CIC Information Fluency Lunch 'N Learn: Definitions

A few years back, ACRL came up with a list of information literacy competencies.

Information literacy is a set of abilities that allow an individual to recognize when information is needed and apply those abilities to locate, evaluate, and effectively use the needed information.

An information literate person is able to:

• Determine the extent of information needed.
• Access the needed information effectively and efficiently.
• Evaluate information and its sources crticially.
• Incorporate selected information into their knowledge base.
• Use information to accomplish a specific purpose.
• Understand the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding access and use of information.

So, what the heck is "Information Fluency?!"

"Information Fluency is the ability to apply the skills associated with (1) information literacy, (2) computer literacy, and (3) critical thinking to address and solve information problems across disciplines, across academic levels, and across information format structures" (Danny Callison)

(From: http://www.colleges.org/~if/if_definition.html )

According to The Associated Colleges of the South, using critical thinking skills and appropriate technologies, information fluency integrates the abilities to:

• collect the information necessary to consider a problem or issue,
• employ critical thinking skills in the evaluation and analysis of the information and its sources,
• formulate logical conclusions and present those conclusions in an appropriate and effective way.

(From http://eduscapes.com/infooriginal/fluency )

Information fluency involves the abilities to:

• Transfer information and media literacy skills to address new information need situations
• Employ the use of modern computer technologies to obtain, select, analyze, infer conclusions from information
• Employ critical thinkging to derive evidence from information and creative thinking for the expression and application of that evidence to decision-making
• Move across multiple strategies and evaluation levels in order to address different information needs found in academic, workplace, and personal environments.