Promoting literacy in a digital age: approaches to training for information literacy

Information literacy, and other similar ‘literacies’, such as digital literacy, mediacy, and informacy, are concepts relating to knowledge, skills, and attitudes, at various levels, in dealing with information in varied formats and diverse situations. The breadth of scope of these concepts implies that training must be equally broad, varied, and context-sensitive.This is exemplified by two case studies of information and digital literacy training. The first is a training programme in information literacy for the scientific staff of a multinational pharmaceutical research organization. The second is a summer school dealing with digital literacy, primarily for information professionals from countries of Central and Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union. Learned Publishing (2002)15, 297–301 Promoting literacy in a digital age 297 L E A R N E D P U B L I S H I N G V O L . 1 5 N O . 4 O C T O B E R 2 0 0 2 d engages in independent, self-directed learning; d uses information processes; d uses a variety of information technologies and systems; d has internalized values that promote information use; d has a sound knowledge of the world of information; d approaches information critically; d has a personal information style that facilitates his or her interaction with the world of information. Similarly, Rader5,6 argues that the information-literate citizen will be characterized by an ability to acquire and use information appropriate for any situation, within or beyond a library, both locally and globally, so that information-literate people will be able to: d survive and be successful in an information/technology environment; d lead productive, healthy, and satisfying lives in a democratic society; d deal effectively with rapidly changing environments; d ensure a better future for the next generation; d find appropriate information for personal and professional problem solving; d have writing and computer proficiencies. Other terms that have been used to describe these broad capabilities include ‘digital literacy’,7 which emphasizes the use of digital information, but also the enduring value of print, and ‘mediacy’8–10 which emphasizes an ability to deal with information in different media, according to individual traits and learning styles. Overall, it is best to understand information literacy as something much broader than an enhanced form of computer skills, or of bibliographic instruction. To deal with the complexities of the current information environment, in particular the new forms of information products generated in the move to a largely digital information space, a complex and broad form of literacy is required. It must subsume all the skill-based literacies, but it cannot be restricted to them. Nor can it be restricted to any particular technology or set of technologies, and understanding, meaning, and context must be central to it.1 This implies that training for information literacy must be correspondingly broad, and must take different forms according to its context. We now illustrate this point with two case studies.