Zeitgeist: information literacy and educational change : paper presented at the 4th Frankfurt Scientific Symposium Germany 4 October 2004

Abstract

Information literacy is a mosaic of attitudes, understandings, capabilities and knowledge about which there are three myths. The first myth is that it is about the ability to use ICTs to access a wealth of information. The second is that students entering higher education are information literate because student centred, resource based, and ICT focused learning are now pervasive in secondary education. The third myth is that information literacy development can be addressed by library-centric generic approaches. This paper addresses those myths and emphasises the need for information literacy to be recognised as the critical whole of education and societal issue, fundamental to an information-enabled and better world. In formal education, information literacy can only be developed by infusion into curriculum design, pedagogies, and assessment