Report on Current State and Best Practices in Information Literacy

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Empower Autonomous Learning through Information Competencies

Carla Basili
Date: February 2011

EMPATIC Partners

BASILI Carla (BC)
CISEK Sabina (CS)
DAVIES Rob (DR)
KATSIRIKOU Anthi (KA)
PROCHNICKA Maria (PM)
REGGIANI Lisa (RL)
ROCCHI Maurizio (RM)
ROWLATT Mary (RMa)
SKIADAS Christos (SC)
VINCIGUERRA Filippo (VF)
YILMAZ Bulent (YB)

1/77

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The present report constitutes the delivery D1.1 of the Work Package 1: Desk research of the
EMPATIC project.
The core objectives of the EMPATIC project are to:
- draw together and valorise the results of previous Information Literacy initiatives and
projects across the school, university, adult and vocational learning sectors;
- use this evidence to influence policy makers’ perceptions and actions to support a marked
increase in piloting and mainstreaming of Information Literacy;
- have a significant impact on validating new learning paradigms and strategic thinking on
curriculum reform.
Within the work plan of EMPATIC, the Work Package 1 is aimed to:
1. Arrive at a practical definition of Information Literacy and an assessment of current thinking
on its role in learner performance and learning outcomes at each level of education, taking into
account the findings of LLP projects and other European initiatives.
2. Assess to what extent Information Literacy efforts are being employed within mainstream
education.
3. Identify best practices in schools, higher education, adult and vocational educational bodies
in formal and non-formal settings.
In view of the above, in its Section 1, the deliverable presents the state of the art in the area
of information literacy, which reflects the most significant global challenges and developments
in this domain. The section starts with a concise presentation of the role information literacy
plays within respect to lifelong learning. Then it provides a concise overview of definitions of
information learning suggested by a number of international and national bodies as well as
leading researchers. The section does not aim to present a critical analysis of the views on
information literacy but to illustrate how rich is this concept and how the various points of view
complement each other. Special attention is paid to the definitions suggested by bodies from
the library sector which address the information literacy issue as being of great relevance to
the changing role of the libraries in the information age. Finally, this section offers a summary
of frameworks addressing information literacy, including those suggested by the Association of
College and Research Libraries (ACRL), the Australian and New Zealand Information Literacy
Framework (ANZIIL), and the UK Standing Committee of National and University Libraries
(SCONUL).
Section 2 provides data on the projects in the information literacy domain supported by the
European Union, these activities cover the period 1994–2010 and include 79 projects. This
work can be seen as a logical continuation of the efforts of EnIL (European network on
Information Literacy) to collect and inform the professional community on the European
initiatives in this area. The section outlines attributes which had been studied and identified for
every single project and are used for initial analysis of the situation in Europe. These attributes
include identification attributes (name of the initiative, acronym, URL, Leader institution,
contacts); country of the coordinator if a multinational initiative; typology of the leading
institution; classification of the kind of initiative; source of funding, main focus, target
community, starting date and a description.
Even the initial analysis provided in the deliverable identifies some essential specific features of
the current situation in the EU support of information literacy initiatives. Information literacy
projects are still mainly supported through national initiatives; the specialised funding
programmes address them rather as an exception. This might mean that a serious debate on

EMPATIC WP1/D1.1 Page 2 of 77

the priorities of some of the funding programmes in the EU is needed to position better the
work in the information literacy domain;
Furthermore, the large part of the initiatives are centred around the concept of IL as a skill and
are library-originated in kind.
The IL policy dimension is quite neglected and therefore the cases have been selected – where
possible – in the area of policy initiatives and recommendations.
A further criterion adopted for data collection is to maximise the number of countries
considered.

Finally, Section 3 of the report synthesizes the point of view taken by the Empatic project.
Since as Section 1 showed there are multiple and not always converging points of view, this
section is needed to illustrate and justify the EMPATIC framework of analysis. A distinguished
feature of the Empatic approach is that it identifies three dimensions of Information Literacy,
each one supported by a number of argumentations, and complementing each other:
Information Literacy as a discipline of study; as a social objective; and as a cognitive
acquisition of individuals. This theoretical background sets the scene for the subsequent work
on the policy recommendations which Empatic aims to deliver.


Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................ 2!

SECTION 1: STATE OF THE ART IN INFORMATION LITERACY ..................................... 5!

1.1. INFORMATION LITERACY AND LIFELONG LEARNING ......................................................... 5!
1.2. INFORMATION LITERACY DEFINITIONS .......................................................................... 9!
1.2.1 INFORMATION LITERACY: INTERNATIONAL AND RESEARCH DEFINITIONS ................................... 9!
1.2.2 INFORMATION LITERACY: LIBRARY DEFINITIONS ............................................................. 12!
1.2.3 INFORMATION LITERACY: MAPPING WITH COUPLED CONCEPTS ............................................. 14!
1.2.4 INFORMATION LITERACY AND CRITICAL THINKING .......................................................... 17!
1.3. INFORMATION LITERACY IN EDUCATION ...................................................................... 20!
1.3.1 INFORMATION LITERACY IN HIGHER EDUCATION: RELEVANT DEVELOPMENTS ............................ 20!
1.3.2 INFORMATION LITERACY IN SCHOOLS: RELEVANT DEVELOPMENTS ........................................ 23!
1.3.3 IL AMONG THE SKILLS FOR JOB ................................................................................ 25!
1.3.4 IL IN LIFELONG LEARNING: RELEVANT DEVELOPMENTS ..................................................... 27!

SECTION 2: BEST PRACTICES IDENTIFICATION ....................................................... 29!

2.1 METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................................... 29!
2.2 LIST OF INITIAL 87 POTENTIAL INITIATIVES FOR GOOD PRACTICE SELECTION ....................... 32!
2.3 DATA CLUSTERING AND ANALYSIS ............................................................................... 46!
2.4 IL INSTITUTIONAL BODIES AND NETWORKS ................................................................. 51!

SECTION3: THE EMPATIC FRAMEWORK OF ANALYSIS .............................................. 53!

3.1 THREE PERSPECTIVES OF ANALYSIS ............................................................................. 53!
3.1.1 INFORMATION LITERACY AS A DISCIPLINE OF STUDY ........................................................ 55!
3.1.2 INFORMATION LITERACY AS SOCIAL OBJECTIVE .............................................................. 61!
3.1.3 INFORMATION LITERACY AS COGNITIVE ACQUISITION OF INDIVIDUALS ................................... 64!
3.2. CONSEQUENCES OF THE PROPOSED FRAMEWORK ............................................................ 65!

SECTION 4: SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................... 67!

REFERENCES ................................................................................................................ 71!
LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... 74!
LIST OF GRAPHS ........................................................................................................... 74!
LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ 74!
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................ 75!


SECTION 1: STATE OF THE ART IN INFORMATION LITERACY

1.1. Information Literacy and Lifelong Learning

Since the beginning of the development of information literacy as a global phenomenon, the
Information Literacy definition – released by ALA in 1989 and credited as the earliest and most
enduring definitions of information literacy – underlines a strong association between
Information Literacy (IL) and Learning, particularly with respect to the dimension of
autonomous learning through learning how to learn. In fact, in the ALA 1989 definition,
a learning-how-to-learn perspective is explicitly proposed, as follows:

To be information literate, a person must be able to recognize when information is needed and
have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information. Producing such a
citizenry will require that schools and colleges appreciate and integrate the concept of information
literacy into their learning programs and that they play a leadership role in equipping individuals
and institutions to take advantage of the opportunities inherent within the information society.
Ultimately, information literate people are those who have learned how to learn. They know how
to learn because they know how knowledge is organized, how to find information, and how to use
information in such a way that others can learn from them. They are people prepared for lifelong
learning, because they can always find the information needed for any task or decision at hand.1

As to the connection between IL and Lifelong Learning (LLL), a number of influential positions
and statements explicitly recognise their reciprocal interdependence.
The above mentioned ALA Report underlines that:

What is called for is not a new information studies curriculum but, rather, a restructuring of the
learning process. Textbooks, workbooks, and lectures must yield to a learning process based on
the information resources available for learning and problem solving throughout people's
lifetimes--to learning experiences that build a lifelong habit of library use. Such a learning process
would actively involve students in the process of:

- knowing when they have a need for information
- identifying information needed to address a given problem or issue
- finding needed information and evaluating the information
- organizing the information
- using the information effectively to address the problem or issue at hand.

