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ERIC Clearinghouse for Community Colleges University
of California at Los Angeles ERIC DIGEST EDO-JC-98-08 May 1998 Facilitating Students' Information Literacy Development by Zorana Ercegovac and Erika Yamasaki Defining Information Literacy We are in the midst of the Information Age where we are dependent on quality information in our daily and professional lives. However, information is becoming increasingly voluminous and fragmented into different formats and media, as well as duplicated in multiple physical locations. In order to access and use these myriad sources effectively, people must be information literate. As defined by the American Library Association (ALA) in its mission statement for the global information society, 21st century information literacy is the ability to seek and effectively utilize information resources which includes knowledge of how to use technologies and the forms in which information is stored (ALA, 1998). This means that asking a good question, as well as accessing, locating, evaluating, and using information is critical not only in scholarly activities but in making daily decisions. Financial, health, and childcare concerns are only a few examples of issues facing most individuals that rely on information literacy. Having the right information determines the difference between the rich and the poor in the Information Age. Community colleges can make a vital contribution toward closing this gap by equipping their students with the ability to access, retrieve, and utilize information. As we move toward understanding information literacy issues in a more holistic manner, the Information Literacy: Search Strategies, Tools & Resources (ST&R) Program developed by Ercegovac can provide invaluable guidance in a variety of information literacy environments. This Digest briefly describes challenges facing information literacy development as well as ST&R and its usefulness to community college faculty and students. Information Technology In the context of National Goals 2000 and the evolving World Digital Libraries, the growth of computer networks and information services have already enabled learners at all levels to share resources, collaborate with one another, and publish their results electronically. To use information sources effectively, we need both technology infrastructure (TI) and information literacy infrastructure (ILI) in place. While TI has been well-funded and developed, ILI is poorly applied in teaching and learning, and requires educatorsí attention. Information technology is a tool for writing papers, communicating with colleagues worldwide, and exchanging experiments, ideas, and programs internationally. As community colleges are considering distance learning and adding new technologies to their curriculum, ensuring studentsí information literacy becomes vital. However, this shift may challenge existing campus dynamics. Current Challenges The proliferation of information sources and educational technology has created a dysfunctional relationship between community college faculty and librarians that is based on an outdated teaching/learning paradigm (Tompkins, 1996). Traditionally, teaching has been the purview of faculty while librarians were viewed as merely custodians of printed information resources. In the current Information Age however, librarians have become the primary instructors in community colleges to teach research methods and critical thinking skills as applied to information access (Academic Senate for California Community Colleges, 1996). As such, there is increasing support for community college librarians to be seen as key instructional team members and as partners and collaborators with faculty (Tompkins, 1996; McHenry, Stewart & Wu, 1992). Especially as libraries are transformed into integrated library/high technology centers, resource-based learning (i.e., drawing on resources beyond textbooks and lectures) and information literacy can be adopted as goals across academic disciplines. At Central Seattle Community College, for example, faculty linked an English composition course with one in library science to teach students how to use information literacy skills in the context of cultural pluralism (McHenry, Stewart & Wu, 1992). By working together, librarians and faculty were able to teach content as well as the valuable skill of navigating through complex data bases and information resources. The ST&R Program While faculty may know how to teach English composition or other standard courses, they may not readily know how to teach information literacy. One successful approach is the Information Literacy: Search Strategies, Tools & Resources (ST&R) Program. ST&R, a program implemented at the intersection of learners and Web-ready information resources, can initiate students to the world of information literacy. It is a comprehensive, flexible, and tested information literacy tool that has been developed to enable students to become self-sustained seekers and users of information sources and digital libraries. This can be especially useful in the community colleges where many students are from disadvantaged or lower socio-economic backgrounds and previously may not have had