Information Literacy - Science topic

Dear Ms. Mejía!

You pointed to a critical issue. This challenge is a case - and context-specific one:

1) Ticha, I.K., Nakhooda, M. & Obi, U.N. The student voice on integrative teaching and learning of academic literacy at a South African university of technology. Discov Educ 3, 15 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s44217-024-00096-9 Open access:

2) A case study:

Walter, Y. Embracing the future of Artificial Intelligence in the classroom: the relevance of AI literacy, prompt engineering, and critical thinking in modern education. Int J Educ Technol High Educ 21, 15 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-024-00448-3, Open access:

Yours sincerely, Bulcsu Szekely

Hi Bolanle,

I am interested. Send me more details.

In some ways, developing information literacy ability is indeed linear - develop a problem-based research question and preliminary outline, do searches based on terminology from your question, evaluate results for quality and relevance to your question. But that is introductory. As students develop actual skills, they find that the process of research is iterative and follows a varying path. But without those introducatory linear skills, most students flounder. The linear portion is like a skeleton for the interative process.

Velibor Božić

Dear Professor,

Thank you for initiating a discussion on such an interesting topic.

In my country (India), the digital divide is acute. We are a developing country. In this country, clear and safe drinking water is a dream for millions. Therefore, topics like information literacy are beyond dreams. So, we need to overcome the problem of skilling the major part of the population for basic educational literacy first.

Therefore, in a country like mine to reach to the level where information literacy can be considered a problem or an obstacle to overcoming digital divide, will be an achievement.

Best regards,

Anamitra.

There is no digital literacy possible without advanced literacy and technical skills, i.e. tech-know-logical education and enlightenment operate as information selection system In the digitized cosmos of virtual reality. Am in line with

Jebunnesa Jeba and Áurea Gabriel , but I see digital literacy as tech-know-logical icing on the cake, with respect to advanced literacy and technical skills In physical reality.

Dear Ligen Yu, thanks for the comment. I love Tao.

Information without understanding will cause mental constipation.

It feels like you are distinguishing between the interpretive themes you develop and the practical advice that you provide on "most useful sources of information", and "most important information topics". I agree that if you treated those two topics as themes they would indeed be "under developed," but that need not be the case if you first develop a set of interpretive themes, and then use those themes to organize and present the more practical information.

In some ways, this might be a distinction between what goes into your Results section (the themes) and what goes into your Discussion section (the practical implications of those themes).

Research studies are supporting in favor of facilitation of Media and Information Literacy courses...

Carlson, J., Fosmire, M., Miller, C. C., & Nelson, M. S. (2011). Determining data information literacy needs: A study of students and research faculty. portal: Libraries and the Academy, 11(2), 629-657.

Oyewo, A. E., & Umoh Uwem, S. (2016). Information Literacy, Research, Scholarship and Publication; Comparative of PhD Students in Nigerian and South African Universities.

Shenton, A. K. (2009). Information literacy and scholarly investigation: a British perspective. IFLA journal, 35(3), 226-231.

Providing informative leaflets and signposting to encourage handwashing and public health guidelines

The Hindu an English newspaper with over 130 years behind was the first one in India to appoint a Readers Editorin 2006 , an internal type of ombudsman to interact with readers of their queries and issues related to media. it is a kind of media literacy column and you can get it in the net.

Thank you Manjula

Dear Marek Dance

I tried to answer your question based on a valid source.

I hope to help you.

I will offer you this article:

Meanwhile, this person can help you:

according to Starkey (2003), empowerment is discussed with increasing regularity, yet remains a contested concept which is often not clearly defined. An explanation for this could be diverse origins. As a concept, empowerment has its roots in a range of traditions, including among others, the civil rights, anti-racist and women’s movements and consumerism. Thus, empowerment holds varying meanings in a range of contexts with different underpinning assumptions and ideologies. In order to establish a theoretical framework, this paper will outline two competing discourses identified by Croft and Beresford (1995): the consumerist model of empowerment and the liberational model of empowerment.

Information underpins both buyer and supplier power in the marketplace. Keh and Park (1988) suggest that information allows access to more products and allows individuals to learn about manufacturers and distributors, competitive offerings and prices. Pitt et al (2002) note that information incompleteness and information asymmetries do not provide conditions where individuals feel they have all the information to act, in a sense rendering them powerless The power of information is manifest in the relationship between consumers and professionals (such as health care professionals or financial services professionals).

You are most welcome. Shortly I shall share some basic information of the project and we may further discuss to go ahead.

Rajesh Singh Sir, the above mentioned questionnaire will suit for the said proposition.

I found the best definitions of 3 concepts in InfoSense, a book by noted mathematician Keith Devlin. In short: data=code, information=message and knowledge=action. He provides an example to demonstrate this: grey clouds=code, message=it will rain, action=bring an umbrella

Jaro is right we must identify competencies and determine new ways to help students learn them. One way that I have had a lot of luck with is the use of virtual academic poster competitions for students. Through this medium the students are able to share their research with not only their fellow students at their university, but with other universities that are participating as well. It is a low cost, hi tech solution.

