Information Literacy Guide

What is Information Literacy?

Gail Bush describes Information Literacy as being able to access information and then be able to evaluate, judge, synthesize and then use the information for one’s own purposes.  How can this be achieved?  This guide is intended for students in secondary education as they start to build an understanding of research and gathering information, which will aid in their development of higher critical thinking skills.  Information Literacy in the 21^st Century is an important skill that is necessary in education and the world of work.  As the Presidential Committee on Information Literacy reports, problem solving is more difficult when people lack access to meaningful information vital to good decision-making and the ability to determine what is viable information, and what is not. 

Types of Information Literacy?

Literacy was once considered just reading and writing.  The meaning has now become much more broad and covers more than just the printed word.  The ability to develop multiple literacies increases one’s understanding.  (Blair, 2012)  When researching information, one needs to evaluate sources for validity of the information in order to form their own opinion or viewpoint.  This includes evaluation of new media literacies.  Students, as well as adults, are part of participatory environments that have and continue to emerge.  (Pascarella)  One needs to develop skills in the following areas:

• Critical Literacy – Reading and Thinking
• Media Literacy – Visual and Computer
• Research – Searching and Evaluating
• Information Ethics – Copyright and Security/Privacy

Why is developing the skill of Information Literacy important?

Individuals may think developing the skill of Information Literacy just pertains to education, particularly higher education.  Developing this skill helps carry on every day tasks and research for one’s persona life as well.

• Shopping
• Cars
• Insurance

Current Events

Being able to determine accuracy of information that is available is important.  There are instances where fake stories are reported either as a joke or to create a negative image of a person or place.

• Just because it is on the Internet, does that mean it is the truth and accurate?
• The majority of blogs are written reflecting one’s personal opinion.  Even when there is work cited included, many times these still reflect the person’s view based on what they have read.
• Are the images that are on the Internet all real? 
• Have they been altered?

Availability of Information

Information is now available anytime and everywhere (with an Internet connection), 24 hours per day, 7 days a week.  Information is available through:

Libraries

•  Public Libraries
• College Libraries

·     Access to Scholarly Articles

·     Access to Scholarly Journals

Online Databases

•  Some charge a fee for access to journals
• Some access is given through a university’s website for their students, employees and alumni
• Google Scholar

Printed Material

• Textbooks
• Books

Websites

When doing research on a topic, one can use a company’s/organization’s website to obtain information.  For example, if doing research on the topic of juvenile diabetes, one might consult the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation for statistics and other general information about the disease. 

Social Media

Information shared through these venues include current events, pop culture and personal opinion.  If a story is being reported, it is best to see if it is reported via news outlets.  There are instances where false stories are created in blogs and shared to try to sway public opinion about a person or place, but there is no validity to the information.

• LinkedIn
• Facebook
•  Twitter
• Blogger/WordPress or other blogging sites

Evaluating Information

• Is the information a reliable source?
• Is the information based on one’s personal opinion/viewpoint or is it presented by an expert and published in a journal or article database?

Work Cited:

"Blair, N.  (2010)  Raising the Bar in Public Libraries: Literacy, Adolescent Development and Young Adult Services

University of Iowa, LIS Journal.  (Accessed, December 12, 2013).  http://ir.uiowa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=bsides

Bush, G.  Information Literacy in the 21^st Century Classroom.  January 26, 2012. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1JjcmGJb2A&feature=youtu.be

Pascarella, J.  (2008) Confronting the Challenges of Critical Digital Literacy: An Essay Review Critical Constructivism: A Primer.  Educational Studies.  43.  P. 246 - 255

Presidential Committee on Information Literacy: Final Report, American Library Association, July 24, 2006.

http://www.ala.org/acrl/publications/whitepapers/presidential  (Accessed December 12, 2013).

http://www.ala.org/acrl/publications/whitepapers/presidential#age

Social Media ~ through the eyes of a teens

My initial intention was to interview a female teenager, then I decided to get the male perspective as well.  I interviewed Meg, a 15-year old high school sophomore and Nate, an 18-year old college student.  Both of them have a phone with them at all times.  As a matter of fact, when I interviewed Meg is was minutes after her basketball game, and when I started with this question, we both started to laugh because I saw her phone.  Nate always has his phone and added now that he’s a college student he needs to be able to contact people for school things or in case of emergencies. 

Meg didn’t really post things in anger about someone through Facebook or Twitter.  She said she has seen it done many times and it bothers her to see it happen.  Nate admitted to making a few posts on Twitter due to anger, but not about anyone that follows him or that would somehow see it.  From the description, the posts seem to be not related to anyone and he actually felt better after posting them.  He said in a way, it relieved the stress he felt at the moment.  Nate’s description was that it was just some stupid thing that he said and would have no effect on anyone.”

Both Meg and Nate felt that there was a line that people can cross, and though they weren’t together when I interviewed them, they seemed to both feel that it’s okay to post things as long as it’s not too personal about themselves or others because that can come back to hurt one’s reputation.  Meg saw instances of bullying and felt that is just wrong because then others get involved and it seems to snowball.  Nate felt that one of the benefits of Twitter v. Facebook is Twitter confines you to 140 characters.  It’s not that people can’t be foolish in that amount of time.

Posting of inappropriate photos is something that seems to be increasingly happen.  One thing I found interesting that Nate said is that if any of his friends posted obscene photos he would mention to them that they should take them down – and if they didn’t do it, he would delete/unfollow them.  He feels that it could come back to haunt them.  But the most important thing to him was, they should have the courtesy not to post anything bad.  He didn’t feel that is what social media should be about, regardless if people think it’s okay.  Meg said she has seen photos that she considers inappropriate and thinks it’s “stupid” that people put them up because it can have an impact on them in the future.  It might be the way people view them, or it could hurt them when applying for jobs or to colleges. 

The sharing of inappropriate photos is not the only area of concern, sharing statuses and rants/vents via social media can lead to problems.  Nate and Meg felt that it can affect people’s chances to get jobs or promotions, and depending on how severe, can also get them fired; it can also get students in trouble, particularly with the DASA (Dignity for All Students) legislation in NYS.  Nate suggested that people should consider making their social media private to outsiders if they have a tendency to post rants and vents.  He feels that companies do have a right to fire people (or not hire them) because they can defame the company’s name. 

There are a lot of upsides to social media.  It connects people of similar interests, keeps friends and family in contact whether they are in the same house or across the world.  Another benefit is the power of the good, the ability to share and promote information about events such as fundraisers.  They have both seen many examples of this.  It seems to work well.

Interviewing both Nate and Meg was interesting to hear their viewpoints on social media.  They shared some interesting perspectives.  At this point, they both seem to have a handle on the proper use of social media.