DEFINITIONS OF INFORMATION LITERACY

Information Literacy:
the ability “to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information--from the American Library Association

Sub-competencies:
Media literacy: “being able to critically evaluate media, use media, and produce one’s own communication through the use of visual and audio media.” Information Age Inquiry, Indiana University, http://virtualinquiry.com/inquiry/media.htm

Visual literacy: “the ability to understand and produce visual messages.” 21st Century Literacies: Visual Literacy, AT&T Knowledge Net, http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/21stcent/visual.html

ICT literacy: “using digital technology, communications tools, and/or networks to access, manage, integrate, evaluate, and create information in order to function in a knowledge society.” Digital Transformation: A Framework for ICT Literacy, Educational Testing Service, http://www.ets.org/Media/Tests/Information_and_Communication_Technology_Literacy/ictreport.pdf

Digital literacy: “an individual can read and write digitally in order to ‘access the Internet; find, manage and edit digital information; join in communications; and otherwise engage with an online information and communications network.” Leigh Blackall, Digital literacy: how it affects teaching practices and networked learning futures—a proposal for action research, The Knowledge Tree, 7 October 2005, http://knowledgetree.flexiblelearning.net.au/edition07/download/c_blackall.doc