Information literacy for the information literate: A model and case study from the Wuhan UNESCO training the trainers in information literacy program

This article draws on the authors’ experiences in providing training for information seekers worldwide, from elementary school children to business professionals. Designed for the UNESCO Training the Trainers (TTT) in Information Literacy (IL) workshop in Wuhan, China in October 2008, the material offers a practical, structured framework for creating an information literacy program for trainers that is adaptable to changing learner needs and changing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools. It includes examples and a case study using a basic course for paraprofessionals and beginning librarians. Based on input from participants at the Wuhan workshop, the article enhances the assessment portion of the presentation. The UNESCO program document listed a target audience of the less information literate ((UNESCO, 2008) Training the trainers in information literacy portal http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=25623&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html. Accessed 14.02.10). This paper, and in general the approach of the Wuhan session, focused on information literacy at an institutional rather than community level (Zhang, X. (Julia) (2009). Report of the UNESCO training-the-trainers in information literacy workshop, October 20–22, 2008, Wuhan, China. International Information & Library Review, 41(4) 273–276).     

Maximizing and assessing a one-shot information literacy session: A case study

This case study describes collaboration between an instructor and business librarian to maximize a one-shot information literacy session for a required marketing class for business majors. It includes an active-learning exercise where groups use three key business databases to conduct a company and industry analysis and an environmental scan for a company. The instructor then guides them in developing a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats (SWOT) analysis. This session prepares students for the SWOT analysis they will have to submit for their actual projects. This article includes assessment of groups' in-class exercises as well as citation analysis of the assignments they turned in for their actual projects.     

Promoting literacy in a digital age: approaches to training for information literacy

Information literacy, and other similar ‘literacies’, such as digital literacy, mediacy, and informacy, are concepts relating to knowledge, skills, and attitudes, at various levels, in dealing with information in varied formats and diverse situations. The breadth of scope of these concepts implies that training must be equally broad, varied, and context-sensitive. This is exemplified by two case studies of information and digital literacy training. The first is a training programme in information literacy for the scientific staff of a multinational pharmaceutical research organization. The second is a summer school dealing with digital literacy, primarily for information professionals from countries of Central and Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union.     

Exploring information literacy in secondary schools in Hong Kong: A case study

Current curriculum reforms in Hong Kong emphasize learning how to learn and project-based learning. The most recent reform introduces “Liberal Studies” as a mandatory school subject in senior secondary school. This article reports on an exploratory case study of the information searching process (ISP) among Form 6 (Grade 12) students in a Liberal Studies course. Researchers examined sources of information used by students, students' cognitive and emotional experience during the ISP, and communication within the collaborative groups. Findings indicated that Internet-based sources were predominant but that most students had difficulty completing the ISP. Work is needed to help students develop a theory of knowledge in which the meaning of information is contextual and the process of interpreting information requires effort. Such work is important if collaborative inquiry projects in Liberal Studies courses are to lead to deep learning.     

Focus on the facts: A news and information literacy instructional program

ABSTRACT

This article provides an overview of the “fake news” issue and places it in the context of information literacy instruction for college students. In 2017, the faculty librarians at a large state college in Florida developed a news literacy instruction program that included instructional faculty outreach, lesson plans for one-shot information literacy instruction sessions, lessons assignments for one-credit information literacy classes, and learning objects in a LibGuide that can be used by students or embedded by faculty into courses across the disciplines.     

Empowering ESL students: A new model for information literacy instruction

This paper proposes a new type of collaboration between librarians and English-as-a-Second Language (ESL) instructors. Librarians will work with instructors to match similar information literacy and ESL objectives and concepts, and together build these into the ESL syllabus. However, unlike other instruction programs, the course is to be taught almost exclusively by the ESL instructor. It is believed that students will gain more from this model because it offers more learning opportunities, and stresses the cross-applicability of language and information literacy concepts and skills. Sample lesson plans are also provided. A version of this paper was presented at the OhioTESOL (an association of ESL professionals) Spring Conference, Columbus, OH, on April 22, 2000.     

Finding the skills for tomorrow: Information literacy and museum information professionals

This paper presents results from 21 semi-structured interviews with museum information professionals who were asked about their experiences working with information resources, tools, and technologies in museums. The interviews were analyzed to develop an understanding of the information literacy skills of museum information professionals. This paper presents the results of this analysis, and discusses the state of information literacy in museums, and the increasing need for museum information professionals to possess information literacy skills. The results illustrate how information literacy is defined by information professionals in museums, and how perceptions of information literacy and its importance to museums have changed over time.     

代表UNESCO向"UNESCO信息素养培训师培训班(武汉)"致欢迎词

女士们,先生们,早上好! 感谢你们今天的热情欢迎. 今天我很荣幸地来到武汉,这个地处中国中部的政治、经济、文化和教育都市.武汉的生机与活力也反映了过去20年中国的空前发展,在此高速增长之下,我期待着在不久的将来看到更大的进步.     

