
Definitions
Useful Terms Definition
Information Literacy
Information literacy is the ability to think critically and make balanced judgements about any information we find and use. It empowers us as citizens to develop informed views and to engage fully with society.
Information literacy incorporates a set of skills and abilities which everyone needs to undertake information-related tasks; for instance, how to discover, access, interpret, analyse, manage, create, communicate, store and share information. But it is much more than that: it concerns the application of the competencies, attributes and confidence needed to make the best use of information and to interpret it judiciously. It incorporates critical thinking and awareness, and an understanding of both the ethical and political issues associated with using information.
Information literacy relates to information in all its forms: not just print, but also digital content, data, images and the spoken word. Information literacy is associated and overlaps with other literacies, including specifically digital literacy, academic literacy and media literacy. It is not a stand-alone concept, and is aligned with other areas of knowledge and understanding.
Information literacy helps to understand the ethical and legal issues associated with the use of information, including privacy, data protection, freedom of information, open access/open data and intellectual property. Importantly, information literacy is empowering, and is an important contributor to democratic, inclusive, participatory societies; as interpreted by UNESCO, it is a universal human right.
Full details:
Media Literacy
Media literacy is explained in the UK Government’s Online Media Literacy Strategy (published in July 2021) as follows:
- An understanding of the nature and characteristics of material published by means of the electronic media.
- An awareness of the impact that such material may have (for example, the impact on the behaviour of those who receive it)
- An awareness and understanding of the processes by which such material is selected or made available for publication
- an awareness of the available systems by which:
-
- the nature of such material may be established the reliability and accuracy of such material may be established
- personal information may be protected
- persons to whom such material is made available may control what is received
- an awareness of the uses to which the systems mentioned may be put.