Author Requests this citation be used when reproducing: Forest Woody Horton, "Public Access to Government Information and Information Literacy Training as Basic Human Rights," July 2002, White Paper prepared for UNESCO, the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, and the National Forum on Information Literacy, for use at the Information Literacy Meeting of Experts, Prague, The Czech Republic / One of the key critical success factors for a stable democracy is an informed and empowered citizenry. A more formal way of saying this is to proclaim that public information is a strategic resource needed at all levels of society, by all people, and in all walks of life. This paper examines the philosophical concept of why public access to government information should be considered a basic human right, why minimal information literacy skills are necessary to exploit that strategic resource, and why the acquisition of those skills by all citizens should also be treated as a basic human right. The two ideas are essentially an ends and a means. In short, an end (public access to government information), however worthy, but without the means to realize it (information literacy skills) might as well be no end at all.

Information literacy (IL) has become a vital competency in the current knowledge society. For students, the key to becoming independent learners and future knowledge workers lies in being information literate. However, existing information literacy education approaches have not been very successful in equipping students with these crucial skills to ensure deep erudition and long-lasting retention. Hence, pedagogy becomes critical in information literacy education. This research hypothesises that (i) informa-tion literacy skills have a positive impact on the quality of studentsâ project work; (ii) students grasp in-formation literacy skills more effectively when their innate interests, such as that determined by their re-spective dominant intelligences, are stimulated and applied to their work; and (iii) students internalise what they learn when they are coached over an extended period of time, on how to apply their newly ac-quired information literacy skills, and thus exhibit greater retention of such knowledge and competen-cies. Consequently they would produce work of better quality. To verify these postulations, an informa-tion literacy course was designed for students undertaking project work to equip them with the necessary information literacy skills, by using two established pedagogical approaches â Gardnerâ s Theory of Mul-tiple Intelligences and Feuersteinâ s Mediated Learning Experience. Subsequently the quality of the pro-ject work between the experimental and control groups were compared. This on-going research seeks to identify a utilitarian and viable pedagogical methodology that makes the teaching and learning of infor-mation literacy skills more effective and long-lasting respectively.

Christine Bruce, " Information Literacy as a Catalyst for Educational Change: A Background Paper," July 2002, White Paper prepared for UNESCO, the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, and the National Forum on Information Literacy, for use at the Information Literacy Meeting of Experts, Prague, The Czech Republic. / no abstract given

No description available.

Thesis (M.I. St.)--University of Toronto, 2004. / Adviser: Nadia Caidi. Completed at the Faculty of Information Studies, University of Toronto. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 116-130).

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the Degree of Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) In the Department of Library and Information Science at the University of Zululand, 2008. / This study has defined Information Literacy as the teaching and learning about the whole range of information sources and formats. Information literacy enables people to interpret and make informed judgments as users of information sources and it also enables them to become producers of information in their own right, and thereby to become more powerful participants in society. Information Literacy forms the basis for lifelong learning. It is common to all disciplines, to all learning environments and to all levels of education. The aim of this study is to investigate the teaching and learning of Information Literacy in institutions of higher learning in KwaZulu-Natal province and Malawi. It was assumed that Information Literacy presents a broad approach that offers the opportunity to educate students to understand the importance of information, and have the competence to locate, evaluate and manage it. In that way, Information Literacy contributes towards a higher level of literacy and lifelong learning. It can be argued, therefore, that students become information literate when they are comfortable in using all information formats independently, when they are able to evaluate and base decisions on information obtained. It is in this vein that students should be empowered to be literate and comfortable in using information available in printed and in electronic formats. Qualitative and quantitative approaches were used that involved largely surveys by use of questionnaires, observations and interviews for data collection. A document study was also used in the form of literature review to examine trends and patterns in study guides and course outlines. The study targeted four hundred and twenty two (422) students as follows: Durban University of Technology, two hundred and twenty nine (229) students, University of Zululand one hundred and three (103) students and Mzuzu University eighteen (18) students. Six members of staff were targeted as follows: One (1) Lecturer from the Department of Library and Information Science and One (1) Librarian from each institution under study. In order to test the reliability of the research instruments, a pilot study was carried out at the University of Zululand and necessary adjustments were made to the instruments before the final survey commenced. Data were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), a computer-aided software. The results were represented qualitatively and quantitatively using tables, graphs, and percentages. Problems encountered included difficulty in collecting preliminary information on the number of registered students at the Durban University of Technology; the late release of the research funds which affected the time frame of the research and a slow response to request for permission to conduct study at the institutions under study especially at the University of KwaZulu-Natal which was initially targeted, but later dropped in preference to Mzuzu University in Malawi. The study revealed that Information Literacy is offered at the University of Zululand and Mzuzu University as a module or course. The Durban University of Technology does not offer a module or course in Information Literacy, but the library does teach Information Literacy to all the students in the university during the library orientation programme. The study also established that a handful of students were aware of the availability and attendance of the module or course of Information Literacy at the University of Zululand and Mzuzu University, probably because the module or course is not offered across the whole universities. The mode of teaching includes lectures and learning guides, whereas the learning mode includes both theoretical and practical modes. The results also indicate that all students that had received formal information literacy training had the perception that they had the ability to independently identify, locate, retrieve and use information sources. Similarly, it was found that all respondents that had received formal Information Literacy had the perception that they had the ability to so by using the OPAC. It was established that Information Literacy equipped students with information handling skills such as correctly writing citations and references. The majority of the respondents that had not received formal information literacy training indicated not using citations and references in their academic works. Problems encountered in the teaching and learning of Information Literacy include inadequate time, lack of computer skills by the students, inadequate venues and equipment for teaching and students' practicals, lack of cooperation overcrowding of classes and erratic network connections due to power disruptions. The study recommends that the three institutions should harmonise their syllabi on Information Literacy and that the module/course should be embedded into the whole university curricula and that the DUT should introduce a dedicated module/course in Information Literacy and embed it into the students' course materials. The three universities should also publicise to academic staff, students and the decision makers the importance of having module/course of Information Literacy. The study also recommends that Information Literacy should be introduced into various modules/courses published and presented online in WebCT modules and delivered in lecture modes with the help of tutorials, and workshops. Academic staff should reinforce students' use of indexing and abstracting journals by collaborating among themselves in giving the students more work, assignments that require searching and the use of indexing and abstracting journals. In addition, academic staff should collaborate among themselves and with library staff by devising a uniform citation style to be used by students and reinforce, the students' use of citations and references and that they should give assignments to students that entail the use of citations and references. / Mzuzu University

