Developing Information Literacy Skills

Accessing and evaluating information are two essential critical thinking skills that information users need to be equipped with in order to find reliable and valid information, and ultimately attain knowledge from it. It's the information professional's duty to teach the user how to access information efficiently and effectively under valid and reliable resources. Grassian (2009, p. 9) explains that information professionals can use "reference material, print indexes, databases, and search engines" to teach users how to search for information.

Information professionals need to take into account who the user or user group is in order to serve it appropriately. As an information professional, I will be careful not to make any assumptions and know exactly how to teach literacy to a specific audience. As Wiburg (2003) emphasizes in the article "Is it Time to Exchange Skinner's Teaching Machine for Dewey's Tool," that not only does the content we are teaching matter, but the context we use to teach it is essential. Wiburg mentions that: Traditionally, instructional designers have asked themselves: What are the concepts to be learned? How should they be presented and sequenced? What ideas need to be taught prior to others? What media can be most useful in presenting each concept?" For example, if I was helping a visually-impaired individual search for a popular book, I would direct the person over to books on tape or on C.D. Or if I was helping an unemployed user look for job resources I would direct them to resume/cover letters books, job fair brochures, but also make sure they are comfortable using the internet to search for jobs. Needless to say, it's not just the content that matters but how it is taught to the user.

Accessing and evaluating information work in conjunction. Information needs to be accessed and evaluated in order to knowledge to be attained by the user. In order to best help the information seeker find what they are looking for, I will be perceptive to their level of information literacy (beginner ,intermediate, or expert.) I will help match their informational needs with their learning style. If they are a visual learner, I can provide information with pictures or graphics via a book, brochure, or even power point presentation. If they are audio learners, then I could play music, an audio book, or a video to get my message across. In a nutshell, I will get information seekers to access and evaluate information effectively by teaching them to search for by using their knowledge levels, learning styles, and preferences to attain knowledge.

References

Grassian, E. S. (2009). Information Literacy Instruction: Theory and Practice (2 ed.). New York: Neal Schuman Pub.

Wiburg, K. M. (2003). A historical perspective on instructional design: is it time to exchange skinner's teaching machine for Dewey's toolbox? Internet Time Blog from Jay Cross and Internet Time Group. Retrieved February 01, 2010, from http://www.internettime.com/itimegroup/Is%20it%20Time%20to%20Exchange%20Skinner's%20Teaching%20Machine%20for%20Dewey's.htm