The What, Who, and Why of Information Literacy: Theory , Benefits, Obstacles and Programs

1. The What, Who, and Why of Information Literacy: Theory, Benefits, Obstacles and Programs Presented By: Leslie Naden, Nathan Filbert & Mike Lang as InfoTeric

2. InfoTeric: [in’fӧ-ter’ik] adj pertaining to esoteric, understood by only the select few who have special knowledge, of which the knowledge is information While the knowledge of IL is understood by few it can be attained by all; it is a specialized skill for everyone.

3. Today we will discuss • The nature and importance of information: what it is, how it works, and what it means to be “Information Literate.” • The benefits of IL across the public/community, academic and, workplace landscapes. • The main obstacles faced by librarians in implementing IL programs, strategies for overcoming those obstacles, and a few examples of IL programs.

4. Information & Information Literacy Nature & Importance

5. What is Information? Information… “… is what our world runs on: the blood, the fuel, the vital principle..” – James Gleick, author of The Information “…is a far more fundamental quality in the universe than matter or energy…” – VlatkoVedral, physicist “…can be whatever an individual finds ‘informing.’” – Brenda Dervin, information scientist “…is any stimuli we recognize in our environment” – George Miller, communication scientist “…is too vast a concept to define and examine” – Toni Weller, library and information scientist “In short, there is as yet no single, widely accepted definition for the concept of information” – Donald Case, library and information scientist

6. Information as process IN-FORMATION • Technically • Information as the negative of Entropy in Communications Theory • Semantically Human capacity to perceive, organize and differentiate themselves and their surround into survivable comprehensible patterns, parts and symbolic wholes H = -∑p(x) log p(x) -Claude Shannon- ↘①҉⓭❿≡∩£ $>¤⑦↕Ω⃝ INFORMATION IS: whatever is distinguishable and perceptible emerging in any situation, stimulating subject and context interactively and formatively -TEAM INFOTERIC-

7. “Within our reality everything exists through an interconnected web of relationships and the building blocks of this web are bits of information. We process, synthesize, and observe this information in order to construct the reality around us. As information spontaneously emerges from the emptiness we take this into account to update our view of reality.” – Vlatko Vedral, theoretical physicist Article 19. “Everyone has the right to … seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” -The United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948

8. Necessity and Components of Information Literacy IL AS META-LITERACY • BASIC • VISUAL • MEDIA • TECHNOLOGICAL • RESEARCH / LIBRARY BASIC HUMAN RIGHT BECAUSE NECESSARY FOR SURVIVAL

9. INFORMATION LITERACY Information literacy refers to the competencies, skills and relations necessary for a human to survive and learn in an information-based global society. Information literacy includes the ability to identify one’s needs; to locate, evaluate, organize and utilize the information needed; and the capability to effectively implement, create and communicate the new knowledge that arises from one’s relationship with the information generated.”

10. IL Landscapes “The communicative space through which people develop identities and form relationships based on shared practices and ways of doing and saying things” Result from human interaction Constantly evolving (Lloyd, 2010, p. 9-10).

11. IL Landscapes Identified • Public Library Landscape • Academic Library/Higher Education Landscape • Workplace Landscape (Lloyd, 2010)

12. Public/Community Landscape Information Literacy lies at the core of lifelong learning. It empowers people in all walks of life to seek, evaluate, use and create information effectively to achieve their personal, social, occupational and educational goals. (The Alexandria Proclamation on Information Literacy and Lifelong Learning, 2006)

13. Prague Declaration “Information literacy • is a prerequisite for participating effectively in the Information Society, and is part of the basic human right of life long learning • in conjunction with access to essential information and effective use of information and communication technologies, plays a leading role in reducing the inequities within and among countries and peoples, and in promoting tolerance and mutual understanding through information use in multicultural and multilingual contexts • is a concern to all sectors of society and should be tailored by each to its specific needs and context” (Towards an Information Literate Society, 2003).

