Information literacy is defined as the ability to recognize when information is needed and having the ability to "locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information (ALA)." In today's society, students are faced with a multitude of information choices in school and in their daily lives. Information is available through libraries, community resources, organizations, media and the Internet (ALA). Information literacy forms the basis for lifelong learning. An information literate person is able to:.
- Determine the extent of information needed.
- Access the needed information effectively and efficiently.
- Evaluate information and its sources .
- Incorporate information into one's own knowledge base.
- Use information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose.
- Understand the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information.
- Access and use information ethically and legally (ALA).
My fellow teachers and I teach students various skills to help them develop into life-long learners. We use various instructional strategies that are standards-based to help develop our students into life-long learners. We use strategic teaching and lesson planning to help focus our teaching and planning. Students who are information literate know how to access information efficiently and effectively (ALA, 1998, p. 9). Students should be taught how to recognize the need for information. We teach our students how to find the information they need, where to look for the information they need, and how to pose a problem or question to determine what information is needed to solve their problem or question. Students should be taught to determine that accurate and overall information is the groundwork for intelligent decision making (ALA, 1998, p. 10). .
We teach our students to distinguish between examples of accurate and inaccurate information and complete and incomplete information.
