Learning Competencies

define information needs (MIL11/12IL-IIIc-8);

locate, access, assess, organize, and communicate information (MIL11/12IL-IIIc-8);

demonstrate ethical use of information (MIL11/12IL-IIIc-9); and

create an audio- visual presentation about information literacy covering the given learning
competencies. (SSHS)

1.1 Information Literacy

Information literacy is a crucial skill in the pursuit of knowledge. It involves recognizing when
information is needed and being able to efficiently locate, accurately evaluate, effectively use, and
clearly communicate information in various formats. It refers to the ability to navigate the rapidly
growing information environment, which encompasses an increasing number of information
suppliers as well as the amount supplied, and includes bodies of professional literature, popular
media, libraries, the Internet, and much more. Increasingly, information is available in unfiltered
formats, raising questions about its authenticity, validity, and reliability. This abundance of
information is of little help to those who have not learned how to use it effectively.
To become lifelong learners, we need to know not just how to learn, but how to teach ourselves. We
must acquire the skills necessary to be independent, self-directed learners. An information literate
person should be able to:

Identify information needs and determine the extent of information needed. Clearly
and concisely define the question to be answered, and realize that the question may
evolve.
Locate and retrieve appropriate sources of information.
Understand the structure of information: how is it produced, disseminated, organized,
cataloged, stored, and retrieved, and how these factors vary by discipline. For
example, how do scholars or professionals keep up to date in and contribute to their
field.
Use indexes and other search tools effectively and efficiently to find specific
resources (e.g., select appropriate tools, formulate search strategies, use appropriate
search techniques, evaluate results)
 Evaluate information and its sources critically.
Understand different types of sources and formats, and how to use them.
Evaluate the relevance and reliability of the information retrieved.
Synthesize the information retrieved, integrate it into one's current knowledge base, and
successfully apply it to the original information need.
Present this newly acquired knowledge so that others can use it.
Determine the audience's needs and the best presentation format; know the standards
and criteria for presenting information in the relevant subject/field/discipline.
Properly cite sources: direct the audience to sources of further information and
acknowledge one's sources.
Translate these abilities and concepts to new projects and disciplines.

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1.1.1 21 Century Literacy
Being literate means one who is advanced at reading, writing, speaking, and listening. And, in all
schools -- deeper learning driven or not -- literacy is a curriculum fundamental. Its importance
President Obama explained in a speech a few years back:
"[L]iteracy is the most basic currency of the knowledge economy we're living in today. Only a few
generations ago, it was okay to enter the workforce as a high school dropout who could only read
at a third-grade level. Whether it was on a farm or in a factory, you could still hope to find a job
that would allow you to pay the bills and raise your family."
n today's world, being literate requires much, much more than the traditional literacy of yesterday.
According to the NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English), twenty-first century readers and
writers need to:
Gain proficiency with tools of technology
Develop relationships with others and confront and solve problems collaboratively and
cross-culturally
Design and share information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes
Manage, analyze, and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information
Create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multimedia texts
Attend to the ethical responsibilities required by these complex environments
In the Classroom
When it comes to effective communicator, we can no longer consider college and career ready as
simply sending students out as good readers and writers. As the definition of literacy evolves in our
world, so does the charge of schools in helping students work towards and gain mastery of the skills
and abilities NCTE has outlined above. Let's take a look at some of those:
Gain proficiency with tools of technology. The greatest tech tool of all? The Internet. It
undoubtedly gives access to an unending wealth of information and has revolutionized our lives. I
remember years ago trying to fix my lawnmower. I went to three public libraries trying to find a
lawnmower manual that was close enough to my machine to be useful. Now? Go to YouTube and
someone will take you step-by-step through repairing or making just about anything and everything.
But for all the amazing, valuable stuff on the Web, there's loads of misinformation, half-truths, and
misquoted, useless stuff. In preparing children to be literate in today's world, it's urgent that we
teach the skill of scoping websites with a critical eye. Kids need to be explicitly trained in spotting
everything from blatant pseudo-facts to slightly questionable content. This ability to "filter" will be
required of them in both university and work.
Create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multimedia texts and manage, analyze, and synthesize
multiple streams of simultaneous information. The term multimedia, which means using more
than one medium of expression or creation to communicate, encompasses a great deal more than it
did 10, or even five years ago. To convey their deeper learning of a new concept, I remember
having students include with their written analysis a printed graph, chart or image, and later, I
required they add some audio or video element or links from websites. Now, students are creating
websites as the task itself. A flat, inanimate thing like a written report or essay -- or a book or
newspaper, for that matter -- is no longer the paradigm of communication.
Communication today is like a living thing, morphing continuously -- a hybrid of script, interactive,
audio, and moving images. What does this mean for teachers and students? Schools need to be
preparing students to masterfully navigate, judge, and create this type of sophisticated
communication -- and do so quickly and efficiently.

