Information

Literacy

Prof. Dana Tugade

INTRODUCTION: What is
information literacy? 2

What is information literacy and what does it mean to be information literate?

• The American Library Association defines information literacy as a set of
abilities empowering individuals to recognize when information is needed and
to be able to locate it, evaluate it, and use it effectively.
• We all have information needs, and being able to effectively identify and meet
those needs is at the core information literacy.
• Being able to differentiate quality information from questionable information is
also critical.
Information Literacy in
Six Ways (ALA):

1. Authority Is Constructed and

Contextual
When you use information, or
choose one source of
information over another, you
presume a certain amount of
expertise on the part of the
information’s author on the
topic they are writing about.
Information Literacy in
Six Ways (ALA):

2. Information Creation as a
Process
Information appears in a
variety of forms. Depending
on whether it is in the form
of a newspaper article, a
scholarly book, or a
formatted report, the
creation of information
requires a process.
Information Literacy in Six Ways (ALA):

3. Information Has Value

Information has value, and this fact has very real implications to
researchers and information consumers in both how information
is produced and how it is disseminated.
Information Literacy in Six
Ways (ALA):

4. Research as Inquiry
A researcher asks a question,
or identifies some gap in our
current understanding of a
topic, and in the process of
filling that gap, new questions
and new avenues for further
research emerge.
Information Literacy in Six Ways (ALA):

5. Scholarship as Conversation
Scholarship on a given topic will grow and evolve overtime.
New theories, new interpretations, new experiments, new
facts are always being discovered and debated.
 Information Literacy in
Six Ways (ALA):

6. Searching as Strategic Exploration

Over time, as you gain experience
and your research needs grow
more complex, you will likely
develop sophisticated strategies
for locating relevant information.