The University of West Florida Libraries suppors information literacy throughout the university. We see it as a valuable tool for fostering critical thinking and effective use of information among students. The UWF Libraries supports information literacy initiatives through the following activities:
Information literacy is a set of skills that enable individuals to recognize when information is needed and to have the ability to locate, evaluate and effectively use the needed information. Information literacy focuses on 5 skills:
In practice, information literacy utilizes critical thinking through its skills of evaluating information. Information literacy also incorporates and supplements other forms of literacy such as computer literacy, media literacy, and research literacy. Information literacy can be applied in any subject or area of study. It can be tailored to build knowledge within a specialized area, though its emphasis is to develop skills that can be put to academic, professional and personal uses.
Handling Rapid Changes in Information. Information literacy emerged because increased amounts of information became available through books, journals, broadcast media, and eventually through the internet. However, the quality and reliability of such information varies. Information literacy skills enable students to effectively use and discern information they find from various sources.
Ethical Use of Information. Information can be put to positive as well as negative use, so information literacy includes skills and standards involving the ethical use of information. Students learn about plagiarism and copyright, and why they matter. Other topics may include using ethical standards defined by discipline-specific organizations, and legal, social and proprietary issues that surround the use of information.
Preparation for the workforce. Many business and industrial leaders want employees whose skills go beyond a subject area. They want employees with problem-solving skills and to be able to navigate rapid changes in information and technology. Students can learn about a discipline with information literacy, yet also acquire critical thinking and technical skills that can be applied to a variety of settings.
Lifelong Learning. Information literacy promotes lifelong learning. With information literacy skills, students are able to self-direct their learning while in school and throughout their lives. While such skills are used in classes and assignments, they are also applicable to personal decision-making.
Civic Participation. Information literacy provides skills essential for making informed decisions and effective civic involvement. It enables students to fully participate in a democracy.
Information literacy has been used in higher education since the 1980s. Various education reports projected that students needed skills to adapt to the demands of a global economy and information-driven society. Additional reports, such as Reinventing Undergraduate Education by the Boyer Commission on Education, encouraged active learning where student knowledge and skills are applicable outside from school settings. As a response to such reports, educational leaders formed information literacy by synthesizing skills already taught in higher education with new developments in technology and use of information.
College libraries, which traditionally provide library instruction and subject-specific support, adopted information literacy into their instruction goals. As college libraries utilized more technology, library experts recommended that library instruction include other information sources and teach students skills needed to use a variety of information.
Many colleges and universities have incorporated information literacy in some form, ranging from less-intensive activities such as online tutorials to broader inclusion into the curriculum. Some institutions have made information literacy competencies into graduation requirements.
Association of Colleges and Research Libraries (ACRL): Information Literacy
http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlissues/acrlinfolit/informationliteracy.htm
ACRL: Characteristics of Programs of Information Literacy that Illustrate Best Practices
http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlstandards/characteristics.htm
ACRL: Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education, 2000.
href://www.ala.org/acrl/ilcomstan.html
ACRL: Information Literacy for Faculty and Administrators
http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlissues/acrlinfolit/infolitoverview/infolitforfac/infolitfaculty.htm
The Five Colleges of Ohio
http://www.denison.edu/collaborations/ohio5/grant
Go for the Gold
http://www.lib.jmu.edu/gold/
University of Louisville: Information Literacy Program
http://libray.louisville.edu/infoliteracy/
York College of Pennsylvania
http://www.ycp.edu/library/ifl/etext/ethome.html
Annotated Listing of Selected Discipline-Specific Information Literacy Courses
http://lib.nmsu.edu/instruction/coursemodels.pdf
Discipline Specific Resources
http://www.denison.edu/collaborations/ohio5/grant/examples/index.html
Information Literacy in the Disciplines
http://www.ala.org/ala/acrlbucket/is/projectsacrl/infolitdisciplines/index.htm
For more information about information literacy, contact Kristy Padron, Library Instruction Coordinator, at (850) 474-2048.
By Kristy Padron, Library Instruction Coordinator
University of West Florida Library
Date Last Updated: August 2007