Definition of Information Literacy

Information Literacy is a set of 21st Century skills needed to find, retrieve, analyze, evaluate and use information.

There is no shortage of information in today's world. Information is available through libraries, community resources, special-interest organizations, the media, and the Internet. Increasingly, information comes in unfiltered, unedited formats, raising questions about its authenticity, validity, and reliability. The amount of this information and the rate at which it grows will continue to increase in the future. According to former Secretary of Education Richard Riley, "The top 10 in-demand jobs in 2010 didn’t exist in 2004. We are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist, using technologies that haven’t been invented in order to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet."2  Information will drive 21st Century learning, and today's students need to learn how to use this information to succeed.

The sheer abundance of information will not in itself create a more informed citizenry without a complementary cluster of abilities necessary to use information effectively. 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.”1

Information literacy is not a subject unto itself. It crosses all disciplines, learning environments, and levels of education. Students who are effective users of information and ideas are equipped to be learners for life. Ultimately, information-literate students are those who have learned how to learn while mastering the subject matter as defined by the California Content Standards.

Information Literacy also educates pupils and teachers on the appropriate and ethical use of information technology in the classroom, Internet safety, the manner in which to avoid committing plagiarism, the concept, purpose, and significance of a copyright so that pupils are equipped with the skills necessary to distinguish lawful from unlawful online downloading, and the implications of illegal peer-to-peer network file sharing. As required by Assembly Bill 307, Information Literacy, Internet Safety, and Ethical Use of Technology must each be addressed in a state-approved District Technology Use Plan.

1http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlissues/acrlinfolit/infolitoverview/introtoinfolit/introinfolit.cfm;

2http://www.marquette.edu/magazine/winter06/frontier.shtml