ArticlePDF Available

Incorporating Data Literacy into Information Literacy Programs: Core Competencies and Contents

De Gruyter
Libri
Authors:

Abstract

The growing importance of data in society in general and scientific domains in particular, mirrored in the Open Data initiative and in the advent of eScience, requires public, school and academic libraries to contribute to both data and information literacy, as part of their mission to further knowledge and innovation in their respective fields of action. No specific library standards have been proposed to date, however, and most research studies conducted adopt a partial view of data literacy, stressing only the components needed in any given context. The present paper aims to contribute to the advancement of data literacy with the proposal of a set of core competencies and contents that can serve as a framework of reference for its inclusion in libraries' information literacy programs. The various definitions of data literacy are discussed, the coverage of the competencies listed in information literacy standards is described, and the competencies considered in the experiments conducted to date in education and libraries are identified. The conclusion drawn is that the model proposed can favour the development of data literacy support resources and services. Topics for further research are also specified.
Calzada-Prado, F. J., Marzal, M.A. (2013). Incorporating data literacy into information literacy
programs: core competencies and contents. Libri, v. 63, issue 2, p. 123-134.
This article can be downloaded from: http://hdl.handle.net/10016/27173
... This concept, which originated in the educational sciences, has been defined in various ways (see Koltay (2015) for an overview). In summary, data literacy involves the ability to access, interpret, critically evaluate, manage, and process data, so that it can be transformed into actionable knowledge to make informed decisions (Calzada Prado and Marzal 2013;Koltay 2015;Mandinach and Gummer 2016). ...
... Earlier publications concerning data literacy, such as Berendt (2012), Prado and Marzal (2013), and ...
Article
Full-text available
As society increasingly recognises the value of data, proficiency in using and understanding data has become crucial. However, there is no universal consensus on the definition of data literacy. Therefore, this study provides the first extensive, mixed methods scoping review of the topical evolution of data literacy within social and educational sciences from 2011 to 2023. By identifying key themes and research trends, this review offers a comprehensive understanding of the dynamic nature of data literacy. Our sample consists of 210 English-language, peer-reviewed articles from Scopus and Web of Science. The findings reveal a field that is evolving alongside media and digital literacy discussions, with notable growth in publications, particularly in 2019, 2020, and 2023, thus highlighting data literacy’s recognition as a distinct paradigm. Data literacy is shifting beyond traditional frameworks, with increasing attention to issues of equity and accessibility—areas still underexplored in current literature. Notably, the research demonstrates a shift from simply developing individual data skills to fostering a socially aware form of data literacy that empowers citizens to critically engage with data and navigate a datafied society actively and responsibly. This review emphasises the need for a nuanced, context-specific approach to data literacy, much like digital literacy, as different demographics and contexts encounter varying needs and challenges. As a dynamic, ever-evolving concept, future research and programs must address these diverse levels of engagement and expertise, ensuring that data literacy is inclusive, adaptable, and supported by social structures.
... To date, however, it is significant that a key concern is with the ethical use of data when sharing and reusing it (Koltay, 2013;Zilinski, et al, 2014). A typical example is well summarized by Calzada Prado & Marzal (2013) where data literacy is described as the ability that "enables individuals to access, interpret, critically assess, manage, handle and ethically use data" (pp. 123-124). ...
Article
Discrimination can be said to take place during early childhood when the difference between safety and danger are detected even though notions of real and imaginary may still be blurred. Importantly, the versatility of this construct reaches further into lifelong learning and is used in this paper as a means of distilling a range of competencies that are invoked by terms such as information literacy, digital literacy, media literacy, e-literacy, ethical responsibility, global citizenship, and the ‘getting of wisdom’. Following a meta-analysis of the various ways in which 21st century skills are elucidated we propose a conceptual re-alignment of the foundation skills of education to include being discriminate (discerning) alongside being literate and numerate. Motivation for doing so arises from two sources: (1) a perceived privileging of literacy and numeracy – particularly in the context of high-stakes testing; and, (2) the converse of this situation in which literacy and numeracy appear to have a diminished presence within the ‘21st century skills’ agenda. A gap between these agendas becomes more prominent when considering that our interactions with the world are increasingly configured by increasing production and consumption of data from an increasing diversity of sources.
... The connotation of information literacy continues to expand, derive and deepen with the change in information technology (IT). In this process, due to the need for subdivision research, researchers have proposed many different concepts and connotations of literacy according to different research questions, such as media literacy (Rojas-Estrada et al. 2023;Scharrer et al. 2020), network literacy (Hopkins 2022), data literacy (Calzada Prado and Marzal 2013;McGowan et al. 2023;María Pinto et al. 2023), digital literacy (Elbaz et al. 2024;Le et al. 2022;Reddy et al. 2023), AI literacy (Cetindamar et al. 2024;Hong and Kim 2024;Kong et al. 2024), etc. Now, programming or coding, as an extension of information literacy education, has been increasingly concerned by researchers (Burke et al. 2016;Chung and Lou 2021;Clement 2018;Hammoud et al. 2013;Hutchison et al. 2016;Kalelioglu 2015;Rea 2022;Tsai et al. 2019). ...
