SOLUTION: Information Literacy | My Assignment Tutor

Diag. 1 Information Literacy How relevant is your Information Mike Caulfied has correctly defined the Information Literacy / Digital Literacy as the relevance and usefulness of information gained, via various sources e.g. internet, flyers, etc. When we talk of digital literacy, no doubt there are millions of web pages of information being generated online on any particular topic, let’s say Malaria, its origination, cure, medicines, etc. So, when performing an authenticity check on the website containing Malaria disease symptoms, assessment and medication, what matters most is how is the website referring to their source of information, whether it is certified by Association of Doctors Internationally / Nationally or any hospital/ any medical enterprise. Also, when was the article published/ date of publishing, if it’s too late, then it’s of lesser importance, the more the latest, the better information it has. Also, importantly, Digital Literacy means that users should be friendly with technology in order to gain maximum out of it. If the user doesn’t understand how to use tricks for proper searching, then the search can give irrelevant results too. When we look at any web page, different aspects come into picture, like what is the subject of the webpage/ article, what are the pictures shown/ their context, what information is being thrown to the viewer, coloring patterns of the website/ article/ blog. At times, to increase the click-response from the user, the websites intently direct users to fake news and information most of the time. But how to know whether the information is real or fake and this is where RADCAB model comes into picture. How Relevant the information is to the user, Appropriateness of the content, as in whether the weblink shows offensive content advertently, when it was not asked by the user, Detailing of the article/ weblink, as to how much indepth knowledge is presented to the reader, Currency means how latest the blog/ website content is and its usefulness and lastly Authority as we discussed the content’s validation from prestigious associations online/ offline and Bias as to whether the author is forcibly giving you an opinion or just conveying it. Debate the information that is being presented, either by summarizing the debate as emerging from the literature or considering how this information informs or challenged your view of information access. ● Discussion of the key issues related to the topic This should highlight what has emerged from the literature that you have read about the topic TopicSearch strategyResultInformation LiteracyGoogle search engine with Keywords: Information+literacyGot some relevant linksChallenges of Information LiteracyGoogle search with keywords Challenges, information, literacyGot good information, represented in further sectionInformation literacy frameworkSearch via Google images And ResearchGate.netGot a paper on Infoliteracy for educators When researching on Information Literacy and Digital Literacy, I came to know that the use of any powerful search engine can be misleading at times, too. This means, no doubt the source link of the websites to be searched are indexed and maintained, but it doesn’t necessarily mean, the web search would show relevant results, always. This is the backdrop of the technologies used. So this should always be kept in mind while searching for a particular topic on the internet. Also, correct spelling and steps should be ensured to get proper search results from the engine. In case of research on this topic, I went through a number of weblinks, which were useful and not so useful also. For example Bloom’s Taxonomy and constructivism (Kay, Ahmadpour 2015). Bloom’s Taxonomy on one hand talks about If we dig into history, the term Information Literacy was coined by Zurkowski (a lawyer) in 1974 and his attempt was to get hold of intellectual property rights in case of private sector (Badke, 2010). Information literacy was then aimed at solving problems of industry and similar working. Information literacy gradually evolved from merely in libraries to digital era, where information was not restricted and got into hands of wealthy as well as poor, because of digital boom. But the point to be highlighted here is that, though there was plethora of Information, which information was relevant to the user and appropriate to use for further distributing was a façade. Next came Multiliteracies and New Literacies, in 1966. While Multiliteracies aimed at gaining information from more than one sources/ one type of literacy to text, sound/ audio, videos, etc. New Literacies means literacy gained with the digital technology and their effect in consideration of the context of the content. Information literacy while talks about how information is disseminated among students/ learners/ researchers, it also throws light on incorporating technological development, lifelong learning, critical thinking and evaluation ,social and communication skills. Digital Literacy: It means the set of skills needed to thrive in today’s world, for learning from digital sources of learning like Internet from Desktops, iPads, Mobile devices etc. 4 Principles of Digital Literacy: ComprehensionIt refers to extracting information/ data from various sources of online search databases. Interdependence How one media is attached to other, for e.g. you received an email from a client, which has a document attached (PDF File). When you open the PDF File, it has some hyperlinks, so it takes you to some websites. Then the website hs a video file to be downloaded. This is interdependence. Social Factors How one uses information to share with friends, colleagues, relatives