Approaches to providing information literacy training in higher education: Challenges for librarians

This paper maps the domain of information literacy and provides a guide as to what areas the phrase includes. Delivering training in aspects of information literacy has been central to the role of user services in academic libraries for many years. However there are other aspects of information literacy that do not form part of this tradition. Having described the remit of the phrase different approaches to incorporating information literacy training in the curriculum are described and placed on a continuum ranging from discrete ‘stand alone’ training solutions to the integration information literacy into the subject based learning of the student. Challenges that face educators and librarians in particular are discussed.     

Spatial information literacy for digital humanities: The case study of leveraging geospatial information for African American history education

ABSTRACT

The rise of “digital humanities” and the “spatial turn” in the humanities has generated many new insights in the study of culture, history, literature, and arts. Within this research trend, the library's geospatial service can play an active role by introducing spatial information literacy and technology. In this article, we use the information literacy framework to explore the library's role in supporting digital humanities by introducing a successful collaboration involving a librarian and history and education researchers in hosting a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)-funded summer institute for school teachers. Our results suggest that the framework has opened a new way to facilitate collaborations between librarians and multidisciplinary researchers.     

Teaching students about information: Information literacy and cognitive authority

Scholarship has not undergone a paradigm shift in terms of argument and research with the introduction of the Web-based information world. Searching, on the other hand, has undergone a significant shift. In teaching students to find, use, and evaluate information, librarians and instructors need a useful model of the information world that enables them to teach students about information. A practical example of how this may be accomplished is presented.¹     

As we may think: Information literacy as a discipline for the information age

The aim of this paper is to propose information literacy as a soft applied discipline, of key importance in the information society. This is contrasted with the characterization of information literacy as a personal attribute in the U.S. and Australian Information Literacy standards. Vannevar Bush's vision of the technologically connected and enabled scientist is used to introduce a discussion of citizen's information needs and responsibilities in an age of “cheap complex devices.” The authors emphasize the key role of information literacy in this information society. Information literacy is identified as a soft applied discipline, with reference to disciplinary indicators that have been identified in the literature. Building on this concept of an information literacy discipline, the authors propose a mission for information literacy education focused around three elements: information literacy for citizenship, information literacy for economic growth, and information literacy for employability. The paper concludes by identifying that in terms of preparing citizens for managing and taking action in society, information literacy has much to contribute, and that it is vital to nurture this emergent discipline.     

Information behavior of people in the fourth age: Implications for the conceptualization of information literacy

The information literacy (IL) needs of people in the fourth age, a stage of increasing dependence and disability, have not been considered in the research literature. Based on the premise that there are relationships between information seeking and IL, this article begins to bridge this gap by focusing on the information-seeking behavior of the group in an attempt to identify IL needs. It does this through a literature review, particularly drawing on two pieces of human information behavior research, one a new study focused specifically on the group in question. It also examines existing definitions of IL in order to gauge how relevant they appear to be. The reasons for studying this group include that all stages of a person's lifespan deserve to be studied and that the population size of this group increases dramatically in the developed world. Although information needs and sources used are fewer in the fourth age, they are still important to the people involved, thus making IL a relevant concept. The researchers draw implications for IL from the particularities of the information context where disability and frailty impede purposeful information seeking. The resulting emphasis on incidental information acquisition increases the role for social networks and communication, again with implications for IL. Information grounds, where people congregate for purposes other than information sharing, including artificially created ones, will also be important for information dissemination. The role of the Internet, including assistive technology for its use, is also relevant. The conclusion is that IL is crucial to the well-being of people in the fourth age but that existing definitions need to be adjusted to the specific informational context.     

Evaluating information literacy educators' practices before and after the course facilitating information literacy education: from tutor to learner-centred

Objective: The article gives an account of a study on the impact of facilitating information literacy education (FILE) on its participants, health librarians who have attended this course between 2007 and 2010. Methods: The analysis presented here is based on the first stage of the research, funded by the Higher Education Academy Information and Computer Sciences and consisting of an online survey. This survey was conducted in Autumn 2010 and examined the respondents’ examples of information literacy practice before and after FILE. Results and conclusion: Two main outcomes can be drawn from the data. First, that overall the respondents’ provision of information literacy education has shifted from a tutor‐centred approach (where the trainer decides what the learner needs) to a learner‐centred approach (where the learner decides what he/she needs). And secondly, that the impact of FILE should be seen in terms of a self‐perpetuating professional development, rather than measured in terms of specific changes that occur at set times (e.g., at the end of the course or 6 months after completion). As one FILE participant puts it: ‘When FILE ends your career as an information literacy professional starts.’     

Using rubrics for assessing information literacy in the finance classroom: A collaboration

Business information literacy (BIL) is a core competency for lifelong learning and critical to achieving professional success. This article reports on the evolution of a collaborative framework for integrating and assessing information literacy in subject-specific upper-level undergraduate, as well as introductory MBA, courses in finance. The framework, developed over a significant period of time, provides a guide for structured and full collaboration between librarians and classroom instructors and includes a sample assignment and accompanying evaluation rubric which are adaptable across disciplines. Additionally, it provides a model for developing pedagogical methodologies for student attainment of BIL competencies and for faculty assessment of them.