Introduction

• What is information Literacy

• Need for Information Literacy Skills

• What to Learn

What is Information Literacy

In a nutshell, information literacy is about how to find the information you need quickly and use it effectively.

By gaining information literacy skills, you will understand how to approach your information need, know where to look for information, how to find it, judge whether it is reliable and useful, and share your information effectively with others.

An information literate person is able to:

• Determine the nature and extent of information needed

• Access information effectively and efficiently

• Evaluate information and resources

• Integrate information ethically and legally

Need for Information Literacy Skillls

We live in the Internet world, where people can create large amounts of information everyday

As the amount of available information grows, the problem of managing the information becomes more and more difficult, which can lead to information overload. The information overload means the rapid increase in the amount of published information or data and the effects of this abundance.

Too much information can create a barrier in our lives due to the information overload.

All students and the society face many difficulties to locate information,  evaluate information,

use information,  and communicate information.

Furthermore, due to the expansion of the internet services, such as Twitter、Facebook and Wechat. We receive a lot of information that is not evaluated, unlike the traditional printed sources. Hence the authenticity, validity, and reliability of this information is in doubt.

So, Simply being exposed to a great deal of information will not make people informed; they need to learn how to use this information effectively.

Information literacy is considered as the solution to the information overload

Information literacy is important owing to the amount of information that is available in contemporary society.

Information literacy allows us to cope with the information overload,  by equipping us with the necessary skills to recognize when we need information,  where to locate information, and how to use information effectively and efficiently.

American Library Association define “information literacy” as to be information literate, a person must be able to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate , evaluate and use effectively the need information.

Furthermore, in the 21st century, life long learning has become one of the main themes in the higher education sector. Therefore the students need to be educated with regard to the abilities and skills of how to learn, by developing the aspects of reasoning and critical thinking .

What to Learn

This course mainly contains six units.

• Unit1 Question

• Unit2 Sources

• Unit3 Find

• Unit4 Evaluate

• Unit5 Combine

• Unit6 Apply

Unit 1 Question

The Question step of the information literacy process considers: 'What do I need to know?' To get the right information, you must ask the right question. It is, therefore, important to spend some time defining the question related to your information need.

Unit 2 Sources

The Sources step of the information literacy process considers: 'Where will I look for the information?' Sources can include people, as well as written and electronic materials. Colleagues, family, friends, books, online databases and the internet are all potentially valuable sources of information.

Unit 3 Find

The Find step of the information literacy process considers: 'Which words will I use in my search?' The keywords you type into a search box will determine your results.

Unit 4 Evaluate

This unit considers “Have I found good information”. While a great deal of information exists, not all of this information can be considered good. In fact, some information can be false, and misleading. Therefore, being able to identify reliable and good information from all kinds of information resources is absolutely vital.

Unit 5 Combine

This unit considers 'How do I combine my new information with existing information?' Information is not merely to be gathered, collected and forgotten, but used and utilized.  Information can be critical to constructing valid claims and arguments in papers,  making informed decisions, and expanding your world view. Knowing how to combine information is a valuable skill. 

Unit 6 Share & apply

This unit considers How can I effectively share my information with others and put it into practice?' In social services, sharing knowledge is an important part of knowledge management.

Knowledge management is a social phenomenon, where people come together to share their knowledge, learn from each other and work more effectively together, to meet their business and personal objectives. Effective knowledge management is key to improving practice.

Your knowledge, whether explicit or implicit, could be invaluable to others.