VOL. 1, NO.

1, JULY 2010 ISSN 2079-8407

Journal of Emerging Trends in Computing and Information Sciences

©2009-2010 CIS Journal. All rights reserved.

http://www.cisjournal.org 

RELEVANCE OF INFORMATION LITERACY IN DIGITAL

ENVIRONMENT
R. N. Mishra 1, C.Mishra 2
1
Assistant Professor, Department of Library and Information Science, Mizoram University, Aizwal, Mizoram,
E-mail: rabinarayan_mishra@rediffmail.com
2
Library Trainee, Library and Information Centre, Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikhode, Kerala
E-Mail: champe1_mishra@yahoo.co.in

ABSTRACT
Information Literacy (IL) along with information and communication technology has become significant in library
environment. Information literacy in library services is required not only to optimize the use of library resources in
teaching, learning and research but also train the users to make them aware about information sources and access authentic
information from vast array of electronic information sources, etc. Librarians have to impart skills on web searching
techniques, evaluation and establishing authenticity and reliability of information retrieved from internet domain to the
users The paper focuses some of the major areas for the relevance of information literacy in contemporary library and
information services. Methodology followed for the study is based on the documents available library including on
internet. Library professionals need to be aware of using the skills involved in acquiring e-resources from a wide range of
information resources including organization and proper dissemination to the users. Further, they require creating
awareness among the users about the adaptability of new technologies, capability of information building etc.

1. INTRODUCTION • Strong commitment from the institution/

Librarianship in the present digital age is not
restrained to the documents rather; the profession has now
amalgamated to multifarious subfields. Advancement of
technologies and its application in library services,
multifarious, multidimensional needs of the users due to
inter-disciplinary research are some of the factors which
are responsible for the librarian to accept and adapt to the
changing situations causing thereby, change in library
profession. In the developing scenario, the dimension of
the profession has been extended to content developer,
knowledge creator, content manager, etc. Information
literacy happens to be one of the important sub-fields of
librarianship that has now been recognized as an
independent and indispensable field of librarianship.
Librarians justify information literacy as increasing
democratic participation by all users. Christine Bruce 1 has
traced the use of the term information literacy back to the
late 1960s and relates it to early developments in
computer-based information technology, but it was not
until 1980s that was used widely. Information Literacy in
the age of multiple technological appliances in the field of
libraries and information centers opened avenues for the
researchers to obtain vast array of filtered information in
their concerned subject from Internet domain.
Information Literacy is defined as the skill to
know the need of information including its identification,
location so as to serve the users in an effectual way. Due
to the availability of mammoth of literature in a versatile
subject fields, it becomes essential to analyze the quality
of information which can be used by the users for
academic purpose. According to Maughan [2] the primary
issues relating to information literacy are:
organization;
• Strong obligation from the library administration;
• Proficiency in teaching, technology, and
assessment among library staff;
• Faculty who will partner with librarians and other
information-handling professionals.
2. SIGNIFICANCE OF INFORMATION LITERACY
Information Literacy is a transformational
process where the learner needs to find, understand,
evaluate, and use information in various forms to create
for personal, social or global purposes. Information
literacy is a set of abilities requiring individuals to
recognize the information with the ability to locate,
evaluate, and use effectively. Gilton[3] expressed
Information literacy cannot be equated with computer
literacy as it requires a technological know-how to
manipulation of both computer hardware and software or
library literacy which in turn requires the ability to use a
library's collection and its services, although there is a
strong relationship among all these concepts. Each of the
literacy requires some level of critical thinking. But
compared with computer literacy, information literacy
goes beyond merely having access to and knowledge of
how to use the technology because technology alone does
not guarantee quality learning experiences. Compared with
library literacy, information literacy is more than
searching through an online catalog or other reference
materials because information literacy is not a technique
rather it is a goal oriented skill for learners. However,
Shapiro & Shelly [4] have defined Information literacy as
a new liberal art that extends from knowing how to use

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Journal of Emerging Trends in Computing and Information Sciences