Such a restructuring of the learning process will not only enhance the critical thinking skills of
students but will also empower them for lifelong learning and the effective performance of
professional and civic responsibilities2.

Similar point of view is expressed and expanded in a number of subsequent studies. For
example Andretta (Andretta, 2004) suggests to promote IL “as a vehicle of enhancing critical

1
AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION PRESIDENTIAL COMMITTEE ON INFORMATION LITERACY. Final
report 10 January 1989. Available on http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/publications/whitepapers/presidential.cfm
2
ibid.


enquiry and self-directed learning as a foundational element of broader focus on lifelong
learning”3
In its report “Australian and New Zealand information literacy framework: principles, standards
and practice. 2nd ed, ANZIIL – the Australian and New Zealand Institute for Information
Literacy – states that

Information literacy can be seen as a subset of independent learning, that in turn is a subset of
lifelong learning

and illustrates the concept through the following figure:

Independent
Information Lifelong
Learning
Literacy Learning

Fig. 1. Information literacy in the context of lifelong learning.
Source: BUNDI, A., ed., 2004. Australian and New Zealand information literacy framework:
principles, standards and practice. 2nd ed. Adelaide: Australian and New Zealand Institute for
Information Literacy.

The same ANZIIL Framework further underlines a strong connection between IL and LLL, citing
the work of (Candy et al., 1994):
In 1994, Candy, Crebert and O’Leary’s report Developing lifelong learners through undergraduate
education connected information literacy with lifelong learning. Its profile of the lifelong learner
included the following information literacy qualities or characteristics:
• knowledge of major current resources available in at least one field of study
• ability to frame researchable questions in at least one field of study
• ability to locate, evaluate, manage and use information in a range of contexts
• ability to retrieve information using a variety of media
• ability to decode information in a variety of forms: written, statistical, graphs, charts, diagrams
and tables
• critical evaluation of information
According to (Orr et al., 2001), IL

3
ANDRETTA, S. (2005) Information Literacy: A Practitioners’ Guide. Oxford: Chandos Publishing, as cited in
CRAWFORD, J. (2006) The Culture of Evaluation in Library and Information Services, Chandos Publishing.


is a vital component of lifelong learning. By ensuring that individuals have the opportunity to
develop the intellectual abilities of reasoning and critical thinking, and by helping them construct a
framework for learning how to learn”4.

The Information Literacy meeting of experts held in Prague on 2003 based its discussion on a
number of white papers, each focused on a different IL aspect. Among them was the white
paper by P.C. Candy, focused on illustrating the strong association between Information
Literacy and Lifelong Learning:

“information literacy and lifelong learning are inextricably intertwined.5”

In turn, the educational goal of lifelong learning has been acknowledged as one of the main
driving forces behind the development of information literacy as a global phenomenon (Bruce,
1999)6

A significant international position by the National Forum on Information Literacy (NFIL) of
UNESCO and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) is THE
ALEXANDRIA PROCLAMATION. The full text of the proclamation is available at
www.ifla.org/III/wsis/BeaconInfSoc.html, while selected parts of it are given in fig. 2.

4
ORR, D, APPLETON, M & WALLIN, M. (2001) Information literacy and flexible delivery: creating a conceptual
framework and model, Journal of Academic Librarianship, vol. 27, no. 6, pp. 457-463
5
CANDY, P.C. (2002) Information literacy and lifelong learning, White paper prepared for UNESCO, the US National
Commission on Libraries and Information Science, and the National Forum on Information Literacy, for use at the
Information Literacy, meetings of Experts. Prague: The Czech Republic, pp. 1-17. Available:
http://www.nclis.gov/libinter/infolitconf&meet/papers/candy-paper.pdf
6
BRUCE, C. (1999) Information literacy; an international review of programs and research. Auckland ’99 Lianza
conference, 9-12 November 1999, pp.1-9. Available: http://www2.auckland.ac.nz/lbr/conf99/bruce.htm


BEACONS OF THE INFORMATION SOCIETY
THE ALEXANDRIA PROCLAMATION ON INFORMATION LITERACY AND LIFELONG
LEARNING
[...] the participants in the High-Level Colloquium on Information Literacy and Lifelong Learning
held at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina on 6-9 November 2005 proclaim that Information Literacy and
lifelong learning are the beacons of the Information Society, illuminating the courses to
development, prosperity and freedom.
Information Literacy lies at the core of lifelong learning. It empowers people in all walks of life to
seek, evaluate, use and create information effectively to achieve their personal, social,
occupational and educational goals. It is a basic human right in a digital world and promotes social
inclusion of all nations.
Information Literacy
- comprises the competencies to recognise information needs and to locate, evaluate, apply and
create information within cultural and social contexts;
- is crucial to the competitive advantage of individuals, enterprises (especially small and
medium enterprises), regions and nations;
- provides the key to effective access, use and creation of content to support economic
development, education, health and human services, and all other aspects of contemporary
societies, and thereby provides the vital foundation for fulfilling the goals of the Millennium
Declaration and the World Summit on the Information Society; and
- extends beyond current technologies to encompass learning, critical thinking and
interpretative skills across professional boundaries and empowers individuals and
communities.
Within the context of the developing Information Society, we urge governments and
intergovernmental organisations to pursue policies and programmes to promote Information
Literacy and lifelong learning. In particular, we ask them to support
- [...] inclusion of Information Literacy into initial and continuing education for key
economic sectors and government policy making and administration, and into the practice of
advisors to the business, industry and agriculture sectors;
- [...]
- recognition of lifelong learning and Information Literacy as key elements for the development
of generic capabilities which must be required for the accreditation of all education and
training programmes.
We affirm that vigorous investment in Information Literacy and lifelong learning strategies creates
public value and is essential to the development of the Information Society.

Adopted in Alexandria, Egypt at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina on 9 November 20057

Fig. 2- Excerpts from the Alxandria Proclamation on IL and LLL

Furthermore, Information literacy standards for student learning, produced by the ALA in
1998, links information literacy, independent learning, and social responsibility8.
The above statements and positions are only a few voices among many others pointing out
how IL creates the foundation for lifelong learning.

7
GARNER, S.D. (2005) High level colloquium on information literacy and lifelong learning. Bibliotheca Alexandrina,
Alexandria, Egypt November 6-9, 2005. Report of the meeting. Available: http://archive.ifla.org/III/wsis/High-Level-
Colloquium.pdf
8
American Library Association (1998) Information literacy standards for student learning: standards and indicators,
Available: http://www.ala.org/ala/aasl/aaslproftools/informationpower/InformationLiteracyStandards_final.pdf


The Empatic project not only recognises this link but aims to contribute to a better
understanding of the European experiences and to foster future developments in this spirit.

1.2. Information Literacy definitions

Information literacy is widely recognised as covering a pivotal role in the contemporary society
since it “should be a basic human right in a digital world”, as declared in a thematic debate held
on April 2005 by UNESCO. The thematic debate originated by the acknowledgement of an
explicit link between Information Literacy and the UNESCO’s Information for All programme, as
declared on the thematic debate website:

The specific purpose of the thematic debate was to consult with researchers and other experts in
the field of information literacy, both within UNESCO and within our constituent stakeholders, to
identify the particular contribution that the Information for All Programme can make in helping to
ensure all peoples have the opportunity to become information literate9.

This is a voice among many that acknowledges Information Literacy as strategic competence
in the Information Society, nevertheless there is still no universal consensus about its
definition.
Seminal reviewing works are:
DOYLE C. (1994). Information literacy in an information society: A concept for the information
age. Syracuse, NY: ERIC Clearinghouse on Information and Technology.
BEHRENS, S.J. (1994) A conceptual analysis and historical overview of information literacy,
College & Research Libraries, 55(4), 309-322
BAWDEN, D. (2001) Information and Digital Literacies: A Review of Concepts. Journal of
Documentation, 57(2), 218-259.
MUTCH, A. (1997) Information literacy: an exploration. International journal of information
management, 1997, 17 (5) pp.377-86.

