Models of Information Literacy | UGC NET

Models of Information Literacy: Comprehensive Notes

Information Literacy (IL) models provide frameworks to understand how individuals identify, locate, evaluate, and use information effectively. The following is a chronological compilation of prominent Information Literacy models, detailing their founders, origins, and core steps.

1. The 8 W's Literacy Model (1990s)

• Founder: Annette Lamb
• Date of Launch/Publish: Early 1990s
• Focus: A project-based model extending opportunities to students to explore independently and learn the complexities of information literacy.

Steps / Functions:

1. Watching: Exploring and observing surroundings to understand needs from local to global concerns.
2. Wondering: Checking prior knowledge, brainstorming options, identifying problems, and developing questions.
3. Webbing: Locating and searching for information, connecting ideas, and organizing retrieved data into a meaningful structure.
4. Wiggling: Evaluating the collected information for relevance and perspective amidst uncertainty.
5. Weaving: Synthesizing ideas, organizing plans, and applying analysis.
6. Wrapping: Packaging the ideas into a solution and analyzing its meaningfulness.
7. Waving: Communicating ideas through sharing or presentation.
8. Wishing: Assessing the long process of research and contemplating future possibilities.

2. Information Search Process (ISP) Model (1991)

• Founder: Carol Kuhlthau
• Date of Launch/Publish: 1991 (Evolved from research in the 1980s)
• Focus: Studies the temporal nature of the user, highlighting the emotional, cognitive, and physical experiences involved in the holistic information searching process.

Steps / Functions:

1. Initiation: Realizing a need for information. Marked by feelings of uncertainty and apprehension.
2. Selection: Identifying a general topic and approaches. Confidence begins to build slightly.
3. Exploration: Investigating information on the general topic. Feelings of confusion and doubt frequently return due to inconsistent or overwhelming information.
4. Formulation: Forming a specific focus from the gathered information. A crucial turning point where confidence increases.
5. Collection: Gathering information that relates specifically to the focused topic. Uncertainty subsides.
6. Closure/Search Closure: Completing the search and beginning to synthesize the findings. Feelings of relief or satisfaction.

3. The Research Cycle (1995)

• Founder: Jamie McKenzie
• Founding Organisation: Bellingham Schools
• Date of Launch/Publish: 1995
• Focus: Emphasizes "Prospecting, Interpreting, and Creating New Ideas." Designed to reinvent traditional research, pushing students past "cut and paste" toward problem-solving and teaming.

Steps / Functions:

1. Questioning: Framing research questions that require decision-making and problem-solving.
2. Planning: Determining where information lies, reliable sources, and storage strategies (sorting/sifting methods).
3. Gathering: Swiftly and efficiently collecting information utilizing appropriate sources (books, CD-ROMs, Web).
4. Sorting and Sifting: Analyzing collected data to extract highly useful information.
5. Synthesizing: Arranging and rearranging the filtered information to address the initial question.
6. Evaluating: Examining the synthesized information to ensure it accurately resolves the research problem before reporting.
7. Reporting: (Implied final stage) Presenting the solution.

4. The Big Blue — Taxonomy of Information Skills (2001-2002)

• Founding Organisation: JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee), Manchester Metropolitan University, and the University of Leeds
• Date of Launch/Publish: Project ran from 2001 to 2002
• Focus: Developed for higher and post-16 education communities to instill information literacy as a core lifelong learning skill.

Steps / Functions:

1. Recognizing an Information Need: Training students to identify gaps in their knowledge.
2. Addressing the Information Need: Formulating keywords, search strategies, and selecting sources.
3. Retrieve Information: Executing the search to satisfy the query.
4. Evaluate Information Critically: Assessing for relevance, purpose, currency, authority, and quality.
5. Adapt Information: Generating and creating new knowledge.
6. Organize Information: Ethically organizing information, including correct citations using style manuals.
7. Communicate Information: Sharing the result correctly so it can be understood by others.
8. Review the Process: Examining the outcome to see if it answered the initial question, repeating the cycle if necessary.

5. The Seven Steps of the Research Process

• Founding Organisation: Olin and Uris Libraries, Cornell University
• Focus: A sequential tool for students heavily reliant on library system familiarity and ethical use of information.

Steps / Functions:

1. Identify & Develop Your Topic: Frame questions and decide on keywords.
2. Find Background Information: Read encyclopedias, textbooks, or overarching articles.
3. Use Library Catalogue to Find Books & Media: Note citations, subject headings, and call numbers.
4. Use Indexes or Databases: Find specific periodical and journal articles.
5. Find Internet Sources: Use search engines to locate web materials.
6. Evaluate What You Find (Think & Reflect): Check the quality and reliability of the gathered information.
7. Cite What You Find: Credit sources using a standard format.

6. Web-Based Information Searching Variation Model (2006)

• Founder: Sylvia L. Edwards
• Date of Launch/Publish: 2006
• Focus: Explores the variations in how students experience and learn web-based information searching.

Categories / Variations of Searching:

1. Looking for a needle in a haystack: Relying on one or two familiar, trusted search engines, restricting potential.
2. Finding a way through a maze: Showing awareness of planning, utilizing advanced search features, and seeking quality.
3. Using the tools as a filter: Understanding the online environment holistically and utilizing advanced tools strategically to generate exact results.
4. Panning for gold: Focusing heavily on the highest quality of information via external databases, term analysis, and rigorous refinement.

7. Six Frames for Information Literacy Education (2006)

• Founders: Christine Bruce, Susan Edwards, and Mandy Lupton
• Date of Launch/Publish: 2006
• Focus: Operates on the presumption that teaching, learning, and information literacy are viewed differently by different participants.

Details:

Provides six distinct "frames" to analyze how information literacy, the curriculum, and information itself are conveyed and understood within educational environments.

8. Information Literacy Scope & Sequence (Based on Bloom's Taxonomy)

• Focus: A comprehensive framework explicitly mapping IL skills to cognitive development stages (Bloom's Taxonomy).

Steps / Functions:

1. Question: Recognize information need, formulate questions, and determine quantity requirements.
2. Find: Identify available sources, decide criteria, formulate strategies, and locate primary/secondary sources.
3. Gather: Collect purposefully and employ ethical practices like citing.
4. Create: Organize the final result into a product, maintaining legal and ethical boundaries.
5. Assess: Evaluate the product based on format, completeness, strength, and weakness.

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