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http://www.cisjournal.org 
computers and access information to critical reflection on • Use information ethically and legally.
the nature of information itself its technical infrastructure
and its social cultural and philosophical context and The information literacy can be defined in terms
impact. of a set of competencies where an informed citizen of a
Information literacy forms the basis for lifelong society ought to possess for participating intelligently and
learning which is common to all disciplines, to all learning actively in the society. The American Library
environments, and to all levels of education. According to Association's (ALA) Presidential Committee on
Doyle [5], information literate person in 21st century need Information Literacy in its final report has stated that, to
to: be information literate, a person must be able to recognize
when information is needed and have the ability to locate,
• Recognize the need for information ; evaluate, and use effectively the needed information [6].
• Locate required information ; Shapiro-et al. [7] have defined information literacy as a
• Formulate questions based on information needs; new liberal art that extends knowing the technique of
• Identify potential sources of information ; using computers and access information. Information
Literacy encompasses to various terminologies having
• Develop successful search strategies;
their own semantic content in addition to differences
• Access sources of information including
characterized by the type of skills, level, categories of
computer-based and other technologies
learning, and instructional facilitating methods. Different
• Evaluate information no matter what the source ; concepts of Information Literacy have been evolved from
• Organize information for practical application; library instructions and information skills-focused
• Integrate new information into an existing body programs. The corresponding terms of information literacy
of knowledge ; [8] have been explained below in Table-1.
• Use information in critical thinking and problem
solving ; and
Table-1: Analogous terms of Information Literacy
¨ Information Fluency It concerns with capability or mastering of information
competencies
¨ User Education It is a global approach to teach information access to users
communities
¨ Library Instructions It focuses on library, technical and technological skills
¨ Bibliographic Instructions It relates to user training on information search and retrieval
¨ Information Competencies It connotes to skills and goals on information
¨ Information Skills It focuses on ability to acquire information
¨ User Orientation It relates to make aware the users about use of technology

3. LITERACY TO INFORMATION LITERACY: A getting right information at the right time in a right way so
PARADIGM SHIFT that the users can apply for lifelong capability building.

Literacy denotes to communication through 4. POTENTIALITY OF INFORMATION LITERACY

notation. Notational techniques can be used for both
explicit and tacit knowledge. Tacit knowledge has some
limitations which recognize the character of scientific
procedures but, the explicit knowledge is available in a
recorded form in various ways such as documentary, non-
documentary, electronic form. This offers a positive
budding value creation for its reliability. The pool of
knowledge acquired from the library scientists in various
forms in diverse sources including Internet requires
reaching to the user communities. So, it becomes primary
concern for the librarian to scan, filter and disseminate the
users in the right time. The application of ICT and its
application in the libraries have not only drastically
changed the concept of literacy but also the acquisition of
knowledge in the libraries and information centers gained
momentum. Hence, there is a tremendous influence of ICT
in the libraries which lead to information literacy. In a
digital environment, it has become indispensable for the
information manager, librarians etc. to empower user for
Information Technology has brought drastic
changes in the field of acquisition, organization,
management and dissemination of information. The
technological changes with tools have created a positive
threat to adapt to the changing situation. Further, the users
are also unable to cope-up with these modern
technologies. The uncertain quality and expanding
quantity of information pose major challenges and threats
for the society. The recognition of rapid technological
changes together with proliferation of information sources
has initiated the shifting of instructions from library to
information literacy. The users are not able to make out
their information choice for pursuing academic studies due
to escalating complexity of digital environment.
Increasingly as information comes to users in unfiltered
formats, the users raise questions about its authenticity,
validity, and reliability. Further, information is available
through multiple medias, including graphical, acoustic,
and textual, and these posed a new challenges for the users

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Journal of Emerging Trends in Computing and Information Sciences

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http://www.cisjournal.org 
to evaluate and understand. Therefore, a competency • Technological changes
standard for higher education as follows has been • Participate citizenship
developed by ACRL[9]. Following are some of the • Creation of new knowledge
important components which precipitated to the • User empowerment
development of information literacy.
• Information Explosion
• Advent of information and communication 5. DIMENTIONS OF INFORMATION LITERACY
technologies(ICTs)
Information Literacy is a comprehensive and
• Divergent and vast varieties of information sources
never ending life long process. It has a wide range of
• Wide dispersal of information
fields which can be summarized as follows. Table-2
• Birth of new discipline with new demands supplemented with Fig.1 below clearly depicts a schematic
• Unawareness of users to new technologies view of the different dimensions of information literacy.
• Lack of information capability building

Table-2: Schematic view of the different dimensions of information literacy.

