Information Literacy 101

Putting Students and Learning at the Center

1990’s General Education ReformsFundamental academic skills across the curriculumUsing technology to enhance teachingAssessing student learningLearning communities to promote cooperation

Pedagogical Shifts

Learning style accommodations

Group workHands-on and

service learning

Roles for Librarians

IdentityVisibilityCollaboration

Librarian as Teacher

Information History in a Hurry

(Vaguely Chronological)Oral tradition & manuscripts (pre 15th

century)Gutenberg (1457)Libraries as warehousesRadio, TV, electronic communicationsBibliographic (library) instructionInformation Age (Internet, WWW,

Information Highway Hype)

Some Perspective

More new information has been produced in the last 30 years than in the previous 5000. The total of all printed knowledge doubles every eight years.

“Proficiency at generating information has exceeded our abilities to find, review, and understand it.”

“Information everywhere, but not the time to think about it.

Information Literacy

Definitions of Information Literacy

Work in progress since the 1980sLocal, national, and international effortsMultiple understandings possible

Information Literate People

Have learned how to learn:Know how information is organizedKnow how to find informationKnow how to use information so that others can learn from them

Information Literacy/Competency

Fundamental skills necessary for academic achievement and lifelong learning.

Ability to identify and resolve one’s own information needs.

Prerequisite to success in education, work, and personal life.

Information Literacy is

• NOT a new idea• NOT the responsibility of any one

department• Discipline-based• Crosses disciplines• Required by Middle States• Needs all of us.

Other Literacies

Visual Literacyphotographs, illustrations, computer graphics.

Media Literacynewspapers, music, magazines, radio, movies, television

Computer Literacyword processing, spreadsheets, databasesother software tools.

Statistical Literacymanipulation of statistics

Major Information Literacy Players

American Library Association1989 definition from Presidential Committee on Information Literacy“…how to find, evaluate, and use information effectively to solve a particular problem or make a decision…”

ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education - 2000

More Players

National Information Literacy Institute1997 LOEX conference

Institute for Information Literacy 1999American Association for Higher

EducationEndorsed ACRL standards as a policy position.

Who’s Doing What

Statewide initiativesCalifornia’s CSU Information CompetenceProject New York’s SUNY commitment to implement competencies across the curriculum.Ohio Board of Regents – public colleges and universities to meet at least basic national standards for information literacy and competency.

Current State of Affairs

Everything is on the web.

The Library is not needed.

Goggle=“search of all information”=RESEARCH

Students commonly begin their research on the computer.

Research Cycle

QuestioningPlanningGatheringSorting and SiftingSynthesizingEvaluatingReporting

Problems with Teaching Information Literacy

• Failure to Transfer– Students can learn

in one context, yet fail to transfer to other contexts.

– Students construct new knowledge based on their current knowledge.

• Fish is a fish.

Implications for Teaching

Drawing out and work with the preexisting understanding that students bring with them.

Throw out the empty vessel theory

More assessment …not just tests

Refine their thinking

Bi - VS –

Information Literacy

• How would you respond to “IL is just a new name for BI?”

• Bibliographic Instruction or Library Instruction?

BI - vs. –

Information Literacy

• Differences: - curriculum- ownership

  BI IL

Responsibility / Control 

Librarian-controlled Collaborative responsibility

Relation to curriculum 

External / tangential Integral

Placement in curriculum Isolated learning episodes (one-shot, workshop, unlinked credit courses)

Pervasive throughout the curriculum, linked credit courses, competency requirements)

Content focus Tools, search interfaces Overarching concepts, critical thinking processes, thinking standards

Teaching methods Librarian control / didactic approaches

Construction of learning environments; librarian and faculty act as guides

Learning transfer Limited Increased due to multiple learning opportunities

Assessment Focus on limited evaluations, skill-based measurements

Focus on competencies, standards as yardstick for outcomes based approaches

Relationship to place Focus on specific libraries Focus on unbounded universe of information

Role of technology Limited, used in relatively inflexible ways

Expanded role, variety of technologies selected to match instructional situations (“technology as a lever”)

BI - TO –

Information Literacy• Program Redesign Issues

– Staff– Time– Assessment– Resources– Partnerships– Content– Teaching Methods – problem based learning– More planning with faculty

Let’s Brainstorm!

Assessment

• Knowing WHAT you are doing• Knowing WHY you are doing it• Knowing the students are

LEARNING

Changing because of the INFORMATION

Assessment

• Enriching• A compass• Reaffirming• Shouldn’t be an extra

Assessment

• What do you want to the student to be able to do?

• What does the student need to know in order to do it well?

• What activity will facilitate the learning?• How will they demonstrate the

learning?• How will I know that they have done

this well?

Assessment

• Outcomes- are measurable/Judgeable- Transfererable- Clear to the student- developmental