1.2.1 Information Literacy: international and research definitions
A number of definitions of the IL concept follow. These were suggested by various influential
bodies, mostly international and some national ones, as well as by leading experts in the IL
field. Our aim here is not to provide a detailed analysis of the differences, but to give the
readers a feeling of the different perceptions of IL recurring in the specialised literature.

UNESCO
The UNESCO-sponsored Meeting of Experts on Information Literacy, held in Prague on
September 2003 and organised by the US National Commission on Library and Information
Sciences and the National Forum on Information Literacy, propose the following Information
Literacy definition:

Information Literacy encompasses knowledge of one's information concerns and needs, and the
ability to identify, locate, evaluate, organize and effectively create, use and communicate

9
UNESCO (2005), Thematic debate on information literacy: final report, 20 April 2005. Available:
http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=18775&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html>


information to address issues or problems at hand; it is a prerequisite for participating effectively
in the Information Society, and is part of the basic human right of life long learning10.

National forum on IL (US)
Patricia Senn Breivik– already chairman of the US National Forum on Information Literacy – in
order to better underline the connection between IL and LLL, promotes a very effective picture
of IL as an umbrella including ‘computer literacy’, ‘library literacy’, ‘media literacy’, ‘network
literacy’, ‘visual literacy’, and a blank one (meant to refer to other literacies), with the words
‘critical thinking skills’ covering the whole umbrella11.

Fig. 3. Information literacy and critical thinking.
Source: Senn Breivik (2001)

Australian and New Zealand Institute for Information Literacy (ANZIIL)
ANZIIL proposes the following definition:

Information literate people
• recognise a need for information
• determine the extent of information needed
• access information efficiently
• critically evaluate information and its sources
• classify, store, manipulate and redraft information collected or generated
• incorporate selected information into their knowledge base

10
portal.unesco.org/.../ev.php-URL_ID=19634&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_ SECTION=201.html
11
SENN BREVIK, P. (2001) Information literacy and lifelong learning: The magical partnership. Proceedings of the
1st International Lifelong Learning Conference, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia,
pp. 1-6.


• use information effectively to learn, create new knowledge, solve problems and make decisions
• understand economic, legal, social, political and cultural issues in the use of
information
• access and use information ethically and legally
• use information and knowledge for participative citizenship and social responsibility
• experience information literacy as part of independent learning and lifelong learning. (ANZIIL,
2004)

Joint Information Systems Committee, UK
In the UK, the Joint Information Systems Committee sustains the concept of i-Skills:

You may not have heard the term ‘i-skills’ up to now, but probably terms such as information
skills, e-literacy, information literacy, knowledge management and research skills are more
familiar. This guide uses the term i-skills to encompass all of these.

i-Skills are defined as: the ability to identify, assess, retrieve, evaluate, adapt, organise and
communicate information within an iterative context of review and reflection12.

Information Literacy as a Liberal Art
A research point of view about IL conception comes from the work of Shapiro and Hughes, in
their proposal of IL as a new liberal art13, as follows:

Information and computer literacy, in the conventional sense, are functionally valuable technical
skills. But information literacy should in fact be conceived more broadly as a new liberal art that
extends from knowing how to use computers and access information to critical reflection on the
nature of information itself, its technical infrastructure, and its social, cultural and even
philosophical context and impact - as essential to the mental framework of the educated
information-age citizen as the trivium of basic liberal arts (grammar, logic and rhetoric) was to the
educated person in medieval society.

More specifically, Shapiro and Hughes propose that an IL curriculum should be based on a
“critical conception of a more humanistic sort” and the proposed curriculum includes the
following seven dimensions:

Tool literacy, or the ability to understand and use the practical and conceptual tools of current
information technology, including software, hardware and multimedia, that are relevant to
education and the areas of work and professional life that the individual expects to inhabit. This
can be taken to include the basics of computer and network applications as well as fundamental
concepts of algorithms, data structures, and network topologies and protocols.

Resource literacy, or the ability to understand the form, format, location and access methods of
information resources, especially daily expanding networked information resources. This is
practically identical with librarians' conceptions of information literacy, and includes concepts of
the classification and organization of such resources.

Social-structural literacy, or knowing that and how information is socially situated and produced.
This means knowing about how information fits into the life of groups; about the institutions and
social networks - such as the universities, libraries, researcher communities, corporations,
government agencies, community groups - that create and organize information and knowledge;

12
Available: www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/publications/improvingiskills_rtf.rtf
13
HUGHES, S., & SHAPIRO, J. (1996) Information Literacy as a Liberal Art. Educom Review, 31(2). Available:
http://net.educause.edu/apps/er/review/reviewarticles/31231.html


and the social processes through which it is generated - such as the trajectory of publication of
scholarly articles (peer review, etc.), the relationship between a Listserv and a shared interest
group, or the audience served by a specialized library or Web site.

Research literacy, or the ability to understand and use the IT-based tools relevant to the work of
today's researcher and scholar. For those in graduate education, this would include discipline-
related computer software for quantitative analysis, qualitative analysis and simulation, as well as
an understanding of the conceptual and analytical limitations of such software.

Publishing literacy, or the ability to format and publish research and ideas electronically, in
textual and multimedia forms (including via World Wide Web, electronic mail and distribution
lists, and CD-ROMs), to introduce them into the electronic public realm and the electronic
community of scholars. Writing is always shaped by its tools and its audience. Computer tools and
network audiences represent genuine changes in writing itself.

Emerging technology literacy, or the ability to ongoingly adapt to, understand, evaluate and
make use of the continually emerging innovations in information technology so as not to be a
prisoner of prior tools and resources, and to make intelligent decisions about the adoption of new
ones. Clearly this includes understanding of the human, organizational and social context of
technologies as well as criteria for their evaluation.

Critical literacy, or the ability to evaluate critically the intellectual, human and social strengths
and weaknesses, potentials and limits, benefits and costs of information technologies. This would
need to include a historical perspective (e.g. the connection between algorithmic thinking,
formalization in mathematics, and the development of Western science and rationality and their
limits); a philosophical perspective (current debates in the philosophy of technology, the critique
of instrumental reason, the possibility and nature of artificial intelligence); a sociopolitical
perspective (e.g. the impact of information technology on work, public policy issues in the
development of a global information infrastructure); and a cultural perspective (e.g. current
discussions of the virtual body and of the definition of human being as an information-processing
machine) (Shapiro- Hughes, 1996).

Information Literacy as Information Behaviour in the Information Society
A further broader, not merely technical, perspective is suggested by Webber and Johnston14:

Information literacy is the adoption of appropriate information behaviour to identify, through
whatever channel or medium, information well fitted to information needs, leading to wise and
ethical use of information in society. (Webber and Johnston, 2003)

1.2.2 Information Literacy: library definitions
The library sector is following particularly closely the developments in the IL field and plays a
special role in the promotion and wider adoption of the concept. Below some key definitions
suggested by international and national library associations are presented as they are
described by the CILIP CSG Information Literacy Group15

14
Webber, S. and Johnston, B. (2003) Information literacy in the United Kingdom: a critical review. In: Basili, C. (Ed)
Information Literacy in Europe. Rome: Italian National Research Council. 258-283.
15
Available: http://www.informationliteracy.org.uk/Information_literacy_definitions/Definitions.aspx


ALA , 1989

The most widely recognized and used definition of IL comes from the Final Report of the
Presidential Committee on Information Literacy, where is declared that:

To be information literate, a person must be able to recognize when information is needed and
have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.

CILIP
CILIP – the UK Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals – in 2003 defined
IL as:

“Information literacy is knowing when and why you need information, where to find it, and how
to evaluate, use and communicate it in an ethical manner. This definition implies several skills.
We believe that the skills (or competencies) that are required to be information literate require an
understanding of:

- a need for information
- the resources available
- how to find information
- the need to evaluate results
- how to work with or exploit results
- ethics and responsibility of use
- how to communicate or share your findings
- how to manage your findings.” (CILIP, 200316

SCONUL
SCONUL (Society of College, National and University Libraries) has a view of IL as a set of
seven competency dimensions, built upon basic library and IT skills that constitute the
foundation for them. SCONUL supplies a visual representation of this conception (see figure
4)17.