¨ Media Literacy It is the ability to comprehend and create images in variety of media in order to
communicate effectively.
¨ Network Literacy It the ability to properly manage, connect and organize to assess, evaluate and get
information in a right way.
¨ Web Literacy It a subset of information literacy requires the ability to access, search, utilize,
communicate and create information on the world wide web (WWW).

¨ Digital Literacy It refers an ability to assess, collect, organize, evaluate and use of digital
Resources and services in an effective way.

¨ Scientific Literacy Scientific literacy is the knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts and
processes which are required for personal decision making, participation in civic and
cultural affairs, and economic productivity.

¨ Visual Literacy
¨ Critical literacy
Visual literacy is the ability to understand and use images. This includes thinking,
learning, and expressing oneself in terms of image. Photographs, cartoons, line
drawings, diagrams, concept maps, and other visual representations are all important in
visual literacy.
It is the ability to evaluate critically the human, intellectual and social strengths,
benefits and costs of Information Technology.

Fig 1: Schematic view of dimensions of Information Literacy

The other dimensions related to information Instruction, (iii) User Education, and (iv) Training on
literacy are, (i) Library Orientation, (ii) Bibliographic Information Skill. While, the library orientation

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concentrates on using a library and its sections including Information literacy relates to both cognitive and
location of resources, bibliographic instruction emphasizes transferable skills, such as problem solving, evaluation and
to find out documents in the library. The user education is communication skills. The four different strategies of
related with the mechanics involved for using particular information literacy [10] placed in Table- 3 can be
resources. Training on Information skill is related with the visualized in different angles with regard to users.
phenomena associated with the use of technology to
retrieve information in the library.

Table-3: Strategies of information literacy

Information Literacy
IL is a problem-solving
process for the users as the
user is required to submit
his requirements,
information need. He is
required to explore
information by way of
proper planning about the
probable location of relevant
information. In the process,
he can self evaluate the
processing and searching of
information.
Student Skills and Strategies Student outcome Curriculum and Teaching
Design
IL enhances the skill of The student being one IL has a positive brunt on
generating presumptions, of the primary learners the teaching faculties while
analyzing the problems while of IL builds self- designing need based
searching the required reliance, independent curriculum. The teaching
information from vast array of and self-motivated. faculties develop the
information sources. IL further capability to retrieve the
develops the confidence of filtered information, and
analyzing the constraints putting of innovative ideas.
associated with retrieval of right,
authentic information and
generate creativity ideas to solve
new emerging problems.

6. GLOBAL SCENARIO ON INFORMATION Librarians (AASL) and the American Association

LITERACY
Information literacy scenario has become a global
challenge. Many professional organizations and
associations have taken this as a challenging task
including the Librarians and Information Scientists.
Following are some of the global platforms where
information literacy has gained momentum in the digital
environment.
@ The Community Services Group of the Chartered
Institute of Library and Information
Professionals[11] has a sub group called the
Information Literacy Group. The Information
Literacy Group aims to provide a forum across
the UK for all sectors of the profession, which
encourages debate and allows the exchange of
knowledge
in all aspects of information literacy.
@ The Society of College, National and University
Libraries (SCONUL)[12] has a Working Group
on Information Literacy, whose remit is to take a
lead role in the development of theory and
practice in relation to information literacy (IL)
and its role in the process of learning in further
and higher education within the UK.
@ The Higher Education Academy Information and
Computing Sciences (HEA ICS) [13],UK subject
centre is keen to support both academics and
practitioners in developing students IT and
information literacy skills. The HEA ICS runs a
couple of workshops a year on information
literacy.
@ The American Library Association (ALA) [14]
supports the American Association of School
of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) in the
development of information literacy materials.
@ Australian and New Zealand libraries have
created the Australian and New Zealand Institute
for Information Literacy (ANZIIL) [15]. ANZIIL
supports organizations, institutions and
individuals in the promotion of information
literacy and, in particular, the embedding of
information literacy within the total educational
process. The Institute identifies, facilitates,
fosters and supports best practice in information
literacy through: Professional Development;
Promotion, Marketing and Advocacy; Research.
@ Information literacy interest group of Canadian
Library Association [16] has also put major
concern on information literacy.
@ The International Federation of Library
Associations and Institutions (IFLA) [17] have
developed a Information Literacy Section the
primary purpose of the Information Literacy
Section is to foster international cooperation in
the development of information skills education
in all types of libraries.
@ The High-Level Colloquium on Information
Literacy and Lifelong Learning held at the
Bibliotheca Alexandrina on 6-9 November 2005
developed the Alexandria Proclamation on
information literacy and lifelong learning [18]. It
declares that “Information Literacy and lifelong
learning are the beacons of the Information
Society, illuminating the courses to development,
prosperity and freedom."