You may add this one: numerical & mathematical literacy (aka numeracy), as well as a few that are suggested in the following links.

Dear Muhammad Youusuf Ali, concerning the approach to information there exist lots of suggestions as well as contexts that may deviate your focus. I wrote a series of papers (posted in RG) focusing on users and academic databases in order to improve, modify, change or confirm their information needs before publishing. Yes, this is a university context, not highschool or elementary levels. Good luck in your pursue!

Hello Angelle.

Badges can be seen as a commodity that the learner is sold within a social activity to ensure that there is a constant flow of knowledge, ideas and interaction. This idea enables the learner to make up our own sense of the world around us even in the virtual world. Learners can make sense of the conversation, de-code knowledge within multimedia artifacts and provides the basis for others to reside within a community in which leads to direct interaction with one and another.  

This transfer of knowledge within Connective Knowledge provides a notion within gamification for a natural way of providing formative and informative feedback to the learner while assisting with motivation and diligence. The community realm should be able to adjust while presenting feedback to the learners that is most useful and beneficial. Badges are a form of progress indicator , but there is a need to be, more focus on giving depth to learner’s feedback to enrich the teaching and learning experience. This enrichment of the teaching and learning within Connective Knowledge is significant because it allows the learner to analyses the different barriers to the production of knowledge, which arguable Remanence within the culture of the community and the society.

Hope that helps.. I have a lot of references that might help you.

Thanks for sharing Ljubomir.

Well, complex question.

Depending on your requirements (research vs commercial, language coverage, tasks, scalability .... as the most relevant) I would recommend OpenNLP or Stanford.

Hi Yanan,

I did edit a book on this topic published in 2006. May be a bit old now but the reference is:  Dale, P., Holland, M., & Matthews, M., (eds.) 2006. Subject Librarians: Engaging with the Learning and Teaching Environment. Aldershot UK: Ashgate.

There might be some full text here [ https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Subject_Librarians.html?id=ybt0ci_4esIC&redir_esc=y&hl=en ] and there are two chapters free online here [ http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/1461/ ] and here [  http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/196/ ]. It's a topic I haven't thought about for a while,  I will add an answer when I have a moment. BW Matt. 

質問を理解することはぜんぜんできません。翻訳エンジンを使用しましたか？日本語と英語の語順があんまり異なっています。ですから，文章を小さな部分に分かれて，次に翻訳するほうがいいと思います。

Hi '

It seems that a library or library systems are organizing their training according to actual needs rather than according to training theories. It could help a lot if the existence of informed learning models will be brought to their attention.

First of all you should clarify and understand the requirements of the problem for which information is sought.

What is known about the topic?

What information is needed?

Where can the information be found?

The second step is to identify sources of information and to find those resources.

Step three involves examining the resources that were found. The information must be determined to be useful or not useful in solving the problem.

It is in the fourth step this information which has been selected is organized and processed so that knowledge and solutions are developed. Examples of basic steps in this stage are:

Discriminating between fact and opinion

Basing comparisons on similar characteristics

Noticing various interpretations of data

Finding more information if needed

Organizing ideas and information logically

In step five the information or solution is presented to the appropriate audience in an appropriate format. A paper is written. A presentation is made. Drawings, illustrations, and graphs are presented.

The final step in the Information Literacy strategy involves the critical evaluation of the completion of the task or the new understanding of the concept. Was the problem solved? Was new knowledge found? What could have been done differently? What was done well?

Nick

Many thanks for this. 

I think I would maybe use the phrase "does affect health"

Thank you very much for the information. I found the course in the second semester of the Master of Library Science. I would like to know the course program and the name of the guest teachers who teaches (not shown). In any case do you know of a course that is specifically programmed for the training of secondary school teachers?

Yes, we've used it at University of Otago in a number of situations both for information literacy and digital literacy teaching in Oral Health (100 level), Medical Laboratory Science (200 level), and Pharmacy (undergraduate and post graduate level).

We use a variety of material, in house video or interactive content, externally sourced content, practice searches using our databases, online based quizzes that can require physically coming to the library to find material.

The advantages we've been alerted to through in house evaluations are that: students feel more prepared for class, they have a better understanding of concepts, they have time on their own to work at their own pace, and they can come to class with questions, they exhibit deeper understanding. In order to embed this in the programme without adding time to the students, we have negotiated reducing in class time to cover the pre -class learning (usually up to half an hour).

The major disadvantage is when students don't engage with the pre-class learning, come to class unprepared, and the same amount of work still needs to be completed in 2/3 of the time.

It also takes time to design and set up these learning packages and embed them in the LMS. We often use Adobe Captivate to build the content but do have a collection of learning objects that we reuse and tailor the content to fit around it. If grades or terms are to be applied this needs to be negotiated at an early stage. A small grade can increase motivation to participate for some students! 

I hope this helps.