16
Available: http://www.cilip.org.uk/get-involved/advocacy/learning/information-literacy/Pages/definition.aspx
17
Available: http://www.sconul.ac.uk/groups/information_literacy/seven_pillars.html


Fig. 4 - The SCONUL proposal

The definitions of IL from the library sector – evolving from the original focus on Library
Instruction - are strongly connected to the operative use of information and usually do not
address the larger context of learning. However some of them provide a useful finer
granularity view on the specific types of skills which constitute the IL as perceived nowadays.

1.2.3 Information Literacy: mapping with coupled concepts
In the specialised literature a number of concepts contiguous to IL are sustained, namely
media literacy, digital or computer or ICT literacy.
Those concepts are often used interchangeably or with largely overlapping meaning, therefore
the task of identifying universal accepted definitions for them is not easy.
Nevertheless, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21) – a national US organization that
advocates for 21st century readiness for every student – developed a Framework for 21st


Century Learning18 that can be of use in both positioning IL among the strategic competencies
for 21st learners, and for better understanding the distinction between different kinds of
literacy.
The Framework is aimed at helping help students master the multi-dimensional abilities
required of them in the 21st century.
The key elements of 21st century learning are represented in the graphic in fig.5 below.

Fig. 5 - 21st Century Skills. Source: Parnership for 21st century skills

The graphic represents both 21st century skills student outcomes (as represented by the
arches of the rainbow) and 21st century skills support systems (as represented by the pools at
the bottom), namely the systems that must be aligned to produce 21st century outcomes for
today’s students.
While the graphic represents each element distinctly for descriptive purposes, the Partnership
views all the components as fully interconnected in the process of 21st century teaching and
learning.
The elements described below are the critical systems necessary to ensure 21st century
readiness for every student. Twenty-first century standards, assessments, curriculum,
instruction, professional development and learning environments must be aligned to produce a
support system that produces 21st century outcomes for today’s students19.

18
Available: http://www.p21.org/index.php
19
Source: http://www.p21.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=254&Itemid=119


The skills, knowledge and expertise students should master to succeed in work and life in the
21st century (Twenty-First Century Student Outcomes) are grouped into four classes, as listed
below.

1. Core Subjects and 21st Century Themes
2. Learning and Innovation Skills
Creativity and Innovation
Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
Communication and Collaboration
3. Information, Media and Technology Skills
Media Literacy
ICT Literacy
4. Life and Career Skills
Fig. 6 21st century skills - source: P21

Focussing on class number 3 “Information, Media and Technology Skills” in fig.6, it is evident
the positioning of IL among the strategic skills and its distinction from other contiguous
literacies. In fact, looking into more detail into the descriptions of each literacy can help in
understanding their differentiation.

Access and Evaluate Information
Access information efficiently (time) and effectively (sources)
Evaluate information critically and competently

Use and Manage Information
Use information accurately and creatively for the issue or problem at hand
Manage the flow of information from a wide variety of sources
Apply a fundamental understanding of the ethical/legal issues surrounding the
access and use of information

Fig. 7 - Information Literacy within 21st Century Skills (Source P21 framework)


Media Literacy
Analyze Media
Understand both how and why media messages are constructed, and for what
purposes
Examine how individuals interpret messages differently, how values and points
of view are included or excluded, and how media can influence beliefs and
behaviours
access and use of media
Create Media Products
Understand and utilize the most appropriate media creation tools,
characteristics and conventions
Understand and effectively utilize the most appropriate expressions and
interpretations in diverse, multi-cultural environments
Fig. 8 - Media Literacy within 21st Century Skills (Source P21 framework)

ICT Literacy
Apply Technology Effectively
Use technology as a tool to research, organize, evaluate and communicate
information
Use digital technologies (computers, PDAs, media players, GPS, etc.),
communication/networking tools and social networks appropriately to access,
manage, integrate, evaluate and create information to successfully function in
a knowledge economy
access and use of information technologies
Fig. 9 - ICT or digital Literacy within 21st Century Skills (Source P21 framework)

Besides the usefulness in setting the scene for IL as strategic skill and for its differentiation
from other (and equally strategic) literacies, the P21 framework has been selected since
among the P21 partners is the American Association of School Librarians, responsible for the
release in 2007 of the "Standards for the 21st Century Learner", a document where is given a
very effective description of IL as intrinsically connected to critical thinking.

1.2.4 Information Literacy and Critical Thinking
The strong connection between IL and Critical Thinking is well described in the "Standards for
the 21st Century Learner" developed by AASL that identifies the following four classes of skills:


1. Inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge.
2. Draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply knowledge to new situations, and create
new knowledge.
3. Share knowledge and participate ethically and productively as members of our democratic
society.
4. Pursue personal and aesthetic growth.
Fig. 10 - Standards for the 21st Century Learner, AASL, 2007

Each class is described with further details and the first group of strategic skills “Inquire, think
critically, and gain knowledge” is specified as follows.


1.1 Skills
1.1.1 Follow an inquiry- based process in seeking knowledge in curricular subjects, and make
the real-world connection for using this process in own life.
1.1.2 Use prior and background knowledge as context for new learning.
1.1.3 Develop and refine a range of questions to frame the search for new understanding.
1.1.4 Find, evaluate, and select appropriate sources to answer questions.
1.1.5 Evaluate information found in selected sources on the basis of accuracy, validity,
appropriateness for needs, importance, and social and cultural context.
1.1.6 Read, view, and listen for information presented in any format (e.g., textual, visual,
media, digital) in order to make inferences and gather meaning.
1.1.7 Make sense of information gathered from diverse sources by identifying misconceptions,
main and supporting ideas, conflicting information, and point of view or bias.
1.1.8 Demonstrate mastery of technology tools for accessing information and pursuing inquiry.
1.1.9 Collaborate with others to broaden and deepen understanding.-
Fig. 11- Class1 skills - - Standards for the 21st Century Learner, AASL, 2007



1.2 Dispositions in Action
1.2.1 Display initiative and engagement by posing questions and investigating the answers
beyond the collection of superficial facts.
1.2.2 Demonstrate confidence and self-direction by making independent choices in the
selection of resources and information.
1.2.3 Demonstrate creativity by using multiple resources and formats.
1.2.4 Maintain a critical stance by questioning the validity and accuracy of all information.
1.2.5 Demonstrate adaptability by changing the inquiry focus, questions, resources, or
strategies when necessary to achieve success.
1.2.6 Display emotional resilience by persisting in information searching despite challenges.
1.2.7 Display persistence by continuing to pursue information to gain a broad perspective.
Fig. 12 - Class1 Dispositions in Action - Standards for the 21st Century Learner, AASL, 2007


1.3 Responsibilities
1.3.1 Respect copyright/ intellectual property rights of creators and producers.
1.3.2 Seek divergent perspectives during information gathering and assessment.
1.3.3 Follow ethical and legal guidelines in gathering and using information.
1.3.4 Contribute to the exchange of ideas within the learning community.
1.3.5 Use information technology responsibly.
1.4 Self-Assessment Strategies
1.4.1 Monitor own information-seeking processes for effectiveness and progress, and adapt as
necessary.
1.4.2 Use interaction with and feedback from teachers and peers to guide own inquiry process.
1.4.3 Monitor gathered information, and assess for gaps or weaknesses.
1.4.4 Seek appropriate help when it is needed.
Fig. 13 -- Class1-Responsibilities - Standards for the 21st Century Learner, AASL, 2007

The set of shaded sub-skills in figs. 10÷13 provides for IL a description of a finer granularity
with respect to the IL definitions most commonly cited in literature (see §1.2 in this section)
and further underlines how strongly IL and critical thinking are intrinsically interrelated.


1.3. Information Literacy in Education

A recent publication analyses and discusses how IL is a multidimensional phenomenon crossing
the borders of both Information and Education policies20.

The cross-borders view of Information Literacy – between Information and Education policies –
widens the concept of Information Literacy, traditionally limited to the Information policy scope.

