Information Literacy

Type in Information Literacy in Google and you will be completely swamped by the amount of terms and descriptions that are used to describe it. I struggle to find the words to give it an accurate meaning but find the description provided by The National Forum on Information Literacy (NFIL, 2010) to be quite easy to understand.

"[Information Literacy is being] able to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use it effectively"

These days Information Literacy is starting to branch into the world of technology and some people are starting to believe it should be Information Literacy 2.0, of course, this is in reference to Web 2.0. This great blog (Godwin & Parker, 2008) certainly outlines this fact.

Most students, when faced with a question and they have no idea of the answer, will automatically go to Google. While Google is an excellent study resource - in fact I'm sure everyone can nearly say they have used it. It is how students use Google and the way they use their results where the problems start to begin and the failure to have effective information literacy skills will ultimately leave some students behind into the future.

In my search to find a few references for this blog post I came across an excellent article (Moran, 2010) which clearly states what is needed in the challenge of teaching students effective information literacy skills.

Moran outlines the reasons of why qualified librarians with information literacy skills are one of the most essential assets in any school or public library. Moran states that "The Internet defines the way that young people learn, communicate, and create" and realistically I believe web 2.0 has changed the face of education.

It is our job as librarians to be able to teach young people how to keep the internet as a valuable resource and not an annoying distraction.

References

1) National Forum of Information Literacy (n.d.) Definitions, Standards, and
Competencies Related to Information Literacy. Retrieved on 2010, June 2 from http://www.infolit.org/definitions

2) Godwin, P., & Parker, J., (2008). Information Literacy meets Library 2.0. Retrieved on 2010, June 2 from http://infolitlib20.blogspot.com/


3) Moran, M. (2010, March 22). Young Learners Need Librarians, Not Just Google [Web Log Post.] Retrieved on 2010 June 2 from http://www.forbes.com