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Child, Youth, and Family Studies Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS) Degree Program: Information Literacy

 Information Literacy Concepts

What is Information Literacy?

In 2000, The Association of College and Research Libraries defined Information Literacy as a set of abilities requiring individuals to “recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.”1

These are basic Information Literacy skills that we use everyday to seek information in answer to our questions:

  • Defining the information need by having a question to investigate 

  • Identifying and finding appropriate sources to provide information

  • Evaluating the credibility of a sources and information they provide

  • Applying/using information correctly and ethically to answer question

  • Acknowledging the sources of information as the author and authority of the work

Information Literacy is a life-long learning skill that we use personally, professionally, academically and socially.

This presentation from Seminole State College Library explains the five main components of Information Literacy, and how they are applied in academic versus personal and real-life research and investigation.

Source: Research Foundation: Information Literacy 
Seminal State Library

This presentation from Spartanburg Community College Library explains how we use Information Literacy skills in our academic research as well as real life.

Source: Real-Life Research Skills 
Spartanburg Community College Library

Information Literacy Skills in Academic and Scientific Research

In 2016, The Association of College and Research Libraries revised the framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education to reflect a more integrative and reflective process that addressed information's role in the context of the development of science, scholarship, and new knowledge.

See in-depth descriptions for each frame at
Canisius University - Andrew L. Bouwhuis, S.J. Library

 

In this new model Information literacy is also:

  • "the 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." 

Scholarship as Conversation occurs when:

 "Communities of scholars, researchers, or professionals engage in sustained discourse with new insights and discoveries occurring over time as a result of varied perspectives and interpretations."

Source: Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education

Successfully finding and engaging with scholarly research materials, requires an understand of these concepts:

  • Understanding how they are used to build new knowledge in research and learning communities and can therefore contribute to your research.
  • Using Information Literacy skills to find them, use them, and cite them correctly.

These critical thinking skills for finding information and building new knowledge are at the heart of Information Literacy.

The two videos below provide clear explanations of these concepts.

 

Additional Information Literacy resources include:

- Information Literacy Oregon Open Education Resources

- Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education ACRL