Information Literacy

According to the definition provided by the American Library Association (ALA) Presidential Committee on Information Literacy “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 needed information” (p. 179).

A similar definition is offered by the Chartered Institute of Librarians and Information Professionals (CILIP): “Information literacy is knowing when and why you need information, where to find it, and how to evaluate, use and communicate it in an ethical manner”. (no p.)

JISC’s definition of information-Skills is also helpful: “the ability to identify, assess, retrieve, evaluate, adapt, organise and communicate information within an iterative

The National Forum, together with UNESCO and IFLA sponsored several international conferences discussing the importance of information literacy within a global context, resulting in the Prague Declaration (2003) and the Alexandria Proclamation (2005), each underscoring the importance of information literacy as a basic fundamental human right and lifelong learning

Teachers’ conceptions of student information literacy evolved, but did not change significantly, between the two group discussions and “the manner in which individual teachers reacted to their own observations and current research reflected personal characteristics and experience”. By the end, participants began to recognize the complexity of information literacy, and that it is closely associated with wider aspects of learning.

Participants recognized the importance of information literacy and that being information literate “could contribute to affective elements of learning, could improve the efficiency in the way students handle information, and should contribute to greater achievement in terms of grades and increased knowledge”. They also thought that the way the education system, schools and curricula were structured did not encourage the development of cross-curricular skills, and this subject required “whole school commitment”, and teachers need additional training to learn effective teaching