Article
Full-text available
The promotion and implementation of programming education in primary and secondary schools in the intelligent era are associated with high-quality information technology (IT) teachers who possess programming literacy. IT teachers’ programming literacy requires a scientific and reasonable index system for quantitative evaluation. On the basis of literature review, this paper adopts Delphi method and constructs an evaluation index system of IT teachers’ programming literacy after three rounds of expert consultation, including 5 first-level indicators such as programming awareness, programming knowledge, programming ability, programming teaching and programming ethics, and 13 related second-level indicators. Then, to facilitate the quantitative evaluation of the programming literacy of information teachers, the weight of each index is determined by the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method. Among them, the top 3 first-level indicators with the largest weights are programming awareness, programming knowledge and programming ability. The top 5 second-level indicators are training consciousness, professional consciousness, basic knowledge, thinking ability and teaching ability. Finally, through the empirical research of small-scale questionnaire survey, the index system can evaluate and compare the programming literacy of IT teachers, and it is effective and feasible.
... Libraries as social and academic establishments can organize digital literacy programmes designed to teach users and the wider community on how to traverse the digital landscapes in a safer manner without risking exposure to privacy violations. Such innovative projects will include helping people understand privacy settings and online tracking so they can make informed decisions when sharing personal information (Calzada and Marzal, 2013). ...
Article
Full-text available
As a result of the emergence of the internet, semantic web and social media, netizens have been able to create digital footprints on scholarly, commercial or non-scholarly platforms. However, it remains a mystery as to what happens to the data created by ordinary users of digital platforms, whether they create text, visuals, sounds or multimedia files. Despite the privatization and commoditization of digital spaces by informational capitalism, austerity policies across the globe have led to deterioration and diminishing of physical public spaces and infrastructure for providing services. This article seeks to explore the concept of data capitalism amidst rising surveillance capitalism and suggests ways through which libraries can protect the interests of their users against data capitalism
... • képes az eredményeket a tanulás, a döntéshozatal és a problémamegoldás céljaira felhasználni; • önmagát ellenőrizve képes ezeket a folyamatokat tervezni, szervezni (Calzada Prado & Marzal, 2013). ...
Article
Az „adatvezérelt világ” kifejezés ma már nem egy utópiát takar, hanem egyre gyakrabban az üzleti élet, a média és a tudományos kutatás számos területének valósága. Oktatása nemcsak a kutatókra és az egyetemi hallgatókra terjed ki, hanem igény van arra is, hogy a közoktatásban tanuló diákok elsajátíthassák azokat a készségeket, képességeket és jártasságokat, amelyek szükségesek az adatokkal való munkához. Ezentúl a különféle adatok kezeléséhez szükséges szemlélet és kompetenciák egyre inkább az állampolgári és az információs műveltség részéve válnak. Ez azt is megköveteli, hogy az információs műveltség mellé felzárkózzon az adatműveltség, továbbá számos, más kompetencia is szerepet kapjon.
Conference Paper
O presente artigo descreve o processo de análise e sugestão de novos gráficos e visualizações para a Conecta PNE, uma plataforma do Ministério da Educação que apoia o monitoramento do Plano Nacional de Educação e os planos subnacionais de Educação do Brasil. A análise leva em consideração a Semiologia Gráfica proposta por Bertin, discute sobre neutralidade dos dados e baseia-se em estudos brasileiros sobre visualização de dados para refazer as escolhas visuais do projeto. Como resultado, temos o comparativo das versões e suas melhorias.
Article
Full-text available
Der Beitrag widmet sich kritisch der Konstruktion eines ,souveränen‘ Subjekts im Diskurs um den (pädagogischen) Umgang mit zunehmender Datafizierung im Bildungskontext. Offengelegt werden Optimierungslogiken und eine Diskrepanz zwischen einem Selbstbestimmungspostulat bei gleichzeitiger Orientierung an präskriptiv-normativen Kompetenzen. Der Beitrag schließt mit einem Vorschlag zur medienpädagogischen Beschäftigung mit Nicht-Souveränität und subjektiver Relationalität.
