I spotted this interesting feature about information literacy this morning so decided to tweet and blog. That is the pure immediacy of social media – finding something interesting and share it within minutes. There are multiple information literacy communities out there and joining them is easy, just by following them on Twitter or choosing another social medium. The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals Information Literacy Group defines a compilation of What is Information Literacy? When, where and how would you apply it to practice, and how does it relate to other literacies and skills sets? According to UNESCO, the Prague declaration of 2003 defines information literacy as encompassing:
“knowledge of one’s information concerns and needs, and the ability to identify, locate, evaluate, organize and effectively create, use and communicate information to address issues or problems at hand; it is a prerequisite for participating effectively in the Information Society, and is part of the basic human right of life long learning.”
While SCONUL (The Society of College, National and University Libraries) famously developed the Seven Pillars of Information Literacy model in 1999, with the most recent version published in 2011. The latest version recognises that becoming information literate “is not a linear process”, rather, individuals can take different paths to become information literate and may learn different skills at different points.
The following ‘lenses’ have been created which take the seven pillars and observe them through the eyes of individuals engaged in the following types of activities:
- Research lens
- Digital Literacy lens
- Open Educational Resources lens
- Evidence-based practice healthcare lens
For anyone who is interested The Information and Literacy Group has a good website and blog which contains useful links, articles and suggested further reading.