Such a wider perspective is required due to a number of influential factors arising from the full
establishment of the so-called Information Society, such as the mass access to information, the
uncontrolled production process of large amounts of information, the constraints imposed on
Higher Education by the market and by a new kind of demand from the labour market (Basili,
2008)21.

Already in 1975, the Unesco NATIS Programme released a set of guidelines for National
Information Policies, aimed at developing national information infrastructures, where users are
considered the fulcrum of the whole infrastructure.
An adequate system to provide access to information should include the following features:
• potential users would be regarded as part of the system. Their education would assist them to
diagnose their problems and be such that they would not fear revealing their ignorance when seeking
assistance.
• The educational system would recognise, as Johnson said, that: “Knowledge is of two kinds. We
know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it”22.
The last point cited from (Urquhart, 1975) can be used as an effective synthesis of the need to
integrate IL into the whole educational system, namely from schools to university, but the
whole set of NATIS indications includes also the generic user of information, namely adults and
workers. These needs are even more pressing today and a number of developments have
occurred since 1975 in each educational area. Among them, the most meaningful are set out
in the following paragraphs.

1.3.1 Information Literacy in Higher Education: relevant developments
Information Literacy as a graduate attribute
The ALA 1989 definition has had a great impact on the Higher Education sector.

20
Information Literacy at the crossroad of Education and Information Policies in Europe, Carla BASILI (ed.),
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Rome, 2008, 301 pp.
21
Basili, C., 2008, Information and education policies in Europe: key factors influencing information literacy
academic policies in Europe . In: Information Literacy at the crossroad of Education and Information Policies in
Europe, pp. 18-32
22
Urquhart, D.J. (1975). Developing a National Information Policy. A NATIS guideline. Unesco, 24 pp: The issue of
user education is at the top of the list of priorities for “Developing the Information Plan”:
1. improving the education of potential users;
2. the training of librarians and information officers;
3. improving access to existing services;
4. improving and expanding existing services;
5. creating new services.


In the USA the already mentioned ACRL IL standards for Higher Education23 were defined in
1999 by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) and translated into: Finnish,
French, German, Greek, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, and Iranian.
In Australia, the Australian and New Zealand Institute for Information Literacy released the
second edition of the Australian and New Zealand Information Literacy Framework24 in 2004.
The educational philosophy underpinning the Australian IL standards strongly promotes the
idea that IL should be tightly integrated into teaching and learning activities. The standards
suggest that all academic curricula be reformed in line with its recommendations as a matter
of university-wide policy.
A major policy parameter in the assessment exercise of Australian universities is the set of
graduate attributes that each university must declare in its mission statement. According to
(Barrie, 2004):

… generic graduate attributes in Australia have come to be accepted as the skills, knowledge and
abilities of university graduates, beyond disciplinary content knowledge, which are applicable to a
range of contexts. It is intended that university students acquire these qualities as one of the
outcomes of successfully completing any undergraduate degree at university.

This statement has been widely acknowledged and IL has been included among the set of
graduate attributes, so that, already in 2004, 53.8% of Australian Universities had included IL
among the graduate attributes declared in their mission statement.
One example among many others is the University of Sydney, which in 2002 started a project
for revising its graduate attributes policy, according to a multidimensional classification of
attributes.

The revised policy specifies two levels of attributes. There are three overarching graduate
attributes – Scholarship, Lifelong Learning, and Global Citizenship – which reflect the research
intensive nature of the University, its scholarly values in relation to research-led teaching, and the
place of its graduates in a global society.

These overarching attributes represent combinations of five clusters of more specific attributes,
which can be interpreted or contextualised differently in different disciplinary domains. These are
in turn supported by generic foundation skills and abilities underpinned by basic competencies.
(Barrie, 2004)

23
Association of College and Research Libraries, Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education,
Jan 2000 Available: http://www.ala.org/acrl/ilcomstan.cfm
24
http://www.anziil.org/resources/Infolit2ndedition.pdf


Fig. 14. Graphical representation of graduate attributes and their functional aims (Barrie,
2004).

Furthermore, Barrie refers to the definition by the HE Council of 1992, from which most of the
definitions for “graduate attributes” derive:

These are skills, personal attributes and values, which should be acquired by all graduates
regardless of their discipline or field of study. In other words, they should represent the central
achievements of higher education as a process. (HEC, 1992, p. 20)

As to the European context, the commitment to skill development of graduate attributes has
been adopted by the European Union policies on Higher Education under the name of “learning
outcomes” and officially recommended in 2005 at the meeting in Bergen of the Ministers of the
Bologna Process signatory states. The Bergen Communiqué, in fact, officially adopted the
“Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area”. The
Guidelines - produced by the European Network for Quality Assurance in Higher Education
(ENQA)25 – recognise the fundamental role of the learning attributes approach in achieving
transparency and comparability of competencies within the European Higher Education Area.
The Empatic vision of IL integration into the HE system - which is strictly connected to the
scope of the European network on Information Literacy26 launched in 2001 - is oriented
towards a policy inspired by the Bologna process for Higher Education in Europe.
The Bologna process, aimed at establishing a European Higher Education Area, operates along
a number of action lines. In the reasoning about the institutionalisation of IL within the Higher
Education context, of particular interest are the “Bologna” activities of curriculum design and
harmonisation, together with the introduction of the concept of learning outcomes.
The first series of activities are now being carried out through the “Tuning Educational
Structures in Europe” project, which is aimed at;

• "Tune" educational structures in Europe, and thereby aid the development of the European
Higher Education Area;

25
ENQA (2005) Report on Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area,
Helsinki, ENQA.
26
http://www.ceris.cnr.it/Basili/EnIL/index.html


• Open up a debate on the nature and importance of subject-specific and general
competences, involving all stakeholders, including academics, graduates and employers;
• Identify and exchange information on common subject-based reference points, curricula
content, learning outcomes and methods of teaching, learning and assessment;
• Improve European co-operation and collaboration in the development of the quality,
effectiveness and transparency of European higher education by examining ECTS credits
and other suitable devices to enhance progress.

Among the Tuning project activities, it is useful to recall the analysis – for each course of study
and disciplinary sector –of the differences existing among the curricula of the universities in
Europe, in order to make more comparable (and therefore transferable) curricula of the same
subject area.
The concept of learning outcomes is strictly related to the quality assessment procedures of
universities, which are asked to demonstrate the efficient achievement of these, particularly in
response to calls for accountability27. It is a concept quite new in Europe, while elsewhere, for
example in Australia and the USA, is among the well-established criteria for universities to
obtain government funds. In fact, in Australia and the USA, the learning outcomes are
explicitly declared into the mission of the single university and constitute the set of
competencies that graduates are expected to acquire. They must be measurable in order to
give evidence of the successful completion of a cycle of study. It is worth to note that in most
Australian universities, IL is included among the learning outcomes (or graduate attributes as
they are also known in the USA)28.

EMPATIC suggestion is to include IL among the learning outcomes, specifically among the
generic competencies defined by the Tuning project.

