Information+Literacy

Information Literacy is not a new concept. The issue did not come into national prominence, however, until the 1989 [|**Presidential Committee on Information Literacy Report**] from the American Library Association. Their definition of information literacy is perhaps the most commonly cited and easily understood:

//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. The information literate individuals are those who have learned how to learn.//

While this definition is nearly 20 years old, it is still applicable today and is not substantially different from those being applied in [|**other countries**]. The challenges of managing information in the 21st century, however, give the definition a whole new meaning.

Our work with information literacy will focus on the knowledge and skills needed to find, retrieve, analyze, and use information. As a starting point for our thinking, consider these standards developed by the Association for College and Research Libraries (ACRL):


 * [|Standard One: Know] The information literate student determines the nature and extent of the information needed.
 * [|Standard Two: Access] The information literate student accesses needed information effectively and efficiently.
 * [|Standard Three: Evaluate] The information literate student evaluates information and its sources critically and incorporates selected information into his or her knowledge base and value system.
 * [|Standard Four: Use] The information literate student, individually or as a member of a group, uses information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose.
 * [|Standard Five: Ethical/Legal] The information literate student understands many of the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information and accesses and uses information ethically and legally.

These standards, while written at the university level, can be applied to our students and correlate well with the [|Big6] research process that we have used in the Middle School:

1.1 Define the information problem 1.2 Identify information needed
 * 1. Task Definition**

2.1 Determine all possible sources 2.2 Select the best sources
 * 2. Information Seeking Strategies**

3.1 Locate sources (intellectually and physically) 3.2 Find information within sources
 * 3. Location and Access**

4.1 Engage (e.g., read, hear, view, touch) 4.2 Extract relevant information
 * 4. Use of Information**

5.1 Organize from multiple sources 5.2 Present the information
 * 5. Synthesis**

6.1 Judge the product (effectiveness) 6.2 Judge the process (efficiency)
 * 6. Evaluation**

In order to articulate information literacy for our students, we will follow a four step approach:
 * 1) Identify the knowledge/skills that are **currently** part of our 7th and 8th grade program (i.e. what we are doing)
 * 2) Identify the knowledge/skills that **should be** part of our 7th and 8th grade program (i.e. what we want an ideal program to be)
 * 3) Determine where (grade level and discipline) these knowledge and skills should be introduced/reinforced
 * 4) Present our recommendations to the 7th and 8th grade teams

To facilitate this process, I have created a Info Literacy Draft page where we can collaboratively and asynchronously add our input to steps one and two. Please use the space to brainstorm your thoughts as they relate to information literacy in the Middle School.