Presentation. Critical Librarianship & Pedagogy Symposium, February 25-26, 2016, The University of Arizona. / Academic instruction librarians often introduce students to the concept of evaluating information by having them compare “scholarly versus popular” sources--an approach that wrongly implies these two kinds of information are a binary, and that they are in competition with one another. This presentation will question the motivations behind presenting scholarly and popular information in this way, as well as offer recommendations for how librarians can adapt this activity into something which allows for critical discussions of context and authority in the classroom.

Presented June 3, 2004, at the Third International Conference on eLiteracy, St. John's University, New York. / There is a significant segment of the population which was virtually bypassed by the electronic revolution. These people are primarily retired or close to retirement, and are finding it increasingly necessary to have computer skills to interact with the world around them. However, due to the aging process, learning those computer skills is more difficult for them. This case study details how the staff of the North County Regional Library Computer Center addressed those issues and developed a series of classes for first time computer users. Based on research into issues in gerontology, such as cognitive and motor declines, as well as automaticity and semantic memory, the staff modified materials and techniques to make computer training achievable for many older citizens who were "falling through the cracks." The staff at the North County Regional Library developed a short, beginning-level computer course consisting of four lessons, which has been offered by the Library since early 2003. Results have been very positive. Participants have ranged in age from middle-age to elderly (80+ years). Since participants must go through the instructors to register, classes have been limited to those who were total novices, with virtually no exposure to computers. Sample materials and outlines will be provided, as well as statistical summaries from evaluation instruments.

This is the authorâ s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Museum Management and Curatorship. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Museum Management and Curatorship, 21 (4), 317-335. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.musmancur.2006.09.003 / This paper presents results from twenty-one semi-structured interviews with museum information professionals who were asked about their experiences working with information resources, tools, and technologies in museums. The interviews were analyzed to develop an understanding of the information literacy skills of museum information professionals. This paper presents the results of this analysis, and discusses the state of information literacy in museums and the increasing need for museum information professionals to possess information literacy skills. The results illustrate how information literacy is defined by information professionals in museums, and how perceptions of information literacy and its importance to museums have changed over time.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. / Many researchers are attempting to quantify or understand the value of information, especially for the Army as it enters its transformation. Information can be decomposed into various qualities. Three of these qualities, timeliness, accuracy, and completeness, form the basis for this thesis. This thesis uses a simulation framework developed by the author to analyze the three components of information listed above. The scenario selected is a typical vignette of an Objective Force company-sized element conducting offensive operations against threat elements. Knowledge of the threat was compromised by the presence of decoy elements as well as previously damaged or killed systems (BDA). In this scenario the fires are initiated from standoff ranges. The initial and running assessments of the threat composition are made based on the information provided by sensors on board the unit's organic unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Analysis of the simulation results helps in understanding how components of information quality affect the overall effectiveness of the force as reflected in an efficiency measure. Additionally, critical thresholds for accuracy, completeness, and timeliness of information are pinpointed to inform Objective Force decision makers. / Major, United States Army