1.3.2 Information Literacy in Schools: relevant developments
The rationale behind the need of diffusion IL in schools is well summarised by Plotnick:

Educational reform and restructuring make information literacy skills a necessity as students seek
to construct their own knowledge and create their own understandings.
- Educators are selecting various forms of resource-based learning (authentic learning, problem-
based learning and work-based learning) to help students focus on the process and to help
students learn from the content. Information literacy skills are necessary components of each.
- The process approach to education is requiring new forms of student assessment. Students
demonstrate their skills, assess their own learning, and evaluate the processes by which this
learning has been achieved by preparing portfolios, learning. (Plotnick, 199929)

The first formal initiative pointing out the need of Educating students to information date back
to 1988, when the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) published “Information
Power: Guidelines for school library Media Programs” in collaboration with the Association for

27
BARRIE, S.C. (2005) Rethinking Generic Graduate Attributes, HERDSA News, Draft, 5 March 2005
28
www.caul.edu.au/surveys/info-literacy2004.doc
29
PLOTNICK, E. Information Literacy. ERIC- digest. ED427777


Educational Communications and Technology (AECT)30. This publication, along with its follow-
up published in 1998, is widely recognised as providing an extremely helpful road map to
.
guide educators into the next century The guidelines, in fact, provide standards for
information literacy learning, as well as indicators for each standard. These standards create
goals for all educators.
Subsequent results by AASL are the following families of standards:

Information Literacy Standards for Student Learning, 199831
Standards for the 21st Century Learner, 200732

Outside the library community, the Big6 model is largely known and used approach to teaching
IL. From the Big6 website33:

Developed by educators Mike Eisenberg and Bob Berkowitz, the Big6 is the most widely-known
and widely-used approach to teaching information and technology skills in the world. The Big6 is
an information and technology literacy model and curriculum, implemented in thousands of
schools – K through higher education. Some people call the Big6 an information problem-solving
strategy because with the Big6, students are able to handle any problem, assignment, decision or
task. Here are the six stages we call the Big6. Two sub-stages are part of each main category in the
Big6 model:

1. Task Definition
1.1 Define the information problem
1.2 Identify information needed
2. Information Seeking Strategies
2.1 Determine all possible sources
2.2 Select the best sources
3. Location and Access
3.1 Locate sources (intellectually and physically)
3.2 Find information within sources
4. Use of Information
4.1 Engage (e.g., read, hear, view, touch)
4.2 Extract relevant information
5. Synthesis
5.1 Organize from multiple sources
5.2 Present the information
6. Evaluation
6.1 Judge the product (effectiveness)
6.2 Judge the process (efficiency)

30
AASL and Association for Educational Communications and Technology, Information Power: Guidelines for School
Library Media Programs (Chicago: ALA, 1988)
31
American Association of School Librarians and the Association for Educational Communications and Technology,
Information Literacy Standards for Student Learning, 1998 Available: http://www.alastore.ala.org/detail.aspx?ID=203
32
Already mentioned in § 1.3.4 of this Report Available:
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/guidelinesandstandards/learningstandards/AASL_LearningStandards.pdf
33
http://www.big6.com/


Specifically devoted to IL in schools are the books by Eisenberg and Berkowitz:
Eisenberg, M. B.- Berkowitz, R. E. (1999). Teaching information & technology skills: The Big6
in elementary schools. Worthington, Ohio: Linworth Publishing.
Eisenberg, M. B.- Berkowitz, R. E. (2000). Teaching information & technology skills: The Big6
in secondary schools. Worthington, Ohio: Linworth Publishing.

1.3.3 IL among the skills for Job
A major starting point for the discussion of IL in the workplace is that of the “intelligent
organisation” illustrated by Choo in 1995 as follows:
The intelligent organization is able to mobilize the different kinds of knowledge that exist in the organization in order to
enhance performance. It pursues goals in a changing environment by adapting behaviour according to knowledge about
itself and the world it thrives in. The intelligent organization is therefore a learning organization that is skilled at
creating, acquiring, organizing, and sharing knowledge, and at applying this knowledge to design its behaviour.
Organizational learning depends critically upon information management -- the capacity to harness the organization's
information resources and information capabilities to energize organizational growth. Information management is a
cycle of processes that support the organization's learning activities: identifying information needs, acquiring
information, organizing and storing information, developing information products and services, distributing
information, and using information. 34
From the above definition it is evident how much the role of information in the intelligent
organisation is strategic and, consequently, how much necessary is the ability to dominate the
universe of information located both inside and outside the organisation.
Kirton and Barham provide a review of IL in the workplace, focussing on the need for IL
awareness within organisations35.

With the exponential increase in information, its management and use have become an important
issue in the workplace, yet knowledge management or information literacy is not adequately
addressed by most organisations or professions (Abell 2000; Candy 1998; O'Sullivan 2002;
Winterman, Skelton and Abell 2003). A report by TFPL Ltd (1991) however did find that chief
executives valued knowledge management second only to globalisation as essential for their
organisations. Lloyd (2003) states that in the

...knowledge economy, the ability of the individual to become information literate and to engage
effectively the operations skills of information literacy are attributes in which organisations
should invest, in terms of both recruitment and training.

A report by KPMG Consulting (2000) found that companies risked wasting their investment in the
technology used to manage information if they did not tackle the 'human' aspect, which has been
identified as an essential focus in knowledge management (Abell 2000). Employees continued to
have problems with information overload, information anxiety, disinformation or misinformation,
insufficient time, inadequate technological skills to share knowledge, to have difficulty locating
information and were frequently 'reinventing the wheel'. While information is highly valued within
most organisations (Candy 1998), many members of the workforce are unable to deal effectively

34
CHOO, C.W. Information Management for the Intelligent Organization: Roles and Implications for the Information
Professions. In: Proceedings of the Digital Libraries Conference, March 27-28, 1995, Singapore. Available:
http://choo.fis.utoronto.ca/fis/respub/dlc95.html - CHOO, C. W. (1995). Information Management for the Intelligent
Organization: The Art of Scanning the Environment. Medford, NJ: Information Today.
35
KIRTON, J.- BARHAM, L. (2005) Information Literacy in the Workplace. The Australian Library Journal, 54(4)
p.365-376


with it in their everyday work (De Ruiter 2002; O'Sullivan 2002; Rader 2002; Winterman, Skelton
and Abell 2003).

In their review of the specialised literature, Kirton and Barham also cites the work from Cheuk
to underline that:

[....] Cheuk's UNESCO White Paper (2002) provides examples of the lack of information literacy
skills in the workplace and how this affects the productivity of employees, suggests practices to
improve performance and discusses the barriers to promoting information literacy in the workplace
and how to overcome these, as well as the relationship between knowledge management and
information literacy.

Even the term “Information Literacy” is not used in the workplace where

Synonyms such as 'working smarter', 'information skills', 'information resources training',
'information discovery', and 'information management' have been used. (Kirton-Bahram, 2005)

Surprisingly, the analysis by Kirton and Bahram does not include the concept of
“environmental scanning”, namely representing the need for a company to compete within a
market context which must be known to the company.

Moreover, a major point arising from the Kirton- Bahram analysis is the character of
complexity that IL assumes into the context of the knowledge (or intelligent) organisation:

Winterman, Skelton and Abell (2003) also identified barriers to the development of such programs
in the workplace. They found that the scope and content of the concept was not well defined or
detailed, with the degree of agreement as to exactly what skills were relevant and which levels of
these were needed varying widely between organisations.

[....]

Bawden and Robinson (2002) found that information literacy must be contextualised, relevantly
illustrated, and presented in ways reflecting the needs of the range of learners found in the
individual workplace.

A meaningful initiative for IL in vocational education is the SCANS report, produced by the
Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) – a commission appointed in
1990 by the Secretary of Labour of the US Department of Labour, to determine the skills our
young people need to succeed in the world of work.
The commission's fundamental purpose was to encourage a high-performance economy
characterized by high-skill, high-wage employment. Although the commission completed its
work in 1992, its findings and recommendations continue to be a valuable source of
information for individuals and organizations involved in education and workforce
development..36
Table 1 below illustrates the set of skills for job identified by the SCAN commission.

36
http://wdr.doleta.gov/SCANS/


SCANS Competencies
Resources Allocates Time
Allocates Money
Allocates Material and Facility Resources
Allocates Human Resources

Information Acquires and Evaluates Information
Organizes and Maintains Information
Interprets and Communicates Information
Uses Computers to Process Information

Interpersonal Participates as a Member of a Team
Teaches Others
Serves Clients/Customers
Exercises Leadership
Negotiates to Arrive at a Decision
Works with Cultural Diversity

Systems Understands Systems
Monitors and Corrects Performance
Improves and Designs Systems

Technology Selects Technology
Applies Technology to Task
Maintains and Troubleshoots Technology
Tab. 1 - Skills and Tasks for Jobs: A SCANS Report for America 200037

The SCANS Report is of particular interest for the goals of the EMPATIC project , since it
constitutes a gateway between school learning and workplace efficiency. Therefore, the SCANS
Report will be object of further analysis by WP-4 of EMPATIC.

