According to The National Forum on Information Literacy, “Information literacy is defined as the ability to know when there is a need for information, to be able to identify, locate, evaluate, and effectively use that information for the issue or problem at hand.” (NFIL, 2009) Information literacy requires that a person not only has the technical ability to ascertain information, but that they are also critical thinkers who can evaluate the validity of that information.
The current group of college aged students are definitely technically savvy having grown up with computers and web availability, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are information literate. Surprisingly, a report conducted by the Joint Information Systems Committee, a British higher-education research institute, found :
1)Young people don't develop good search strategies to find quality information.
2)They might find information on the Internet quickly, but they don't know how to evaluate the quality of what they find. (see http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/72347/july-31-2006/the-word---wikiality)
3)They don't understand what the Internet really is: a vast network with many different content providers. (Goodall,2008)
Academic and Public libraries can become valuable tools for lifelong learning if they take this opportunity to become “the place” that people choose to go to in order to learn about or expand upon their information literacy skills.
Information literacy is of increasing importance to libraries and librarians as libraries are poised to transition between primarily physical media to increased digital media. The uniform methods of organization, such as Library of Congress cataloging or the Dewey Classification system, are not readily adaptable to online sources, since hypertext blurs the finite forms of a journal or book. Moreover, online media can utilize even more powerful search engines and classifications, such as tagging or metadata. Because of this transition, traditional ways of teaching information literacy must be coupled with computer literacy to make them effective.
Libraries switching to, or which have switched to OPACs will still require a basic understanding of Dewey or Library of Congress classification to find physical items. In addition, basic computer skills such as using hardware and boolean search terms are necessary.
Libraries hoping to offer online services will face numerous problems even with computer literate patrons. Downloadable audio books will require each patron to use their own portable audio device. The librarian attempting to help patrons with this service may be facing a new mp3 player each time he or she helps someone. Online databases operate with different querying front-ends, and the sites they are built into often vary widely. Though basic database query rules will always apply, there are many variables in layout and appearance.
The internet offers many tools to help teach information literacy as well. There are message boards, support groups, FAQs, and help buttons everywhere with solutions to common web and library problems. The possibilities for video training sessions are amazing. There are many low cost ways of creating and editing a helpful video and hosting it on free web pages or embedding it into the library page to make sure patrons can see the steps involved in a complex task.
Using web 2.0 tools can help libraries reach patrons who are online. These tools can also be used to create a culture of information centered around the library, where patrons will use the library to stay connected with their work, school, or peers, and will hopefully help each other with information literacy, via chat groups and message boards, plug-ins and add-ons for the website, or simply by linking to or friending the library. Web 2.0 tools can be extremely effective in getting across the concept of the library as a source of information, which may be the most basic, and also the most challenging, problem of information literacy to tackle.
The emergence of digital media and Web 2.0 applications presents new areas for librarians’ expertise. Information literacy will increasingly involve authenticating the information available on the internet. Search engines such as Google and Yahoo are sufficient for casual exploration; however, “the ease of these searches may lull users into forgetting that you can't always believe what you find on the Internet.” (Credible Information: UA Libraries' Trudi Jacobson Teaches Proper Research Methods, 2009)
Patrons searching for accurate information will need assistant locating information and determining its reliability.
Libraries provide databases, such as Wayne State’s ENCORE, as reliable sources of information. Database content “is generally delivered through well-established service channels by publishers, book-houses or subscription agencies.” (Lossau, 2004) For web content, librarians can access library portals, which serve as an entry point to valid websites.
Several examples of portals include:
UNESCO
EDSITEment
http://edsitement.neh.gov/
and Fullerton College Library
http://library.fullcoll.edu/2007subject.html
No matter how technology evolves, information will always need to be located, identified and evaluated. In order to remain relevent, librarians must possess the skills to assist in this area and be key participants in the process of information literacy.
Sources cited:
Badke, W. (2008) “A rationale for information literacy as a credit-bearing discipline” Journal of information literacy, 2(1), http://jil.lboro.ac.uk/ojs/index.php/JIL/article/view/RA-V2-I1-2008-1
Credible Information: UA Libraries' Trudi Jacobson Teaches Proper Research Methods. (2009, February 23). Retrieved March 30, 2009, from University of Albany: http://www.albany.edu/news/campus_news_5586.php
Goodall, Hurley. (2008). Generation Y Reports Greater Library Use Than Older Groups. Retrieved March 22, 2009 from The Wired Campus Web site: http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/?id=2635 = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /
Lossau, N. (2004). Search Engine Technology and Digital Libraries. Bielefeld, Germany.
National Forum on Information Literacy. (2009). What is Information Literacy? Retrieved March 13, 2009 from Web site: http://www.infolit.org/index.html
Shapiro, J. (1996) Information Literacy as a Liberal Art. Retrieved March 23,2009 from Web site: http://net.educause.edu/apps/er/review/reviewarticles/31231.html
The Colbert Report. (2006). Wikiality. Retrieved March 25, 2009 from Web site: http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/72347/july-31-2006/the-word---wikiality= o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
7 comments:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/54232/30-rock-wikipedia-prank#x-4,vclip,1
They don't mention the part where they also edit wikipedia to describe how Janis Joplin was an avid speed walker.
Lynn,
This is a very well-written blog post. I think you made your points eloquently and informative manner. It was very interesting to learn that although someone might be tech or computer savvy, it doesn't mean that they are able to discern if the information they are finding is from a trustworthy source. Great job!
My group used googledocs so that we could each contribute to and edit one post. This was created by Eric Smith, Jill Slater and me. I was the one who happened to post it to the blog.
The idea of getting used to ever-changing technologies makes me really nervous but I think I can be at least confident that I will always be remember to be an information literate.
I like the idea of using video training sessions to teach computer skills. Rather than pull librarians away to teach a few people in a computer class, why not make a video patrons can access at their home or in the library computer lab? Or, rather than make a video, it might be more time efficient to gather a handful of effective videos that are already online.
It is daunting to think of the changing role of the librarian--not only knowing how best to access information but also how to educate, troubleshoot, fix, authenticate.
Akin to Kara's comment, I can see where embedding short "show me" and "did you know" in-house clips on our web pages would make them easier to navigate for some and more helpful/informational for all for all. An IT staff member just informed me about what she had just done on our Twitter account that supported something she'd posted on our Facebook page. Jan Utz said Web 2.0 is passe and we're moving to 3.0! Someone had better strap me to the front end of their search engine or I'm going to be left behind like a rotary phone! (For some of you, that reference may have made more sense as "land line".)
I see much of the future of libraries resting on the abilty to convey to the public the library's role in making them literate in the digital age. Nothing really has changed except for the near-instantaneous access to vast amounts of information. People still have to learn how to recognize what is credible and relevant,and how to synthesize and internalize what they have found. Libraries, as always, can provide the access, but the future lies, even more than in the past, on helping patrons with the rest of it.
Google continues to amaze me with it's ability to seduce users. The last time the reference librarian and I were both stumped by our typically trustworthy sources, and the lack of information where did we turn? I'm ashamed to admit it... we Googled! The cool part is that both of us are able to discern credible sources and were able to trace the information backwards to a 'library' source. As a teacher and future librarian I am excited to help this "digital" generation learn to question everything they read and to find multiple sources.
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