14. Alexandria Proclamation “Information literacy • is crucial to the competitive advantage of individuals, enterprises (especially small and medium enterprises), regions and nations • provides the key to effective access, use and creation of content to support economic development, education, health and human services, and all other aspects of contemporary societies • extends beyond current technologies to encompass learning, critical thinking and interpretative skills across professional boundaries and empowers individuals and communities.” (The Alexandria Proclamation on Information Literacy and Lifelong Learning, 2006)

15. IL & Quality of Life 2009 study examined the link between internet connectedness, IL and perceived quality of life. • Conducted interviews to determine participants’ internet connectedness, level of IL and perceived quality of life. • People who had a high level of internet connectivity but low IL did not rank their quality of life higher than those with lower levels of connectivity. • However, the participants who ranked high in information literacy ranked their perceived quality of life higher than those with lower levels of IL (Leung, 2009).

16. Project Information Literacy It's Complicated: What Students Say About Research and Writing Assignments Academic Landscape

17. ACRL IL Standards “The information literate student: • determines the nature and extent of the information needed. • accesses needed information effectively and efficiently. • evaluates information and its sources critically and incorporates selected information into his or her knowledge base and value system. • individually or as a member of a group, uses information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose. • understands many of the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information and accesses and uses information ethically and legally” (Association of College and Research Libraries, 2000).

18. Workplace Landscape “The skills students gain in college have a significant impact on costs and productivity in the workplace” (Travis, 2011, p. 19)

19. 34% of employers having difficulty filling “mission critical” positions, citing applicants “weak workplace skills.” Including: critical thinking flexibility collaboration (Manpower Group, 2011)

20. Workplace Efficiency • A study by Outsell magazine estimates that the average worker spent 9.5 hours a week obtaining, reviewing and analyzing information (Oman, 2001) • US Department of the Navy estimates that the average worker spends 150 hours a year looking for information (Bennett, 2001, p. 1 cited in Breivik 2005, p 23). • “We typically can only find half of the information we need to do our jobs and spend up to 30 percent of our time looking for the other half “Don Cohen, Ford Executive (Cohen, 1998, p. 21 cited in Breivik 2005, p 23).

21. IL Needs and the Role of Librarians and IL Programs • The information landscape is vast and constantly changing • Assumptions of adequate literacy abound (Badke, 2011) • Librarians and their institutions have a • responsibility to create programs to foster information literacy in their constituancies

22. Obstacles to Successful IL Programs • Despite increasing support, obstacles to IL programs persist (Badke, 2005). • Problems occur on a variety of levels • Librarian and Faculty/Administration collaboration • Lack of respect, lack of understanding of available resources (Badke, 2005) • Inadequate staffing (Badke, 2011) • Diversity of needs (Lange et al., 2011) • Lack of data on non-academic IL needs (Weiner, 2011)

23. Overcoming Obstacles: Methods and Mentalities • Faculty/Administration collaboration strategies • Fostering understanding and creating common goals (Badke, 2005; Maitaouthong et al., 2012) • Student outreach • Maintaining accessible hours, promoting library services (Lange et al., 2011). • Building relationships (Maitaouthong et al., 2012) • Preparing for diversity (Lange et al., 2011)

24. Types of IL Programs • “One-shot” instruction • Workshops (Lange et al., 2011) • Full or embedded IL courses (Howard, 2012; Badke, 2005). • Writing tutors trained as library IL tutors (Cannon & Jarson, 2009)

25. In conclusion… • IL is a basic human right • Information exists as an emergent process • IL refers to our ability to access, organize and utilize the information we need toward purposes that sustain us • IL is beneficial across all landscapes created through human interaction • Librarians and their institutions need to cooperate to create IL programs tailored to the needs of their communities. • Successful IL programs equip students with the tools necessary to excel in their own field, as well as others.

26. Over the course of your lifetime, the more you learn and thereby come to know, but especially the sooner you master and adopt proficient learning skills, habits and attitudes – finding out how, from where, from whom and when to search for and retrieve the information that you need to know, but have not yet learned – the more information literate you thereby become. Your competency in applying and utilizing those skills, habits and attitudes will enable you to make sounder and timelier decisions to cope with your personal and family health and welfare, education, job-related, citizenship and other challenges -Forest Woody Horton, JR. for UNESCO Questions?