Article
Full-text available
A clear line of argument can be set out to link the (passive) intellectual freedom rights offered by Article Nineteen of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration on Human Rights, to a consequent responsibility on governments, professionals and civil society activists for the (active) creation of suitable conditions for the effective exercise of intellectual freedom. Commentators on media in society and socially responsible computing are also increasingly drawing conclusions of this kind and stressing the importance of Media Literacy and Computer Literacy. This line of argument naturally directs attention towards the rationale currently offered for Information Literacy as a focus of professional activity. Whilst there are many elaborately worked-out programmes for Information Literacy instruction, these have so far been largely derived from practical perceptions of need. However, broad statements such as the Prague Declaration ‘Towards an Information Literate Society’ of 2003 and the Alexandria Proclamation of 2005 can be seen as beginning to point towards a rationale for Information Literacy activities rooted in human rights, Article Nineteen in particular. The contention is that starting from a human rights perspective leads towards a strong, inclusive interpretation of Information Literacy. This subsumes Media Literacy, Computer Literacy, Web Literacy and, to a considerable extent, Civic Literacy into a model that serves human needs rather than the established priorities of information professionals. The value of this approach for both practice and research is stressed.
Article
Full-text available
IASSIST Quarterly: The evaluation of information is a key element in information literacy, statistical literacy and data literacy. As such, all three literacies are inter-related. It is difficult to promote information literacy or data literacy without promoting statistical literacy. While their relative importance varies with one's perspective, these three literacies are united in dealing with similar problems that face students in college. More attention is needed on how these three literacies relate and how they may be taught synergistically. All librarians are interested in information literacy; archivists and data librarians are interested in data literacy. Both should both consider teaching statistical literacy as a service to students who need to critically evaluate information in arguments. Copy at www.StatLit.org/pdf/2004SchieldIASSIST.pdf
Book
The proliferation of online access to social science statistical and numeric data sources, such as the U.S. Census Bureauâs American Fact Finder, has lead to an increased interest in supporting these sources in academic libraries. Many large libraries have been able to devote staff to data services for years, and recently smaller academic libraries have recognized the need to provide numeric data services and support. This guidebook serves as a primer to developing and supporting social science statistical and numerical data sources in the academic library. It provides strategies for the establishment of data services and offers short descriptions of the essential sources of free and commercial social science statistical and numeric data. Finally, it discusses the future of numeric data services, including the integration of statistics and data into library instruction and the use of Web 2.0 tools to visualize data.
Article
Researchers increasingly need to integrate the disposition, management, and curation of their data into their current workflows. However, it is not yet clear to what extent faculty and students are sufficiently prepared to take on these responsibilities. This paper articulates the need for a data information literacy program (DIL) to prepare students to engage in such an "e-research" environment. Assessments of faculty interviews and student performance in a geoinformatics course provide complementary sources of information, which are then filtered through the perspective of ACRL's information literacy competency standards to produce a draft set of outcomes for a data information literacy program.
Article
The burgeoning use of numeric data resources across all academic disciplines raises significant questions about the library's role in providing data services and promoting quantitative literacy. This study analyzes the content of web pages to determine the presence and promotion of data resources and services at a random sample of large research libraries (and their related institutions) in North America. The results prompt the authors to challenge libraries to more fully engage their users in efforts at richer discovery, use, and analysis of data.
Article
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze the confluence of data literacy with information literacy in an experimental one‐unit course taught in the UCLA Department of Sociology, and present the literature on, rationale for, and future of integrating these interrelated literacies into social science courses. Design/methodology/approach The course was co‐taught twice by a librarian and a data archivist using a syllabus and assignments that reflect sociological research problems and tools and information literacy competencies in the social sciences. Findings The need for information and data skills in sociology is well‐established, and their integration into a sociology course (rather than in a stand‐alone information literacy course) would produce more opportunities for students to apply what they learn and for the instructors to assess learning in the context of doing sociology coursework. Research limitations/implications The class sizes were too small for full‐scale assessment and pre‐tests/post‐tests were not given. Assessment of student learning was based on work produced in and outside class and on course evaluations. Practical implications It is suggested that librarians and data archivists work with faculty to innovate curricular approaches based on recommendations and outcomes in key documents on learning sociology from professional library and sociology organizations. Attaching the lab to an existing course and promoting the data literacy modules for faculty to adopt in other courses are also suggested. Originality/value This paper invites social science librarians to examine the value to students and faculty of collaboration with professional data services staff to teach and merge information and data literacy within the social sciences curricula.
Article
The University of Minnesota Libraries have established a full-service information center to facilitate end-user access to machine-readable datafiles, particularly U.S. government datafiles such as the Census. The Machine Readable Data Center (MRDC), funded through a three-year, $240,000 grant from the College Library Technology and Cooperation Grants Program (HEA Title II-D), presents an alternative, library-centered model for providing students, faculty, and independent researchers with direct access to machine-readable data.