Information Literacy

In a nutshell, information literacy is "the process of: accessing, evaluating, and using information to make decisions, solve problems, and/or acquire knowledge."

◦ Source: Young, R. M., & Harmony, S. (1999). Working with faculty to design undergraduate information literacy programs: A how-to-do-it manual for librarians. New York: Neal-Schulman.

In simpler terms, information literacy means finding, evaluating, and using information in an appropriate way. And in the world today, there is a LOT of information!

What is information literacy?

According to a 2003 study by the School of Information Management and Systems at the University of California at Berkeley, "almost 800 MB of recorded information is produced per person each year." That is about 30 feet of books per person for 6.3 billion people!

◦ Source: Lyman, P., & Varian, H.R. (2003). How much information? Retrieved April 22, 2004, from http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/how-much-info-2003

There is no way that anyone could store that much information in their head! So, you must be able to apply resources, technology, and your own knowledge in order to locate necessary information.

What is information literacy?

There is more involved with information literacy than being able to find information.

Just locating a piece of information does not mean it is useful.

You must be able to recognize what information is needed, evaluate the information, and apply it to your needs.

What is information literacy?

For which of the following items would the application of information literacy be important?

◦ Buying a used car ◦ Researching a paper on the influence of the media on

violence in America ◦ Determining what treatment to undergo for a cancer

diagnosis ◦ Choosing a college to attend ◦ Applying for a job

If you answered "all of the above", you are right!

Why you need to be information literate

There are numerous magazines and other periodicals available in the University Library collection. Many more titles can be found in full-text through our electronic databases.

What exactly is a periodical?

A periodical is a publication that comes out at regular intervals. For example, many popular magazines are regularly published monthly and many newspapers are regularly published daily.

Types of periodicals

There are several types of periodicals that you will be dealing with. These include:

Popular Magazines Scholarly Journals (often known as "peer-

reviewed" journals) Trade Publications Newspapers

Types of periodicals

Popular magazines are the type of periodicals with which you are probably the most familiar.

Magazines such as People, Sports Illustrated, Business Week and Forbes, are all popular magazines.

Popular magazines

Popular magazines: are intended for the general public; tend to feature lots of color advertising

and photographs; can usually be purchased on newsstands; include content written by staff or

freelance writers. (These writers may be very knowledgeable, but they may not be experts in the field);

are published frequently (monthly or weekly);

tend to have short articles on broad topics.

Popular magazines

Scholarly journals, as the name suggests, are more scholarly or academic in nature than popular magazines.

Journals like American Economic Review, Harvard Business Review, and Journal of Management are all scholarly journals.

Scholarly journals

Scholarly journals: are intended for students, academics, or specialists in a

particular field of study; feature little or no advertising; can be found more often in libraries than in bookstores or

newsstands; are written by professionals (experts) in the specialty or

field (not staff writers); are often edited by a panel of experts (i.e., professors or

others) known as peer-reviewers; present an academic approach to a subject; often contain long, comprehensive articles on research or

case studies with bibliographies and/or references; published less frequently than popular or trade publications

(e.g., bimonthly or quarterly).

Scholarly journals

For example, while articles in Forbes are written by professional writers, articles in The Journal of Accountancy are written by professors or experts in accounting.

Scholarly journals

Articles in popular magazines are edited by an editor, whereas articles in scholarly journals are edited by a panel of experts in the field (for example, several accounting professors at various universities will review articles on accounting prior to the article being published).

These professors are the peers or professional equals in rank of those who submit articles. Thus, the process is known as peer-reviewing.

These peer reviewers may suggest changes or point out problems in the original author's research.

Scholarly journals – Important!

Trade publications are another major type of periodical you will encounter.

Trade publications

Trade publications: are written for practitioners in a field of study (i.e.

culinary, paralegals, etc.); tend to cover a mix of the types of topics found in

popular magazines (but with a slant towards the information needed by a professional in the field) and topics found in scholarly journals (but, once again, with a slant towards practitioners, instead of academics);

often include photographs and advertisements; cover current events, trends, and practices within

the field; often use "jargon" related to the field; are usually published frequently (i.e., weekly or

monthly).

Trade publications

For more in-depth information on the different types of publications, check out this page from the Karl E. Mundt Library at Dakota State University: http://www.departments.dsu.edu/library/courses/scholpop.htm

Trade publications

Newspapers are a familiar periodical. Newspapers: Provide current news and information on a

daily or weekly basis; Often contain editorials or commentary; Usually have a geographical focus (i.e., a

city or regional newspaper)

Newspapers

There are several different types of periodicals. Periodicals include: popular magazines, scholarly journals, and trade publications, as well as newspapers.

To review:

Now that you have learned about periodicals...use this short assessment to check your knowledge.◦ For each of the following, determine what type of

periodical (trade publication, scholarly journal, or popular magazine) is best described.

◦ To check yourself, click the mouse or press the enter key for the answer.

How much do you really know about periodicals?

Question 1:◦ What kinds of periodicals contain photographs

and advertisements?

Answer:◦ A popular magazine or trade publication

How much do you really know about periodicals?

Question 2:◦ What kind of periodical has both formal and

informal terminology related to a particular trade or profession?

Answer:◦ This best describes a trade publication. Trade

publications tend to have a mix of both academic and popular topics.

How much do you really know about periodicals?

Question 3:◦ What kind of periodical contains case studies,

research reviews, and bibliographies?

Answer:◦ This best describes a scholarly journal.

How much do you really know about periodicals?

Question 4:◦ What kind of periodical contains articles geared

towards a general audience?

Answer:◦ This best describes a popular magazine.

How much do you really know about periodicals?

Question 5:◦ In what kind of periodical may articles be peer-

reviewed (i.e. critiqued by professionals in the field prior to publication?

Answer:◦ This best describes a scholarly journal. 

How much do you really know about periodicals?

Question 6:◦ What kind of periodical is often published on a

weekly or monthly basis?

Answer: ◦ This best describes a popular magazine or trade

publication. Popular magazines and trade publications are published at a faster rate than scholarly journals.

How much do you really know about periodicals?