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7. CHALLENGING ROLE OF LIBRAN
The Librarian plays a significant role in
promoting and inculcating information literacy skills in
electronic era. Dynamic and quality information is the
growing demands in the present set of environment. Due
to technological impediments the Librarians require sound
knowledge in collection, organization, management of
knowledge and disseminate according to the demands of
the user. As users are quite unaware of the source of
information, the Librarians need to play an indispensable
role in providing the right direction for obtaining the
information. Further, to bridge the gap between the
Librarian and the users, it requires getting the users
acquainted with new technological innovations along with
computer knowledge, skills and subject knowledge. The
Librarian having technically qualified with sound
knowledge over the technologies supplemented with
innovative mind is the need of the hour to make
information literacy successful. Libraries can be provide
multiple access points to electronic and print information
and need to offer pertinent training programme to help
users to gain necessary information skills. It can be
effective resources for information access and assist
people in learning important information handling skills.
Librarians are competent in collecting, organizing,
evaluating and providing access to information in all
formats. He has an active role in the electronic information
environment as an educator, trainer, collaborator,
manager, leader, and advocate. A suitable partnership
should be developed among teachers and faculty on all
levels of education to bring about curriculum
reconstruction and dynamic learning. So its indeed an
opportune time for librarians to establish themselves as
leaders in preparing students for the information age,
helping user to find new and improved methods of
teaching curriculum construction and will becoming a
leader , educator and trainer; in the arena of the
information globalization.
Regarding integration of information literacy in
academic curriculum, role of the librarian is most
significant in the teaching learning environment by
including appropriate criteria for outcome measurements
regarding information literacy. New technology has posed
a challenge as well as opportunity among the information
literates to gain, access the electronic information and to
become information literate. Hence a new opportunity for
the librarian rests on to demonstrate their expertise in
judicious information collection, management and
dissemination to the right users. Librarians requires to
share their expertise, expression, skills, knowledge,
working styles and techniques among the users
community to impart optimum information services to
empower the user in electronic era.
Hence by the promotion of information literacy
among information community librarian will have to test
the result of challenge and opportunity to show himself as
learner, trainer, teachers, collaborators, knowledge
manager and marketer, planner, contents expert and
coordinator to develop citizens for lifelong learner in e-
learning age. Last but not the least a most prominent
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leadership role among the librarians is to bridge the gap
between information rich and information poor people to
make a equalize balance among information rich and poor
in the information literacy age. A schematic view of the
information literacy showing the proficiencies required to
be build by the librarian has been depicted in Fig. 2.
To gain impetus of information literacy among
the users, the following activities are required to be
undertaken by the librarian.
• Act as information user before information
disseminator;
• Direct participation with faculty, staffs and
community members;
• Proving orientation skills on sources of
information and its uses;
• Organization of Seminars and workshops;
• Participation in classroom teaching on search
strategies and techniques on information
collection, dissemination;
• Develop collaboration among all;
• Removing gap between user and librarian;
• Accept as educator for knowledge dissemination;
• Expand professional horizons among the users;
• Encouraging students for discussion methods;
• Build a new paradigms and frames of analysis
among the user;
• Active participation in curriculum design;
• Showing directions of resource availability and
use;
• Maintaining liaison between students and faculty
; and
• Actively participate in user empowerment
programme.
In order to perform the role as information literacy
librarian several mediums and techniques are available
before the librarian to promote the goal of information
literacy among the user. The techniques like User
Orientation, Online Interaction, Virtual Reference Desk
(VRD), Chat Reference, conducting workshops, Search
Strategies, Classroom Teaching and designed course
contents, Institute Portal, Conducting Information Literacy
workshops etc are some of the important means to
promote information literacy among the learning
communities. Among all information literacy blog is going
to be an important toll among the librarians to empower
the user in this information literacy age.
The current challenges to libraries are attracting
greater support, raising the value of information literacy,
and blurring the edges of the faculty/librarian divide. The
focal attention of the librarians needs to be given us of the
librarian-faculty dialogue requires moving from what the
library owns to how the library can contribute to student
learning. Maughan [19] mentioned one-to-one, librarian-
to-faculty partnerships, computer instructional centers,
campus curriculum committees, and faculty senate
committees. In the light of above discussions, iinformation
literacy implies several skills which are otherwise known
as competencies that are required to be information
literate.
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8. SUGGESTION TO ACHIEVE INFORMATION
LITERACY
ICT environment requires to be realized right
from the school level and more emphasis needs to be
given in college and university levels. University library
being the highest body in academic purview require
shouldering the responsibilities for proper information
Knowledge Manager
Information Literacy
Leadership
Communication
Capacity Building
Life-long Learning
Resource Evaluator/ Generator
Planning of Literacy
Fig 2: Schematic view of role of Information Literacy Librarian
To achieve information literacy successfully, the following
suggestions can be taken care of.
> Universal education aimed at a 100 percent
literate population;
> Quality education, through schools having well-
stocked, active libraries equipped with ICT;
> A national information and communication
policy to promote use of information;
> Access to information as a basic right;
> Formal and informal arrangements on a national
and international basis for interchange and
exchange of information;
> Consciousness of the value of information and
use of information for optimum utilization of
natural resources;
> Establishment of databanks in the country on a
geographical basis, commodity basis, and service
basis;
> A dependable infrastructure for maintenance of
ICT;
> Elimination of disparity between rural and urban
communities, through serious efforts for bridging
the gap; and
> Rational distribution of government patronage
(for example, geo- graphic consideration in
allocation of sponsorship for higher education)
ISSN 2079-8407
 