1.3.4 IL in Lifelong Learning: relevant developments
In § 1.1 of this section the connection between IL and LLL has been already pointed out.
Nevertheless, here it is important to recall that in 2006 the European Union recommends that
Member States develop the provision of key competencies and use the ‘Key Competences
for Lifelong Learning — A European Reference Framework’, that defines the set of key
competences described in fig.15 below.

37
What Work Requires of Schools: A SCANS Report for America 2000, U.S. Department of Labour, June 1991


Key Competences
Competences are defined here as a combination of knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate
to the context. Key competences are those which all individuals need for personal fulfilment
and development, active citizenship, social inclusion and employment.
The Reference Framework sets out eight key competences:
1) Communication in the mother tongue;
2) Communication in foreign languages;
3) Mathematical competence and basic competences in science and technology;
4) Digital competence;
5) Learning to learn;
6) Social and civic competences;
7) Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship; and
8) Cultural awareness and expression.
The key competences are all considered equally important, because each of them can
contribute to a successful life in a knowledge society. Many of the competences overlap and
interlock: aspects essential to one domain will support competence in another. Competence in
the fundamental basic skills of language, literacy, numeracy and in information and
communication technologies (ICT) is an essential foundation for learning, and learning to learn
supports all learning activities. There are a number of themes that are applied throughout the
Reference Framework: critical thinking, creativity, initiative, problem solving, risk assessment,
decision taking, and constructive management of feelings play a role in all eight key
competences38.
Fig. 15 - Key Competences for Lifelong Learning — A European Reference Framework

Compared with the set of competencies in fig.15, IL includes those shown in bold, in such
confirming how deeply related are IL and LLL, de facto, even if not explicitly declared.

38
(30.12.2006 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 394/13) Available: http://eur-
lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:394:0010:0018:en:PDF


SECTION 2: BEST PRACTICES IDENTIFICATION

The earlier and most diffused IL initiatives are those developed in the US since 1989 and in the
Australian and new Zealand (ANZ) area since 1999. Both in US and ANZ, in fact, a widespread
recognition of the IL importance gave rise to national policies aimed at setting coherent and
enabling contexts for IL developments.
On the contrary, Europe has not yet matured the awareness of the role that IL can assume,
independently – even if in synergy – from other literacies, such as computer literacy or digital
literacy or media literacy.
As a consequence of being a neglected policy issue, European IL initiatives have been
developed in a fragmented and episodic manner (Basili, 2003)39. This recognition was the
rationale behind the launch in 2003 of the European network on Information Literacy (EnIL),
aimed at both setting a common research agenda among IL researchers in Europe and
diffusion a Culture of Information in Europe40.
A more detailed comparison of the European situation with respect to US and ANZ will be part
of the Empatic final report, aimed at streaming the IL issue within the attention of policy
makers.
In view of the above, his section of the report is aimed at pursuing both the following tasks:
- providing a first systematically gathered information about how the EU funding activities
have been addressed IL;
- collecting a set of best practices to be further analysed by the next phases of the Empatic
project.

2.1 Methodology

The process of collecting data on IL initiatives have taken into account the nature of the
Empatic project as an action transversal to all the four areas of the EU Lifelong Learning
programme (Erasmus, Comenius, Grundtvig, Leonardo) segmented by educational level
(university, school, adult and vocational). Therefore, a first step has been to analyse the
databases of EU funded projects, and more specifically, the following sources:
ADAM (Advanced Data Archive and Management System) - Leonardo da Vinci Projects and
Products Portal
http://www.adam-europe.eu/adam/homepageView.htm

ISOC - SOCRATES Projects Database (until 2004 )
http://www.isoc.siu.no/isocii.nsf

CORDIS - Community Research and Development Information Service
http://cordis.europa.eu/

These were the natural source of information, but the project also gathered information on
other projects funded in a range of programmes such as FP3-FP7, ESF, etc. .

39
Basili, C. (ed.). (2003). Information literacy in Europe. A first insight into the state of the art of information literacy
in the European Union. Roma: Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche
40
http://www.ceris.cnr.it/Basili/EnIL/index.html


The national initiatives have been derived mainly from:
The European Observatory on IL Policies and Research
http://www.ceris.cnr.it/Basili/EnIL/gateway/gatewayhome.htm
a source produced by the CNR-Ceris within the research activities of the European network on
Information Literacy.
The EnIL Observatory covers a set of European countries41, and therefore the Empatic list of
best practices concentrates on the 10 countries there represented: Austria, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Spain. UK initiatives have been chosen
based on their meaningfulness, while the Turkish and Polish initiatives have been identified,
respectively, by Jagu and TDK Empatic partners.
Besides these intrinsic project constraints, a set of representation criteria were identified in the
Empatic’s desk research work package. The guiding logic was to represent each initiative
through a set of attributes which will be functional to the next steps, and – more specifically –
to the activities concerning the analysis of best practices and the formulation of policy
recommendations.

The representation criteria identified are listed and described in the figure below.

41
The European Observatory on IL Policies and Research
Available: http://www.ceris.cnr.it/Basili/EnIL/gatewayhome.htm


Identification attributes: name of the initiative, acronym, URL, Leader
institution, contacts;
Country: the one of the coordinator if a multinational
initiative;
Leader institution Government/Parliament, Ministry, National
typology: Authority/Committee, Local Authority/Committee,
University, Department, Research Institution,
Professional Body,
International organisation, NGO
Kind of initiative: policy, position & recommendations, strategy,
R&D project, survey,
resource(s)/tool(s) for learners/teachers/users,
curriculum,
promotion/support/awareness/debate/culture
EU frame: COMENIUS, ERASMUS, GRUNDTVIG, LEONARDO,
MINERVA, Transversal,
FP3, FP4, FP7 / FP6,
European Structural Funds,
National, EU, International.
Context or main focus: Information Literacy,
Media Literacy,
Digital Literacy,
Information/Digital Literacy, Information/Media
Literacy, Digital/Media Literacy,
Science Literacy,
Statistical Literacy
Target community: Schools, HE, Adults, VET,
mixed (the target community can be larger with
respect to the LLL frame (COMENIUS, ERASMUS,
GRUNDTVIG, LEONARDO);
Start date : this field is not always available, but it is meaningful
in order to understand how timely the leader
institution realised the importance of IL.
Fig. 16- representation format of IL best-practices

.


2.2 List of initial 87 potential initiatives for good practice selection

Below are listed the 87 initiatives identified, from which 20 will be selected as good practice cases for deeper analysis in the next phases of
Empatic
Initiative short Initiative full name Author / Contact(s) Country Launch End Initiative Target
name or Coordinator name year year frame Sector(s) /
acronym Segment(s)
ALCE ALCE Animation for Fundación Tomillo capto@tomillo.es - Luis RUIZ DEL ÁRBOL T Spain 1998 1999 COMENIUS Schools
reading and Capto - Centro de +34.915.61.16.03 F +34 915 63 97 84
comprehension at Actividades
school Pedagógicas, Spain
Alfin-EEES Alfin-EEES - Skills and Universidad de María Pinto Molina Tel.: 34 958 243 933 Spain 2006 ongoing National HE
competencies in Granada. Facultad Fax: 34 958 243 490
information Biblioteconomía y
management for Documentación,
learning to learn within Spain
European Higher
Education

