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Information Literacy

Information Literacy – Why bother?

 “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.”

Learning Resources in Schools, Library Association Guidelines for School Libraries (1992).

Research skills, or information literacy, is an essential part of today’s education. In a society where so much information is available it is vital that all children learn how to discover, evaluate and ethically use information.

It may come as a surprise, but Google only catalogues a tiny percentage of what is available on the internet – estimates vary from between 0.4 – 18% (for an example see E-Resources below). And it has been estimated that only 6% of the information on the internet has an educational purpose (Henninger, 1922).

Learning how to learn, and how to teach yourself new skills is incredibly important as most people now have a number of different careers within their working life. Information literacy and research skills empower pupils to engage in their learning and become thoughtful and decisive young people.

Information Literacy at Cambourne Village College

The process we use here is called Stripling’s Model, and it is used internationally. Within this framework each Year has their own specific targets – this allows their skills to develop as they progress, and they receive credit for showing that they have engaged with the process.

This process also discourages students from reverting to a ‘copy and paste’ method of research through engaging their previous knowledge and independent interests. It also places key importance on the Construct stage, which is the point at which intellectual questioning and then understanding come about.

Year 7

  • Make connections to prior knowledge
  • Use the library catalogue independently
  • Start to evaluate sources
  • Use primary and secondary sources
  • Combine information and weigh evidence to draw conclusions
  • Present conclusions in a variety of ways
  • Reference all material

Year 8

  • State what is known about the question and connect to prior knowledge
  • Evaluate what is known to form tentative hypotheses
  • Use resources to locate search information
  • Use key words and search strategies
  • Evaluate quality of resources
  • Use organisational patterns to draw conclusions
  • Cite all sources to a local style
  • Use criteria to assess own work

​Year 9

  • Revise own question so it is manageable
  • Refine question to guide search for different information
  • Use different sources of information
  • Recognise own perspective and influences
  • Draw conclusions from explicit and implied information
  • Create products for authentic reasons
  • Identify and use a range of different materials
  • Identify own strengths and goals

E-Resources

Google can’t search E-Resources because they are password protected. The saying goes that ‘information is power’ – and this can be seen because people are willing to pay for accurate information.

Cambourne Village College subscribes to various e-Resources so that pupils have access to reliable and accurate information. The different resources are explained below.

Carel Press Complete Issue

This includes;

Essential Articles

  1. An annual full colour book and interactive online resource
  2. Over 100 articles, picked from thousands, guaranteed to spark debate on key issues and controversies.
  3. Covers a wide range of topics from a variety of viewpoints

Fact File

  1. An annual full colour book and interactive online resource
  2. Contains vital, interesting and relevant statistics for teachers, librarians and students
  3. Covers a wide range of topics, issues and controversies

Key Organisations

  1. Annual guide to thousands of organisations, pressure groups, international agencies, government, universities, charities & theatres
  2. In print and online

Britannica Encyclopedia

Search for articles and images.

The articles are all written by experts in their field and all images come with permissions allowing you to use them. You can choose which level of detail you would like, and have a look at the suggested related articles.