27. Forming • Initial chaos turned to order quickly • Early activity set pace for rest of project • Storming • Common ground found early • Weekly meetings key to progress

28. Norming • Rotation of responsibilities • Small group size = Strong sense of accountability • Performing • Each performance unique, but fruitful • We have learned that the unfamiliar online learning environment is an effective and personal way to collaborate, if each member is willing to communicate and work together.

29. References Association of College and Research Libraries. (2000). Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education Retrieved September 9, 2012, from http://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/standards/standards.pdf Badke, W. (2011). Remedial Information Literacy?. Online (Weston, Conn.), 35(2), 51-53. Badke, W. B. (2005). Can't Get No Respect: Helping Faculty to Understand the Educational Power of Information Literacy.Reference Librarian, (89/90), 63-80 Breivik, P. S. (2005). 21st Century Learning and Information Literacy. Change, 37(2), 20–27. doi:10.3200/CHNG.37.2.21-27  Cannon, K., & Jarson, J. (2009). Information Literacy and Writing Tutor Training at a Liberal Arts College. Communications In Information Literacy, 3(1), 45-57 Case, D. O. (2006). Looking for information: a survey of research on information seeking, needs, and behavior (2nd ed.). Bingley, UK: Emerald Group. Dervin, B. (1977). Useful theory for librarianship: communication, not information. Drexel Library Quarterly, 13(3), 16–32.

30. References Ferguson, B. (n.d.). Information Literacy A Primer for Teachers, Librarians, and other Informed People. FreBook. Retrieved from http://bibliotech.us/pdfs/InfoLit.pdf Freeman, W. J. (2000). A neurobiological interpretation of semiotics: meaning, representation, and information. Information Sciences, 124, 93–102. Gleick, J. (2011). The Information: A history, a theory, a flood. New York: Pantheon. Horton, Jr., F. W. (2008). Understanding Information literacy: a primer. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Retrieved from chrome://epubreader/content/reader.xul?id=1 Howard, H. (2012). Looking to the future: Developing an academic skills strategy to ensure information literacy thrives in a changing higher education world. Journal Of Information Literacy, 6(1), 71-81. It’s Complicated: What Students Say About Research and Writing Assignments. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqMEonllU1g&feature=youtube_gdata_player Lange, J., Canuel, R., & Fitzgibbons, M. (2011). Tailoring information literacy instruction and library services for continuing education. Journal of Information Literacy, 5(2), 66-80.

31. References Lloyd, A. (2010). Information Literacy Landscapes: Information literacy in education, workplace, and everyday contexts. Oxford, UK: Chandos Publishing. Maitaouthong, T., Tuamsuk, K., & Tachamanee, Y. (2012). The roles of university libraries in supporting the integration of information literacy in the course instruction. Malaysian Journal Of Library & Information Science, 17(1), 51-64. Manpower Group. (2011). 2011 Talent Shortage Survey Results. Retrieved September 14, 2012, from http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/MAN/2085524860x0x469531/7f71c882-c104-449b-9642-af56b66c1e6d/2011_Talent_Shortage_Survey_US.pdf Oman, J. (June 2001). Information Literacy in the Workplace. Information Outlook, 5(6)33-43. Shannon, C. (1948). A Mathematical Theory of Communication. The Bell System Technical Journal, 27, 379–423, 623–656. The Alexandria Proclamation on Information Literacy and Lifelong Learning. (2006). Retrieved September 17, 2012, from http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.phpURL_ID=20891&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION =201.html

32. References The Prague Declaration: Towards an Information Literate Society. (2003). Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CI/CI/pdf/PragueDeclaration.pdf Travis, T. (2011) From the Classroom to the Boardroom: The Impact of Information Literacy Instruction on Workplace Research Skills. Education Libraries, 34(2), 19-31. United Nations. (1948, December 10). Universal declaration of human rights. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/events/humanrights/2007/hrphotos/declaration%20_eng.pdf Vedral, V. (2010). Decoding reality: the universe as quantum information. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Weiner, S. (2011). Information literacy and the Workforce: A Review. Education Libraries, 34(2), 7-14 Weller, T. (2007). Information history: its importance, relevance and future. Aslib Proceedings, 59(4), 437–448. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/00012530710817627 .