Why is Information Literacy important?

In 2003, the UNESCO supported conference which developed The Prague Declaration: Towards an information literate society agreed that “the creation of an Information Society is key to social, cultural and economic development of nations and communities, institutions and individuals” (UNESCO, 2003). It also identified that “information literacy plays a leading role in reducing the inequities within and among countries and peoples” the use of information through multicultural and multilingual context promotes tolerance and mutual understanding (UNESCO, 2003).

In the higher education sector, there are three main groups that are affected by the development of skills and knowledge in information literacy.

For Students

Students have the skills and behaviours they need to develop a deeper understanding of their discipline. Information literacy is a building block for lifelong learning, it encourages and informs problem solving and critical thinking. They can locate, use and evaluate information to inform their decision making. Students use appropriate resources to produce high-quality assessments. A critical part of a student’s information literacy development is their ability to use information ethically, including the respect for intellectual property and privacy, fair representation and the concept of doing no harm (Schulz-Jones, 2016).

For Employers

Employers value graduates who are self directed learners and who display self efficacy and creativity in determining information needs, and are able to evaluate and use diverse information sources (Wu, 2018). Information resilience in the workplace provides employees the ability to to use information to solve problems, adapt to change or novel situations, transform practices in the workplace – reducing possible sources of stress when the need to locate the information that is required (Lloyd, 2013, p. 225).

For Graduates

Graduates can take their place in the workforce with a strong understanding of information practices in their discipline, and with a well developed transferable skill set. Graduates are able to efficiently source evidence to inform their practice and critical evaluate multiple sources to make decisions. These skills are not only important for the individuals needs, but assist in the skills required for collaborative aspects of their work, providing the foundation for co-participatory work practice and a shared understanding about work (Lloyd, 2010). This skill set assists their work, life and future study and provides a key skill in their lifelong learning journey.

References

Australian Library and Information Association Statement on information literacy for all Australians 2001.

Lloyd, A. (2010). Information literacy in the workplace landscape. In Information literacy landscapes: Information literacy in education, workplace and everyday contexts. Retrieved from ScienceDirect.

Lloyd, A. (2013). Building Information Resilient Workers:The Critical Ground of Workplace Information Literacy. What Have We Learnt? . Paper presented at the Worldwide Commonalities and Challenges in Information Literacy Research and Practice, Istanbul, Turkey.

Schulz-Jones, B. (2016). Teaching the ethical use of information as an MIL skill. In S. Ingvaldsen and D. Oberg (eds.), Media and information literacy in Higher Education: Educating the educators. Retrieved from Proquest eBook Central.

UNESCO. (2003). The Prague Declaration: Towards an information literate society. Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CI/CI/pdf/PragueDeclaration.pdf

Wu, M.-S. (2018). Information literacy, creativity and work performance. Information Development, 0266666918781436.