Info+Lit

Forum notes Mine Kuhlthau (2004) from extra reading 'Learning as a process" It is wonderful to see how the ISP model evolved. Starting at John Dewey (1944) and moving to George Kelly(1950) through to Burner (1986. With a lot of other people between those dates. A great history that gave me a deeper understanding of how learning takes place. The best quote "Learning takes place within in the context of a whole experience in which the learner is completely engaged." (Kuhlthau, 2004,p.15) That quote opens the door to the idea that emotions impact on learning and this relates to Kuhlthaus' ISP model and the idea of frustration in the process.

Others Langford (1998) questions whether information literacy is a concept (an idea) or a process (a series of actions). She ponders whether information literacy is “a new literacy, one that is transformed from existing literacies to complement the existing technologies for which the Information Age students must be skilled” (p 2).

 Of the fourteen definitions that are recorded in my notes, I favour Doyle's (1996), who defines information literacy as the “ability to access, evaluate, and use information from a variety of resources, to recognise when information is needed, and to know how to learn” (p 9). I agree with Langford when she concludes that “lifelong learning is more than a lofty ideal; it is the outcome of an information-literate society” (p 14).

 Abilock (2007) lists the attributes and characteristics of information literacy, including Student Skills and Strategies, Student Outcomes, and the Curriculum and Teaching Design.

 Herring and Tarter (2007) report on the PLUS model (Purpose/Planning, Use, Location and Self-evaluation) which was used in a research study to guage the feedback from students in regard to how they use information skills. The students recorded that their confidence increased due to the brainstorming process at the beginning of the research process. The findings of this research are impressive and persuasive and eight recommendations are offered for teacher-librarians and teachers.