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eliterate or illiterate?
The relationship of Literacy, Information Literacy and
IT Literacy
or …
Ten Axioms of Information Literacy
Suggested by the work of the
SCONUL Advisory Committee on Information Literacy
Axioms?
“that which is thought to be right”
‘established principle’
‘ a self-evident proposition or truth’
Rationale & ISTF to ACIL
• Definition & Boundaries
• Linking theory, politics and practice
• An “integrated myth”
• ISTF to ACIL– Workload & permanency– Not just “skills” and “training”– Belief in the IL concept?
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Conceptual & Boundary Axioms
Axiom One:‘Information Literacy’ is an
extension of ‘Literacy’
What is Basic Literacy?
‘Using printed and written information to function in society in order to achieve one’s goals, and to develop one’s knowledge and potential’
OECD (1996) &
National Assessments of Adult Literacy 2003
from Bernardo, 2000
Literacy is …• ‘embedded in the activities and practices of
a community’• ‘Extracting and processing complex
meanings from text and other printed forms of language’
• ‘to sort through information, to think and reason beyond the given information’
Conclusions from A1
• Information literacy can be seen as part of the requirements for ‘functional literacy’
• As basic literacy is about reading and writing then information literacy can be seen as being about “reading” and “writing” in a particular social context
• IL is about the creation and formation of meaning
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Basic Library Skills IT Skills Nov
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dvan
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Beg
inne
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p ete
nt
Pr o
fici
e nt
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Information LiteracyR
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a nd
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Basic Library Skills IT Skills Nov
ice
A
dvan
ced
Beg
inne
r
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p ete
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Pr o
fici
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Axiom Two:Information Literacy is a
combination of knowledge, skills and practice
from Savolainen, 2003
Competence is a combination of …• What to do (Knowledge)• How to do it (Skills - the technical aspect)But also, for a full model in practice …• Outcome expectations• Perceived self-efficacy• Perceived competence• Affects (anxiety, enjoyment)• Experiences of information seeking
A2 Conclusions
• If IL is driven by the national skills agenda, it may lack knowledge & motivational components
• eliteracy focus tends to concentrate on the technical rather than content aspects
• More research on practice needed• ‘Information skills’ was perhaps an
unfortunate transition from ‘user education’
Axiom Three:Information Literacy is not IT or
ICT Literacy
Information Literacy & IT Literacy?
• ‘Increasingly, information technology skills are interwoven with, and support, information literacy’ ACRL, 2000
• ACIL & UCISA TLIG– Joint model?– ECDL & NetCulture matrices– 7PM with IT “ivy”– Distinction in content; knowledge vs personal
skills
I/ECDL
1. Concepts of Information Technology
2. Using the Computer and Managing Files
3. Word Processing
4. Spreadsheets
5. Databases
6. Presentation
7. Information and Communication
A3 Conclusions
• E-literacy does not equal information literacy plus IT literacy
• ‘By talking about e-literacy we separate Information Literacy and restrict our concept to “literacy with electronic and digital objects’”
• ‘Information Literacy can exist with or without IT Literacy’ [and vice versa?]
• ‘no serious person believes that resources available on the web are superior to the contents of a … library, but many act as if it were so’
Appleton, 2003; Gorman, 2003
Use of search engines (Stacey et al)
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
URL in search box
Single word queries
Over nine words
Boolean
Spelling errors
Superfluous words
No hits
Over 1m hits
Over 10m hits
Axiom Four:Information Literacy may depend
on other competences, particularly in the digital world,
but it is a distinct entity
Media Literacy Statement, DCMS, 2001
• ‘Opportunity to learn to understand and manipulate multiple digital media … understanding of power and use’
• ‘Critical viewing skills’– Distinguish fact from fiction– Appreciate different levels of realism– Awareness of commercial messages– Awareness of economic imperatives in news– Justify media preferences
• ‘obvious links to the citizenship agenda’
Social & Political Axioms
Axiom Five:Information Literacy is a personal lifelong learning
process; a through-life need
ACIL & related activities
• CILIP– Knowledge economy– Start with the Child– Social inclusion
• National Forum for the UK?• New ‘strapline’ definition• Broader application of the 7PM• WSIS
Axiom Six:IL programmes should be
embedded and integrated with other learning programmes
ACIL Action Lines
National• Subject benchmarks• Research• HE White Paper• JISC e-literacy Colloqium
Institutional• L&T Strategies
– Survey of inclusion and involvement
Practical Axioms
Axiom Seven:Information Literacy is
contextual
Literacy and context
• Literacy is ‘a social practice [rather than a skill] that varies in accordance with socio-cultural contexts and customs’
• ‘research suggests transfer [of literacy skills across domains] is unlikely’
• ‘the proponents …have effectively underscored the power of literacy in allowing individuals to master and control various types of information encountered in the environment’
Hautecour, Barton & Hamilton, Bernardo, 2000
Axiom Eight:IL is contextual by local resource
Information LiteracyR
eco g
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info
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Dis
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Org
a ni s
e , a
p ply
and
com
mun
ica t
e
Syn
the s
i se
a nd
c re a
te
Basic Library Skills IT Skills Nov
ice
A
dvan
ced
Beg
inne
r
Com
p ete
nt
Pr o
fici
e nt
E
x pe r
t
Information LiteracyR
eco g
n ise
info
r mat
ion
nee d
Dis
ting
u is h
way
s of
add
r es s
i ng
g ap
Co n
s tr u
c t s
t ra t
e gi e
s f o
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c at i
n g
Lo c
a te
a nd
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ss
Co m
pare
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l uat
e
Org
a ni s
e , a
p ply
and
com
mun
ica t
e
Syn
the s
i se
a nd
c re a
te
Basic Library Skills IT Skills Nov
ice
A
dvan
ced
Beg
inne
r
Com
p ete
nt
Pr o
fici
e nt
E
x pe r
t
Axiom Nine:Information Literacy is contextual by subject
ACIL Subject Work
Initially …
• Chemistry
• Theology
• Education
Now expanding to …
• Medicine & Health
• Concepts of academic tribes (Becher, 2001)
A9 Conclusions
• Information Literacy in a subject context requires assimilation into the relevant academic/professional language and customs
• IL requires knowledge of the relevant “literature” (See Axiom 10)
• Consideration of Grid and dataset skills• The drive for graduate transferable skills may lead
to oversimplification and may therefore fail• Where does this leave generic programmes?
Axiom Ten:Information Literacy requires
knowledge of relevant information science
What is information science?
• Volume, growth, relationships and regularities of “the literature”
• Information retrieval, including citation and ranking relationships and issues
• Communication and publishing in the relevant field
• Information quality
Model Conclusions
• The Model to be understood as more than a “laundry list” of qualities
• The Model not to be a framework for simple standards
• The Model requires fitting to the relevant context and community
• The Model is about knowledge creation as well as retrieval
J. Stephen Town
Director of Information ServicesRoyal Military College of Science
Defence Academy of the UK
Deputy University LibrarianCranfield University
Acknowledgments:
Selena Lock & Members of ACIL