etc which is not originated by him/ her. Curation: To keep information in such a way that it is accessible to everyone needed and use when required to. Models of Information Literacy: Eisenburg & Burkowidtz The Big Six Model (1990): Eisenberg defined Information Literacy as “the ability or skill set to locate, identify and use correct piece of information and remove the unnecessary data / information ”. He stresses on removing / filtering out unnecessary set of information. If we talk of Eisenburg & Burkowidtz Big Six Model (1990) they intend to describe Six basic processes, namely task definition, information seeking strategies, location and access, information use, synthesis, and evaluation to get relevant information about any data. However Eisenburg (2008) refers to three main points adding to the Big Six Model that, first students need to know where they are, in the journey of information gain (information process), secondly he says how technology plays a significant part in student’s journey of seeking information and lastly whether the knowledge gained/ information attained is readily transferred to the students upon demand. Information Seeking Model (Kuhlthau, 1991): Primarily seeking information or initiation of the search, exploration of the data/ content obtained and presentation of the information. I learn model (Neuman 2011):I learn model focuses on action verbs and identify, locate and evaluate the resources of information. Coline Keene model of Information Literacy (2010): This model is the interface between the information seekers and knowledge resources and it aims to develop abilities in students, to identify ways to address information gap, to conduct new methods of information locating and the ability to locate and access information. Analysis of user’s problem in information seeking process is equally important, to understand the situation. The 5P model and the directions of Information Literacy (Kay, Ahmadpour 2015): The model delineates the information seeking process, from lower order skills to higher order skills of thinking, as in Bloom’s Taxonomy. SCONUL Model of Information Literacy: To Identify means to understand that in digital era, Information is constantly being produced and we should be interested in knowledge gaining behaviour. It also means to identify the literature gap between sources and managing time effectively during a search.Scope of the information search means understanding the date of publishing/ currency of the weblink / research, its usefulness and whether it falls under one’s area of interest of information searchPlan means to get working knowledge of various search engines, their limitations and advantages to reach the goal of Information Search. It is noticeable here as to which keywords are to be used to get correct search results.Gather addresses as to how the information attained is organised – in digital or print format and how one evaluates the search results.Evaluate means as to identify correct data sources and using only them, there should be consistency in data collection and knowing when to stop.Manage relates to information handling after all the processes are over and whether it is going in right hands or not.Lastly, Present refers to dissemination of Information gained and its processing, in form of presentations or any digital or print format. Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Framework: As students have a lot of responsibility in generating new information, dissolving boundaries in research and coming up with innovative ideas, this framework is having six aspects, namely: • Authority Is Constructed and Contextual • Information Creation as a Process • Information Has Value • Research as Inquiry • Scholarship as Conversation • Searching as Strategic Exploration Skill sets for Information Literacy: Information Literacy in 21st century invites for not only information seeking behaviour but analyzing and evaluating information for its correctness. Inquiry based learning involves the following basic skill sets: Enquiring behaviourAbility to grasp knowledgeTo learn new conceptsTo analyse information for its correctnessBe curious throughout the processCritical thinkingProblem solving skillsRecognize the need for informationThe overall applicability of the informationTo use the information properly during the process One of the major skill sets required for Information Literacy is Critical Thinking: it means to first read and understand a piece of information and then evaluating it from various dimensions coming up in mind, to understand its validity, applicability and usability. Now how to develop critical thinking capabilities is by understanding other’s explanation to a problem, considering what someone means by saying something, what’s the thinking behind it. One can relate it to other areas as well, to gain an overall perspective of knowledge. Diag.3 : Competencies in Information Literacy (Igwe, Emezie April 2014) These skill sets are needed not only in student life, but throughout the lifespan of career and daily life, to figure out right from wrong. And to use the information ethically. There are other literacies as well, like: Tool literacyResource LiteracySocial structural literacyResearch LiteracyPublishing Literacy References: Diag. 1: Coonan, E., & Jane, S. (2014, April 29). “My dolly’s bigger than your dolly”, or, Why our labels no longer matter. Retrieved April 3, 2021, from https://librariangoddess.wordpress.com/2014/04/29/my-dollys-bigger/ Badke, W. (2010). Foundations of information literacy: Learning from Paul Zurkowski. Online, 34(1), 48-50 Kay, Ahmadpour( 2015), Information Literacy – Developing a Framework for Educators: A Review of Literature