access to such sources. The program has been designed for anyone interested in the critical and effective use of all types of information sources regardless of their format (e.g., books, journal articles, manuscripts, log diaries, visual elements, and other artifacts) and medium (e.g., printed, electronic, and networked digital libraries). ST&R takes a user-centered perspective and focuses on the intellectual aspects of locating, evaluating, interpreting, and communicating information sources rather than on the technical aspects of these activities. Furthermore, ST&R is comprehensive because it contains references to a variety of sources and digital repositories, introduces effective search strategies and tools for the use of these sources, and covers critical evaluation of these sources. In this one-stop ìliteracy mallî, ST&R also offers exercises, a glossary of introduced terms and concepts, and Internet addresses of numerous sources available on the Web. In particular, the electronic version of ST&R allows students to automatically connect with the Internet addresses and explore various search engines in an orderly and guided manner. Instructors are equipped with the ìST&R Showî, based on the Microsoft PowerPoint 97 presentation program, that features links to selected Internet digital libraries and resources. The ST&R Program also is flexible because its content is divided into a series of nine interrelated yet independent chapters. Therefore, users do not have to start with Chapter 1 and proceed sequentially to Chapter 2 and so forth. Students can expand each of the chapters on their own by doing more exercises and searches, tracking new Web addresses, updating the existing ones, and developing their own portfolio of annotated information sources. This program is the first attempt to translate research from the fields of information seeking, information retrieval, and educational psychology into a practical information literacy program. It can be utilized in a variety of academic settings including libraries, media centers, and classrooms. In addition, different academic departments may wish to incorporate individual parts of ST&R into their curricula to fit their own information literacy mission, students, and collections. Also, the program is scalable to the different academic abilities of community college students. In summary, ST&R represents an accumulation of over 10 years of teaching, in-class testing, as well as feedback from real learners and users. It is based on understanding the user, active learning, a conceptual approach in teaching, and modularity (Ercegovac, 1995; 1997). While the program is a very practical information literacy tool, it also is based on solid research and conceptual foundations. For example, it recognizes the importance of the information life cycle (e.g., information need, search and interpretation, evaluation, and use) as well as the user (National Academy of Sciences, 1998). Conclusion In this Information Age, we browse and query the world's repositories without ever having to leave our workplaces and communities. Thus, it is not surprising that the traditional sense of a library as a confined space with local dimensions has introduced ambiguities to the way people interpret library collections and uses. As a result, the notion of a library as a store has been questioned, and the library's role as a service is loosely defined. Equally vague are definitions of access and organization of information, as well as information itself. Sources are directly searchable by users who are often little trained and who continue to have difficulties in searching retrieval systems. Unfortunately, we have not seen to date large strides in making systems more robust, less forgiving, and more self-describing; nor have we seen much improvement in the area of instructional systems. All these changes have created the need to rethink information literacy and to educate students in the life long quest for knowledge. This evolution requires proficiency with the analytical tools of seeking, searching, and critical thinking. ST&R helps in this regard. References Academic Senate for California Community Colleges. (1996). Library Faculty in California Community College Libraries: Qualifications, Roles & Responsibilities. (ED395 630) American Library Association. (1998). Planning document "New Visions: Beyond ALA Goal 2000." Ercegovac, Z. (1995) "Information access instruction (IAI4): Design principles." College & Research Libraries, 56 (3), 249-257. Ercegovac, Z. (1998). Information Literacy: Search Strategies, Tools & Resources. Los Angeles: InfoEN Associates. Ercegovac, Z. (1997) "The interpretation of library use in the age of digital libraries: Virtualizing the name." Library & Information Science Research, 19 (1), 31-46. McHenry, K.E., Stewart, J.T. & Wu, J. (1992). ìTeaching resource-based learning and diversity.î New Directions for Higher Education, 78, Summer, 55-62. (EJ 450 253) National Academy of Sciences. (1998). Workshop on Information Literacy. Irvine, CA. January 14-15. http://www2.nas.edu/cstbweb/ Tompkins, P. (1996). Quality in Community College Libraries.î Library Trends, 44 (3), 506-25. (EJ 520 152).
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