"To be prepared for a future
characterized by change, students must learn to think rationally and
creatively, solve problems, manage and retrieve information, and communicate
effectively. By mastering information problem-solving skills, students
will be ready for an information-based society and a technological workplace."
American Association of School Librarians,
2000,
Information Literacy: A Position Paper
There
are calls for a literate community but the range of literacies now required
is considerable. Basic literacy is well known and scientific literacy
is now accepted but there are more!
Basic
Literacy:
Language proficiencies using conventional literacy (http://www.ncrel.org/engauge/skills/indepth.htm)
Information
Literacy:
The ability to search for and hence access appropriate information across
a range of genre, formats and systems. The ability to sift, scan and
sort information.
Technological
Literacy:
The innate ability to discover how a new or evolved technology operates;
recognising its limitations and benefits. The ability to choose the
most appropriate tool to access and process information and present
new knowledge & understanding.
Media
Literacy:
The ability to synthesise a wide range of viewpoints/interpretations
from a variety of media and build a concise model of understanding of
those ideas.
Cultural
Literacy & Global Awareness:
The ability
to manage information in the “global village”.
Critical
Literacy:
The ability
to identify key aspects of information validity such as accuracy, objectivity,
authority, currency and coverage.
Scientific
Literacy:
A knowledge of scientific concepts and processes.
Cognitive
Literacy:
The capacity
to build cognitive models/frameworks of understanding