CHILIAS Children in Libraries: Stuttgart City Library, Ingrid BUSSMANN Tel:+49-711- Germany 1996 1998 FP4 Schools
improving multimedia Germany 2165710/5730 Fax:+49-711-2165701
virtual library access
and information skills
CIL CIL: basic IL tutorial of CIB - Inter Library Alina Renditiso Italy Latest National users
the CIB- Inter Library Centre, University Department of Education Sciences - Library ed 2009
Centre, University Libraries System of Tel. 051 20 98540
Libraries System of Alma Mater
Bologna University Studiorum, Bologna
University

acronym Segment(s)
Compulsory Compulsory schooling Ministry of Public Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione - Viale Italy 2007 ongoing National Schools
schooling obligation until the age Education, Italy Trastevere, 76/A 00153 Rome Italy - Tel.:
obligation until of 16 years: the new 06 5849.1
the age of 16 key competences -
years: the new Synthesis of the Italian
key competences Minister of Public
Education's speech
(Original in Italian)
DEDICATE Distance Education Chalmers University Nancy FJÄLLBRANT Tel:+46-31-7723754 Sweden 1997 1998 FP4 VET
Information Courses of Technology, Fax:+46-31-168494
through Networks Sweden
DELCIS Distance Education for Vilnius University, audra.glosiene@kv.vu.lt Lithuania 2000 2002 LEONARDO VET
Librarians; Creating an Department of
Information-Competent Communication,
Society Lithuania
Diliweb Diliweb - The shortest The University of Le Pierre-Yves Cachard pierre- France 2000 ongoing International HE
way to the Net Havre yves.cachard@univ-lehavre.fr
The DOTEINE The DOTEINE research Library & Information Miguel Ángel Marzal García-Quismondo Spain 2003 ongoing National HE
research group group Science Department - (Director) - Professor at the Library &
Carlos III University Information Science Department of the
of Madrid Carlos III University of Madrid - Tel.: 91-
6249219 91-8561251
The DOTEINE Documentation and Library & Information Miguel Ángel Marzal García-Quismondo Spain 2003 2006 National HE
project information Science Department - (Director) - Professor at the Library &
technologies for Carlos III University Information Science Department of the
education: of Madrid Carlos III University of Madrid - Tel.: 91-
instruments for 6249219 91-8561251
information literacy
and the organization of
educational resources


acronym Segment(s)
E-learning and E-learning and Department of Luciano Galliani (course director) Tel. Italy 2004 2005 National VET
Integrated Integrated Education Education Sciences 049/8278956
Education Faculty of Education Alessandra Dal Corso (organizational
Sciences, University secretary) Tel. 049/8278964
of Padua
E-meryt E-meryt - programme LUTW - the Lodz Third emeryt@eduplatforma.pl; Error! Poland 2009 2009 ESF Adults
for social integration Age University Hyperlink reference not valid.
and e-inclusion of
people 50+
EDUCATE End-user courses in University of Patrick KELLY Tel:+353-61-333644 Ireland 1994 1997 FP3 HE
information access Limerick, Ireland Fax:+353-61-338044
through communication
technology
Educational Educational Psychology Library of the Faculty Michaela Zemanek (Head) Austria 2005 2005 National HE
Psychology proseminars: of Psychology - Tel.: +43(1) 4277-16830
proseminars: Information Literacy Vienna Fax: +43(1) 4277-16839
Information
Literacy
EEE-European EEE-European methods Zespó! Szkol nr 24 s.bryla@wsisz.edu.pl; person: Ewa Poland 2004 2005 COMENIUS Schools
methods of e- of e-teaching and e- im. prof. S. Bryly, ul. Gutowska
teaching and e- learning Ks. Janusza 45/4
learning Warszawa
ENTITLE Europe’s New libraries MDR Partners www.entitlelll.eu international 2008 2009 Transversal common
Together In
Transversal Learning
Environments
EU Media Trainer EU Media Trainer Bürgermedienzentrum benno@muenster.de Germany 2003 2005 LEONARDO VET
Bennohaus, Germany
EU-Trainer for EU-Trainer for ICT- and Bürgerhaus Benedikt Althoff Tel.: ++49 (0)251 609673 Germany 2008 ongoing LEONARDO VET
ICT- and Media Media competencies Bennohaus - Fax: ++49 (0)251 6096777 -
competencies Arbeitskreis Ostviertel benalthoff@bennohaus.info
e.V., Germany


acronym Segment(s)
The Evaluation The Evaluation of the Ba"aran, M. Turkey 2005 2005 National VET
of the Information Literacy of
Information the Candidate Teachers
Literacy of the in Primary Schools
Candidate
Teachers in
Primary Schools
FORM-IT Form - it "Take part in Austrian Institute for Marie Céline LOIBL Tel:+43-1/523610529 Austria 2006 2008 FP7 / FP6 VET
research" Applied Ecology, Fax:+43-1-5235843
Austria
From II. National School Özel Üsküdar Turkey 2009 2009 National VET
Information Librarians' Conference: American High
Literacy to Life From Information School, #stanbul
Long Learning Literacy to Life Long School Librarians'
II. National Learning Group, Türkish
School Librarians' Association
Librarians'
Conference:
Global A Global Imperative - The New Media t 512 445-4200 f 512 445-4205; International 2004 2005 International common
Imperative The Report of the 21st Consortium www.nmc.org
Century Literary
Summit
The Google The Google Generation JISC - Joint ma-publishing@ucl.ac.uk United 2007 2007 National VET
Generation Information Systems Kingdom
Committee; BL -
British Library
Handbook for Handbook for Cardiff University morgannj@cardiff.ac.uk United 2005 ongoing National VET
Information Information Literacy Kingdom
Literacy Teaching (HILT)
Teaching (HILT)


acronym Segment(s)
HERON - Adults HERON - Adults The Institute of Adult http://www.emil-network.eu/res/ Greece 2005 2008 Adults
Training on basic Training on basic Life Long Learning documents/resource/HERON%20-%20Adults%
knowledge and knowledge and skills in (IDEKE), which
20Training%20on%20Basic%
skills in New New Technologies belongs to the
Technologies General Secretariat of 20Knowledge%20and%20Skills%20in%
Life Long Learning 20New%20Technologies.pdf
(GGDVM).

HÜBO Hacettepe Üniversity Hacettepe University - http://www.bby.hacettepe.edu.tr/ Turkey 2010 National common
Information Literacy Department of eng/yandaleng.asp
Program Information
Management -
Education Faculty
I Curriculum - I Curriculum - The Foundation for katerina@iacm.forth.gr Greece 2002 2004 MINERVA common
The Knowledge Knowledge and Research and
and Information Information Skills Technology - Hellas -
Skills needed for needed for living in the Institute of Applied
living in the Digital Age and Computational
Digital Age Mathematics (IACM),
Greece
ICT as a tool to ICT as a tool to Fullness-of-Life biuro@apz.org.pl; tel. +48 12 294-81-35, Poland 2008 2010 GRUNDTVIG Adults
activate seniors activate seniors Academy Association, tel./fax +48 12 294-81-36
education education and their Poland, Krakow
personal development -
exchanging
experiences, ideas and
good practices
ILIPG Innovative Library #stanbul Technical http://www.library.itu.edu.tr/ Turkey 2007 2009 National common
Initiatives Promotion University - Library ilipg/pt03_uyeler.html
Group and Documentation
Branch


acronym Segment(s)
Improvement of Improvement of the Raziye Demiralay; raziyedemiralay@gmail.com; Turkey 2008 ongoing National Schools
the information information literacy for $irin Karadeniz sirin.karadeniz@bahcesehir.edu.tr
literacy for Life Life Long Learning in
Long Learning in Primary School
Primary School
Information For Information For All UNESCO b.radoykov@unesco.org; International 2000 ongoing International common
All Programme - Programme - IFAP mc.botte@unesco.org
IFAP
Information Information Literacy Aberdeen Business international@rgu.ac.uk United ongoing National HE
Literacy School - Robert Kingdom
Gordon University
Information Information Literacy Serkan KOÇ; Özgün ozgun.kosaner@deu.edu.tr Turkey 2005 ongoing National HE
Literacy and and Active Education: Ko"aner
Active A Practice Model
Education: A
Practice Model
Information Information literacy Kaunas University of Gene Duobiniene (Director) Lithuania 1999 2003 International HE
literacy courses courses at the Library Technology. The tel. 300650, tel./fax. +370-37-323590
of the Kaunas Library Vanda Dovydaityte (Deputy director)
University of tel. +370-37-300651
Technology
Information Information Literacy University of Helsinki, Kaisa Sinikara - Director of Library and Finland 2004 2006 National HE
Literacy Curriculum Project Finland Information Services Development,
Curriculum 2004-2006 University of Helsinki - P.O. Box 33 - FI-
Project 2004- 00014
2006
Information Information Literacy- University of http://www.lib.uom.gr/index.php?lang=utf- Greece 1999 ongoing National HE
Literacy- Educational Seminars Macedonia -Library & 8
Educational Information Center
Seminars


Report on Current State and Best Practices in Information Literacy

Report on Current State and Best Practices in Information Literacy

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