Information Literacy (from a US perspective)
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The United States National Forum on Information Literacy defines information literacy as
“… the ability to know when there is a need for information, to be able to identify, locate, evaluate, and effectively use that information for the issue or problem at hand.”
The American Library Association defines
“information literacy” as 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.”
Other definitions incorporate aspects of “skepticism, judgement, free thinking, questioning, and understanding…” or incorporate competencies that an informed citizen of an information society ought to possess to participate intelligently and actively in that society.
Although other educational goals, including traditional literacy, computer literacy, library skills, and critical thinking skills, are related to information literacy and important foundations for its development, information literacy itself is emerging as a distinct skill set and a necessary key to one’s social and economic well-being in an increasingly complex information society.
In 2016, the Association of College and Research Librarians (ACRL) replaced former standards with the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education, which offers the following set of core ideas:
- Authority is Constructed and Contextual
- Information Creation as a Process
- Information Has Value
- Research as Inquiry
- Scholarship as Conversation
- Searching as Strategic Exploration