Information Literacy

Concept/Definitions Information literacy can be defined as an integrated set of skills and the knowledge of tools and resources. (Breivik) A form of problem solving activity. (Breivik, 1985) An information literate person is one who has the ability to recognize an information need, and can locate, evaluate, and use information effectively. Ultimately, information literate people are those who have learned how to learn. (ALA)

Briefly defined, InformationLiteracy is an individual's ability to:

• recognizes a need for information
• formulate questions
• identify and locate appropriate information sources
• develop successful search strategies
• know how to gain access to the information contained in those sources
• evaluate the quality of information obtained
• organize the information
• integrate the information in one's body of existing knowledge
• use the information effectively
• practice the ethical use of information attained

I would also like to add that InformationLiteracy includes knowing the dfferences between data, information and knowledge. --JonGrover

Resources

• National Forum on Information Literacy -- http:// www.infolit.org/
• ACRL IL Standards -- http://www.ala.org/acrl/ilcomstan.html
• LOEX -- http://www.emich.edu/public/loex/loex.html
• Institute for IL -- http://www.ala.org/acrl/nili/bestprac.html
• Library Futures -- http://www.libraryfutures.com
• New Breed Librarian -- http://www.newbreedlibrarian.org
• Digital Librarian -- http://www.digital-librarian.com/
• Librarians in the 21st Century -- http://istweb.syr.edu/ 21stcenlib/
• Library HQ -- http://www.libraryhq.com
• Internet Library for Librarians -- http://www.itcompany.com/ inforetriever/
• @Library -- https://cs.ala.org/@yourlibrary/
• Adriadne -- http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/

Library Sites

• University of Indianapolis -- http://kml.uindy.edu
• Library Spot -- http://www.libraryspot.com/
• Web resources organized by Dewey -- http:// www.suite101.com/
• The Learning Net -- http://www.thelearningsite.net/ cyberlibrarian/elibraries/cybecurr.html (Includes Web Tutorial)
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign -- http:// gateway.library.uiuc.edu/
• Purdue Univeristy Library Tutorial -- http://core.lib.purdue.edu
• Purdue University Library -- http://www.lib.purdue.edu/
• Purdue University Library IL Goals -- http:// www.lib.purdue.edu/InstructionalServices?/ilcgoals.html

Internet Search Engine Resources

• Searching the Internet -- http://www.vuw.ac.nz/~agsmith/ searching/
• Albany University -- http://library.albany.edu/internet/ (comprehensive tips/tutorial)
• Allsearchengines.com -- http://www.allsearchengines.com/
• Searchengine.com -- http://searchengine.com
• http://cui.unige.ch/meta-index.html
• http://www.searchenginewatch.com/ (Rates search engines. Gives hints and tips for searching. Gives details of search engines. Provides tutorials.)
• Information on the invisible web -- http://alltheweb.com, http:/ /gwis2.circ.gwu.edu/~gprice/direct.htm
• Collection of searchable databases on the Web organized into topics -- http://webdata.com
• The Scout Report -- http://www.scout.cs.wisc.edu/report/sr/ current/index.html
• Gives tips, tools, and lessons: Library recommended -- http:// www.vuw.ac.nz/~agsmith/searching/
• Massive collection of specific search engines -- http:// nuevaschool.org/~debbie/library/research/adviceengine.html
• Search IQ -- http://www.zdnet.com/searchiq/

Search Engine Comparisons

• http://www.searchenginewatch.com/links/major.html
• http://searchenginewatch.com/facts/
• http://searchenginewatch.com/resources/reviews.html
• http://www.searchenginewatch.com/links/guides.html
• http://www.searchenginewatch.com/reports/mediametrix.html
• "Choosing the best search engine for your information need" -- http://nuevaschool.org/~debbie/library/research/adviceengine.html
• Search Engines and Directories -- http://www.traffick.com/ directory/searchengines/default.asp
• Greg Notess Resources -- http://searchengineshowdown.com/
• http://websearch.about.com/
• University of Illinois: "How to Choose a Search Engine" -- http:/ /www.library.uiuc.edu/rex/instruction/Internet/ how_to_choose_a_search_engine_or.htm

Thought Leaders

• Breivik, Patricia Senn
• Dudley, Miriam
• Eisenberg, Michael
• Farber, Evan
• Hardesty, Larry
• Knapp, Patricia
• Kuhlthau, Carol
• Oberman, Cerise

Writers

• Agre, Philip -- http://dlis.gseis.ucla.edu/people/pagre/
• Balas, Janet L.
• Notess, Greg -- http://notess.com/search/

Typical IL Teaching Activities

• General web searching goals
  • broad vs. narrow
  • creating search strategies
• Web searching skills
  • navigating the internet
  • tools
  • search engine differences
  • boolean
  • site specific indexing methods
• Database searching
  • Lexis-Nexis, WebSpirs?, EBSCO, Gale Group, etc.
• Evaluating web sites for legitimacy, currency, accuracy, etc.
• Subject-specific reference searching in a library
• How to use the computer for things other than searching
• Patent searching
• Creating a personal web page
• MARC records and what they mean
• Citation searching
• Critical thinking skills for print resources
• Multimedia searching
• Digital libraries on the web

Fun Stuff

• "Hoax? Scholarly Research? Personal Opinion? You Decide!" -- http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/college/help/hoax/
• Librarian Avengers -- http://librarianavengers.com

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