Arthur A. Houghton, Jr. Library LibGuides: Information Literacy & Critical Appraisal: The Basics (2024)

FAQs

What are the basics of information literacy? ›

Information literacy combines a repertoire of abilities, practices, and dispositions focused on finding, using, and analyzing data to answer questions, develop questions, create new knowledge, and ethically participate in an information based community.

What is information literacy? Information Literacy is 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. Library instruction focuses on these skills and how to access information at Thigpen Library.

What is information literacy? The term "information literacy" describes a set of abilities that enables an individual to acquire, evaluate, and use information. You can think of information literacy as having five components: identify, find, evaluate, apply, and acknowledge sources of information.

Students have the skills and behaviours they need to develop a deeper understanding of their discipline. Information literacy is a building block for lifelong learning, it encourages and informs problem solving and critical thinking. They can locate, use and evaluate information to inform their decision making.

It comprises of 7 IL Skills: Identify, Scope, Plan, Gather, Evaluate, Manage and Present. These seven pillars indicate seven sets of information literacy abilities and understandings.

Information Literacy empowers people in all walks of life to seek, evaluate, use and create information effectively to achieve their personal, social, occupational and educational goal.

Information literacy is the ability to find, evaluate, organize, use, and communicate information in all its various formats, most notably in situations requiring decision making, problem solving, or the acquisition of knowledge.

Tool literacy - The ability to use print and electronic resources including software. Resource literacy - The ability to understand the form, format, location and access methods of information resources. Social-structural literacy - Knowledge of how information is socially situated and produced.

Examples of information literacy occur as someone goes through the step-by-step process to attain and verify information. For example, students writing a scientific research paper would first search for information for a specific purpose and make sure that they access that information in an effective way.

How can you say that a person is information literate? ›

Being information literate is having the ability to define an information need, to gather data or information, to select and organize it into useful knowledge. This skill of finding, evaluating, and synthesizing information may be used in any area of study throughout one's life.

DigComp 2.1 stated that information literacy is the set of skills that people acquire to access, filter, evaluate and manage the elements linked to information, establishing 8 levels of these competencies' development [6].

Examination of information systems and their impact on commerce, education, and personal activities. Utilization of productivity tools for communications, data analysis, information management and decision-making.

Characteristics of information literacy include study skills and academic writing, critical thinking and evaluation skills, research skills, and critical analysis.