Information Literacy: Where Do We Go from Here?

Information literacy is a term that we've been hearing for several decades, but do we know what it means and how to achieve it? Without a clear definition that everyone acknowledges, we have no roadmap to begin the journey to achieve an information-literate society. Once we have agreed on the map, we need to make sure that the group leaders (the teachers) on the journey have the means to reach the destination: information-literate students.

What Does It Mean?

In addition to the term "information literacy," we've heard about "media literacy," "technology literacy," "computer literacy," and probably several others. Each of these has a slightly different angle on what it is students need to learn. Media literacy, for example, focuses on the understanding of messages received from different media (TV, radio, the Internet). Technology literacy defines the need for students to learn to use the technology itself. Many of these forms of literacy share one or more of the three elements that define information literacy: the ability to find, to evaluate, and to use information effectively.

Information literacy combines literacy that we've known for centuries with the new skills needed for an individual to thrive in the Information Age. Today it is imperative that students learn to identify a need for information, and then to find the necessary information and to evaluate and implement it. These skills have become increasingly important as the volume of information available grows exponentially, as well as the varying formats and unknown sources.

Today information comes in print, video, audio, and visual formats. It may be delivered in books, magazines, newspapers, email, the Internet, television, CD-ROM, radio, etc. The sources are no longer only publishers with staffs of editors who may check facts and grammar; now, anyone can publish.

Linda Langford, in her article "Information Literacy: A Clarification" (School Libraries Worldwide, 4:1, 1998; pp. 59-72), outlines the painful history and current problems with the term "information literacy." In Langford's article, Breivik (1993) characterizes the frustration with this term:

   "We are going to change the term, we hate this term, it is no good. There
   are all these other literacies." She continues by supporting the fact that
   the definition of literacy has changed over the decades and that the
   Australian definition of literacy may, in fact, be the best: to be able to
   function well in society, which entails the ability to read, use numbers
   and to find information and use it appropriately. Breivik strongly believes
   that literacy, as an Industrial Age concept, has transformed to include
   affective as well as cognitive understanding, in the culture of the
   Information Age.

According to Langford, the struggle with the definition has left teachers and students without a clear blueprint or roadmap on how to teach and learn the concept. "There appears to be a gap in the literature between the theory of information literacy and the everyday classroom practice ...," she writes. "[T]here remains a real need to explore how the concept of information literacy becomes the natural or basic practice of teachers."

Which Road Shall We Take?

How do we get teachers and students on the path to integrating information literacy into the curriculum? Education policy often leads the way to integrate new ideas into the mainstream. Many individuals and organizations have been promoting the concept of information literacy since the mid-1970s. Christina Doyle's article, "Information Literacy by Christina Doyle," and her book, Information Literacy in an Information Society: A Concept for the Information Age (1999), outline the history of the policies behind information literacy from 1974 to 1994. The work of the U.S. Department of Education, the American Library Association (ALA), and the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) continues to reinforce the need to teach information literacy skills (see "An Information Literacy Policy Timeline," below).

In addition to the national programs, articles in magazines and journals such as TECHNOS and books have fostered and will continue to grow the creation of standards, assessment, and curriculum for information literacy (see "Information Literacy Resources").

In December 2000, the U.S. Department of Education Published eLearning: Putting a World-Class Education at the Fingertips of All Children in which it makes information literacy a priority in Goal 3:

Also in December 2000, the Web-based Education Commission highlighted the importance of students being able to access and evaluate information found on the Internet in The Power of the Internet for Learning: Moving from Promise to Practice. Clarifying the concept, stating the importance, and providing examples of curriculum and professional development will continue to encourage states to include information literacy as a goal and teachers to teach it in the classroom.