1.1.2 5 Components of Information Literacy

1. Identify

Firstly you will need to identify what type of information you need. This will vary depending on
your subject and the type of assignment you are writing. For example:

A postgraduate dissertation on the relationship between family breakdown and addiction

Is very different to an

Undergraduate marketing assignment outlining a digital marketing strategy for selling bike tours

The information need for the first example will be met by reading:

Books on addiction
Books on family breakdown
Conference Proceedings
 Government Reports
Charity Reports
Journal Articles
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

Whereas information for the second example will be met by reading:

Book on Marketing Strategy

Books on Digital Marketing Strategy
Journal Articles
Case Studies
Reports
Periodical Reports
Trade Publications
Industry Reports

2. Find

Finding book in the library collection can be done by searching the library catalogue.

Books are a fantastic resource for you to use for academic writing, however when you need to find
more detailed information you will need to look for reports, journal articles, conference proccedings
and more. DBS Library subscribes to 100,000s of these type of sources. You can search them via
our Discovery Tool.

Click here to view a guide on Discovery.

3. Evaluate

The sources that you use for your academic work is evidence that you are presenting to the reader
(lecturer) in order to argue your case. The stronger the evidence the stronger the case you are
making. This is why you should use only academic sources for your work. It is easy to find high
quality academic sources from library material, but you will need to evaluate material that you find
freely online in order to ascertain whether it is good enough to use for you assignment. One method
to evaluate this information is to use the CRAAP test of information evaluation.

4. Apply

Next, you will need to apply information effectively to accomplish a specific goal, such as writing a
dissertation or outlining a digital market strategy.

This can be done by:

- Direct Quotations

When using someone else exact words, always place them within quotation marks.
- Paraphrasing

Instead of using a direct quote you can re-write someone elses idea or theory in your own words.
This is called paraphrasing. However, you must completely re-write the original text you cannot
simply change it around a little!

- Summarising

If you want to give a brief synopsis of the entire content of another work, you can briefly
summarise it without going into a lot of detail.

5. Acknowledge

Finally, you will need to acknowledge your sources of information. This means you will need to cite
your information sources in text and create a works cited page (bibliography).

Remember to be consistent in your referencing. Be aware of which referencing style you should use
& follow the format set out in the Library guide.

Business students use Harvard

Arts students use APA
Law students use OSCOLA

1.1.3 Ethical use if Information

1. Citing sources

An important principle in academic writing is citing the sources you have used.

You need to show to the reader which part of the text is your own thinking and when you are
quoting or paraphrasing someone elses ideas.
Clear citations and references give reliability and credibility to a publication. With the help of
accurate references, anybody can find the information in question easily.
References also convey the copyright relationships.
Ask your thesis supervisor which style you should use in your thesis as there are many different
styles.
It is important to be consistent in the style of marking references and citations throughout your
text.

To correctly cite a source you need to do so in two places:

within the text to show which part of the text is someone else's thinking
the full reference in the bibliography of your work.
2. Avoiding plagiarism

Plagiarism is a serious academic offense. Some students plagiarize because they dont know when
or how to cite their sources properly.

3. Copyright

Copyright is used for protecting and aiding products originated through intellectual creative work.
Copyright is regulated by national legislation and EU directives as well as international agreements.
All the legislation and regulations associated with copyright, publishing and publishers
responsibility apply also to online material, the same as to all other publishing endeavours.

The question of copyright becomes a significant issue whenever new text is produced and reference
material is used. The author has both economic and moral rights to the literary and artistic work he
or she has produced.