Information Literacy Skills

Home > Library and Museum Studies > School Librarianship > Information Literacy Skills

Defines information literacy and provides information on how to teach information literacy skills. It also explains how information literacy can be integrated into the curriculum.

Information sources: This topic covers different types of information sources such as books, journals, magazines, online resources, and other media.
Information search strategies: How to search, everything about Boolean operators, keywords, phrase searching, subject headings, and other useful strategies to find the right information.
Evaluation of sources: How to evaluate and judge the credibility, reliability, and quality of sources.
Copyright: What are copyright, fair use, plagiarism, and Creative Commons licensing?.
Information Ethics: Discuss ethical issues related to information literacy, such as privacy, censorship, and intellectual freedom.
Citation styles: Learn and understand the different citation styles like APA, MLA, and Chicago.
Research design: Learn the steps of the research process, such as formulating research questions, selecting methods, collecting data, and drawing conclusions.
Critical thinking: Such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation; logical reasoning.
Digital literacy: The use of technology in research, including various platforms and software, identifying and evaluating online sources, as well as computer literacy, including keyboarding and operating systems.
Intellectual property: Understand the various aspects of intellectual property and intellectual property rights.
Information Literacy Instruction: Techniques for developing and delivering effective information literacy instruction to different audiences.
Information organization: Understand library cataloging, classification, and tagging systems.
Access to information: Understand universal access to information.
Effective communication: Skills to present information effectively and efficiently to different audiences.
Collaboration: Collaboration skills required for effective research teams, as well as interacting with patrons, colleagues, and other professionals.
Information management: Strategies, tools, and techniques that are employed for managing information, including cataloging, classification, and database management.
Digital Citizenship: The implementation of responsible and positive digital behavior, as well as understanding the ethical and social implications of technology.
Identifying Information Needs: The ability to identify questions, problems or topics, and determine the information required to resolve them.
Searching for Information: The ability to access relevant information using appropriate search terms, search techniques, and search tools.
Critically Evaluating Information: The ability to evaluate the quality, relevance, and reliability of information sources and content.
Synthesizing Information: The ability to combine and integrate information from multiple sources to create new knowledge or insights.
Ethical Use of Information: The understanding of the ethical and legal use of information and intellectual property, as well as the implications of plagiarism and copyright infringement.
Communicating Information: The ability to present information effectively in various formats and styles, including written, visual, and oral.
Organizing and Managing Information: The ability to store, retrieve, and manage information effectively, including the use of information management tools and techniques.
Digital Citizenship: The understanding and use of digital technologies and online tools, including social media, and the responsible and ethical online behavior.
Cultural Competence: The understanding of different cultural perspectives and backgrounds, and the ability to find, use and evaluate information within these contexts.
Lifelong Learning: The ability to continuously learn and acquire new skills and knowledge to keep up with changing technologies, trends, and practices in the rapidly evolving field of information literacy.
"The Association of College and Research Libraries defines information literacy as a 'set of integrated abilities encompassing the reflective discovery of information, the understanding of how information is produced and valued and the use of information in creating new knowledge and participating ethically in communities of learning'."
"In the United Kingdom, the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals' definition also makes reference to knowing both 'when' and 'why' information is needed."
"In 1989, the American Library Association (ALA) Presidential Committee on Information Literacy formally defined information literacy (IL) as attributes of an individual."
"To be information literate, a person must be able to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information."
"Are information literacy instruction and bibliographic instruction the same?" Arp argued that neither term was particularly well defined by theoreticians or practitioners in the field.
"The Alexandria Proclamation of 2005 defined the term as a human rights issue: 'Information literacy empowers people in all walks of life to seek, evaluate, use and create information effectively to achieve their personal, social, occupational and educational goals. It is a basic human right in a digital world and promotes social inclusion in all nations.'"
"The United States National Forum on Information Literacy defined information literacy 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.'"
"Other pedagogical outcomes related to information literacy include traditional literacy, computer literacy, research skills, and critical thinking skills."
"Information literacy as a sub-discipline is an emerging topic of interest and countermeasure among educators and librarians with the prevalence of misinformation, fake news, and disinformation."
"Scholars have argued that in order to maximize people's contributions to a democratic and pluralistic society, educators should be challenging governments and the business sector to support and fund educational initiatives in information literacy."