UNESCO (2013) Global Media and Information Literacy (MIL) Assessment Framework

As Snejanka pointed out, SAILS developed by Kent State University researchers is a good example. Also Tilson (2010) indicated the Fresno Test is a validated instrument which can be used to evaluate information literacy along with skills. I suggest you Google for more for a wealth of information that is available on the web.

Such cooperation should be more frequent, more intense.

Undoubtedly, this will benefit both sides, as well as those who will use the results of such research.

I think it's a matter of time when both sides - academics and librarians - will be fully maturated to such collaboration :)

Thank you Caryl for the reply. The more I study and learn about Evidence-Based Practice the more I am convinced that a nurse (or for that matter any practitioner) cannot practice using evidence without having strong information literacy skills. Other health professionals enter the practice field with Master's or Doctorate level of education. This prepares them to implement evidence into practice using their information literacy skills that have been honed in the extended preparation to practice. As you have pointed out, nurses are so grounded in the intensive learning of the sciences, pharmacology, nursing care fundamentals, assessments, care of patients in the specialties, epidemiology, community health, management and prep for the state boards there is little time left to emphasize the importance of developing inquiry skills, information management (beyond the EMR), evaluation of research, comparisons of qualitative and quantitative research, and critical appraisal of practices. It is probably 3-5 years after graduation that nurses are ready to begin asking questions and evaluating practice. And we know that about 25% of graduates will have left the profession by then.

Possibly two things may happen if there was a greater emphasis on evaluating information literacy skills:

1. Improved Critical Thinking, so that less emphasis could be placed on practicing taking the NCLEX and more on developing problem evaluation/solving/reasoning skills; thereby resulting in better NCLEX pass rates

2. Graduates identify nursing as a profession with a unique scope of practice, met by no other professional group thereby lifting morale, courage and fortitude of new graduates to be active participants/contributors in a collaborative care team. Possibly these two outcomes from improved information literacy skills will spur the profession forward. The problems is making the connection.

As you may have found in your practice, it is difficult to get nursing faculty beyond seeing information literacy as either effective database searching, efficient computer skills or proficient use of citation. The result is that it is difficult to implement evaluation of the skill beyond those areas with the faculty. There needs to be a close collaboration.

I would suggest a review of A New Curriculum for Information Literacy as the place to start: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vY-V2givIiE

Many concepts of information literacy focus on the lifelong learner, which implies learning at the workplace. A quite early programme funded by the EU, called SIBIS (Statistical Indicators Benchmarking the Information Society), focussed on Work and Skills, among others.

So, I agree with Peter and Matt on that the answer to your question is yes.

Not really my area, but Wikipedia (which, I know, isn;t always the best!) has a good and very well referenced article, though not dealing in any depth with information management:

Thanks for the answers.

I also find a paper that gives an overview of the methods currently applied for information literacy assessment: A. Walsh, « Information literacy assessment Where do we start? », Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, vol. 41, nᵒ 1, p. 19–28, 2009.

There is a large list of assessment types and resources available from: http://jfmueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/infolitassessments.htm

Hi Anna, I agree with Arjun, an ability to understand and use technology is now a prerequisite for a career in Library and Information/Knowledge Services. As a freshly graduated professional you will be in touch with the latest developments in technology, but specific skills like these will fade quickly, so an ability to keep up, keep in touch with developments and maintain overview is also important.

Basic management skills are also important. Project Management, the ability to put together a project proposal with appropriate costings, that kind of thing.

I would also add good communication skills, written and spoken. Can you write a report or plan an effective information skills session. Can you present an idea to a line manager. Could you present a paper to a meeting.

Collaborative working, developing and participating in networks, using social networking for work purposes are important, especially to develop the networks that are going to keep you up to date and engaged with developments in the profession, the further you progress in your career.

An entrepreneurial spirit, the ability to try and think new things is a useful attribute in times of change. In many areas of LIS work today, fortune favours the brave, those who are willing to put themselves forward, apply for funding grants, think of new projects and new approaches to problems.

All this and of course the the core Library and Information Skills are important.

BW Matt

I found these définitions from Buela-Casal (2010, http://www.ugr.es/~aepc/articulo/scientific.pdf)

Journal impact factor: This is calculated by dividing the total number

of citations made in one year to the papers published in a journal during the

two previous years, by the number of papers published in the journal during

that same 2-year period. Usually, this indicator only refers to the journals included

in the Web of Sciences (Buela-Casal, 2003; Garfield, 2003).

Advantages: Without doubt the most used and best known indicator in all

fields of scientific research. Used for assessing researchers, journals and institutions

in the majority of countries in the world.

Journal impact index: The same as the impact factor, except that it

also takes into account journals not included in the Web of Science.

Advantages: It is very useful for assessing and classifying many journals

not included in the Web of Science. It is particularly useful for cataloguing

national journals. See, for example, IN-RECS (http://ec3.ugr.es/in-recs/).

Disadvantages: The same as those described for the impact factor.

Thank you Elna, this is very helpful. I'm definitely interested in exploring emergent literacy concept, so I'll gladly check literature recommended by you.