If it is not relevant to Identify, then quality does not much matter. For example, a person needs a lawyer for an embezzlement charge. The most impressive and successful lawyer is available, but their specialty is homicide, hardly the experience needed for this case.

Use

Use is difficult to assess or determine. What is Use? When does one Use? After Analyze, one could Use information to re-Identify, and repeat the entire information literacy process. Or Use could be the culmination of the information literacy process with a definitive action or product. It is easier to assess Use when the information literacy process itself is linear and simple, i.e. product-oriented. For example, a person identifies that he or she wants to buy a vehicle. The indivdual Locates and Analyzes information, then makes a purchase; arguably Use is the purchase. However, it is not always that simple. With the same example, after information about cars is Analyzed, the buyer then seeks information about car dealers and money lenders. Use here happened much earlier than at point of purchase. Or did it? Perhaps information seeking about dealers and lenders is still part of Analyze? The problem is that without the information about vehicles, the buyer could not effectively Analyze the other factors. Like the other three components, Use is not often static.

Again, information literacy is both process and state. To achieve information literacy, seekers must engage each component. To achieve each component, seekers must engage the process. For example, one must seek to Locate; when complete, there will be information to Analyze. Upon engaging or completing each component, the seeker achieves a different mind state.

In addition to these four, many would add additional components to the information literacy description. For example, there are those who argue that critical thinking should be explicitly identified in any information literacy definition. Journal articles bemoan the fact that there is not enough emphasis on it in the literature or during library instruction. However, I think the very essence of information literacy is critical thinking, and it is thus redundant to state it. I agree that there is often an emphasis on aspects of information literacy facilitation that do not involve as much critical thinking (e.g. the librarian who focuses on databases to Locate and short-changes the rest of the process). If all four components are effectively illustrated, however, this cannot be an issue. One cannot be information literate wit...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• Acknowledgements
• About the author
• Preface
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Business
• Chapter 3: Health care
• Chapter 4: Media
• Chapter 5: Government
• Chapter 6: Justice
• Chapter 7: Defense
• Chapter 8: Education
• Chapter 9: Conclusion
• Further reading
• Index