dissemination to the literate mass constituting faculties,
research scholars, students etc. Further, the library and
information centers also require providing information
training to the institutions so as to focus more on research
and development. Eventually these institutions will
concentrate more on problem-solving approaches and
specialized areas and will not have to spend their
resources on just routine training.
Curriculum Construction
Collaborative Teaching
Librarian Advocacy
User Awareness Programme
Search Strategy
User Orientation
On-line Reference
9. CONCLUSION
Information literacy which is a transformational
process lies at the core of lifelong learning and it
empowers people in all walks of life to obtain, evaluate,
use and generate information effectively so to achieve
their personal, social, occupational and educational goals.
Further in a democratic setup, it is also a fundamental
human right in a digital environment that promotes social
inclusion of all nations. In the process, information
literacy enables sharing of resources, knowledge more
effectively with the help of technology.
Information Literacy is undeniably an
indispensable concept for the user empowerment in 21st
century. It not only helps to empower the user but also act
as lifelong learning for capacity building. Universally it
requires to be promoted throughout the world so as to cope
up with technology changes with the proliferation of
knowledge. Library and information centers have a crucial
role to collect organize and manage information for the
users. User empowerment is another positive dimension in
this regard. LIS professional has a crucial role to organize
the scattered and unorganized information to provide the
refined and tailored made information to the user. The
librarian needs to develop user oriented collection
development. Developing adequate collaboration and
cooperation among the staffs, user and faculties for the
successful of information literacy is one of the crucial
functions of the librarian especially in a digital
environment. He should know all the ways and mean to
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