Study guide: Information Literacy Fundamentals

📋 Course Outline

1. Information Literacy Foundations
2. Information Literacy Process
3. Types of Information Sources
4. Evaluating and Interpreting Information
5. Ethical Use of Information

📖 1. Information Literacy Foundations

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Information Literacy: the ability to recognize when information is needed and to locate, evaluate, effectively use, and communicate information in its various forms

📝 Essential Points

• An information-literate person:
  • recognizes information needs
  • finds information efficiently
  • evaluates information critically
  • uses information ethically
  • communicates information responsibly

💡 Memory Hook

Recognize, Find, Evaluate, Use, Communicate (RFEUC)

📖 2. Information Literacy Process

📝 Essential Points

• The elements of information literacy are:

  • information needs
  • sources of information
  • access to the information
  • evaluation of information
  • organization of information
  • communication of information

• 🔄 Gathering and using information involves:

  1. identifying what information is needed
  2. deciding where to get it
  3. determining how to access it
  4. checking its quality
  5. organizing and storing it
  6. creating and communicating it

💡 Memory Hook

Need → Source → Access → Evaluate → Organize → Communicate

📖 3. Types of Information Sources

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Primary Sources: give direct, first-hand evidence about an event, person, or work of art and are created by people who were there at the time
• Secondary Sources: look at, analyze, or talk about primary sources and are written after an event by people who did not see it first-hand
• Tertiary Sources: collect, organize, and sum up primary and secondary sources to give a quick overview or background of a topic

📝 Essential Points

• Examples of primary sources include:

  • diaries and letters
  • original research and data
  • interviews and speeches
  • photos, videos, and artifacts

• Examples of secondary sources include:

  • biographies and history books
  • book and movie reviews
  • articles that analyze studies
  • documentaries

• Examples of tertiary sources include:

  • encyclopedias and dictionaries
  • textbooks
  • bibliographies and indexes
  • almanacs and directories

💡 Memory Hook

Primary is firsthand; secondary analyzes it; tertiary summarizes both.

📖 4. Evaluating and Interpreting Information

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Common Knowledge: facts that can be found in numerous places and are likely to be widely known
• Interpretation: an idea or opinion that can only be treated as a fact when a source or reference is available
• Paraphrase: uses someone else's idea by rephrasing it in one's own words while still acknowledging the source of the information
• Quotation: uses someone else's words directly

★ Must-know

• The criteria for evaluating sources are:
  • accuracy
  • authority
  • currency
  • relevance
  • purpose

Further detail

• Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is the current president of the Republic of the Philippines is an example of common knowledge.

💡 Memory Hook

A-A-C-R-P: Accuracy, Authority, Currency, Relevance, Purpose

📖 5. Ethical Use of Information

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Plagiarism: the act of presenting another person's ideas, words, or work as one's own without proper acknowledgment
• Copyright: the legal protection granted to creators of original works such as books, music, videos, and artworks
• Fair Use: allows limited use of copyrighted materials for purposes such as education, research, criticism, or commentary
• Citation: the practice of giving proper credit to the original source of information used in a paper or presentation
• Academic Integrity: the value demonstrated by students who complete their work honestly and avoid cheating or plagiarism

💡 Memory Hook

Plagiarism takes credit improperly, whereas citation gives credit properly.

📊 Synthesis Tables

Types of Information Sources