Information and digital literacies; a review of concepts <s> Information literacy: criticisms of the concept <s> The patterns and formats of information provision by newspapers and television news programmes are examines, with a case study of two incidents from the Gulf War. A content analysis is carried out, with a novel scheme of groups and categories to interpret and display information transfer patterns. The results are set in the context of a survey of the nature of news, and the influence of the media by which it is presented. A clear distinction between television and newspaper information content and format is found, and explained in terms of an underlying information structure. Consequences for public access to information are briefly considered. <s> BIB001 </s> Information and digital literacies; a review of concepts <s> Information literacy: criticisms of the concept <s> One area concerned with the impact of information technology which appears to be relatively under-developed is to do with the use of information. The concept of 'information literacy' has been suggested by some to be of some use, but its content is often not defined. The use of the term in literature derived from both Computing and Library Studies is examined but found to be wanting. The areas which such a concept would need to cover are outlined, with an emphasis being placed on links with the process of knowledge creation. Such links, it is argued, make a simplistic conception of little value. Integration with the practice of knowledge formation is emphasised and some suggestions made as to how this might edge formation is emphasised and some suggestions made as to how this might be achieved. <s> BIB002
Despite the enthusiastic adoption of the term by library/information professionals, and many others, the usage of the phrase, and the concept itself, have not been without their critics, some of them severe. A variety of these criticisms are summarised, from a library viewpoint, by BIB001 , who quote a particularly trenchant criticism for an anonymous colleague, to the effect that 'information literacy has a hollow sound. It is empty of content and has the connotation of being a fad  , suggests that librarians are imitating the use of an earlier poorly conceived term -computer literacy -by increasingly using a phrase whose meaning is not generally accepted; in particular, he objects to the idea that information literacy in itself can be an educational goal. It is also worth noting that, as mentioned above, the former Bibliographic Instruction Section of the US Association of College and Research Libraries declined to consider Information Literacy as a suitable new name, in view of its lack of general acceptance in the library community (Snavely and Cooper 1997).  , writing in the context of academic information literacy programmes, argues trenchantly that it is not sensible to attempt to teach students to become information literate for the long term, for four reasons: • it has not been demonstrated that it will be necessary for most students to be information specialists to survive and prosper • much of what is taught to students under the guise of information literacy has little relevance to their immediate needs, which are typically for a few books or articles in support of essays and projects • there is no likelihood that most students will retain and use any skills which they may learn • the information skills and concepts needed in the future are unknown at the present time; teaching information access skills for lifelong learning is therefore a contradiction in terms Most of the other criticisms are essentially based on the difficulty of assessing, still less accurately measuring, information literacy. On this basis, White (1992) objected to the term, preferring 'information empowerment', which does not carry connotations of a measurable literacy.  suggests that this is 'a phrase in quest of a meaning', contrasting the parent term literacy, which can be clearly defined, measured and quantitatively summarised, and which has a clear opposite -illiteracy -with a clear remedy. Arguing that the promotion of the information literacy concept is 'an exercise in public relations', Foster suggests that its purpose is essentially to exaggerate the importance of librarians, by inventing a social malady which they alone can cure. Miller (1992) is also troubled by the nature of information illiteracy, which presumably must exist if information literacy does, and implies that librarians are treating clients on a remedial level. Arp (1990) doubts whether the effectiveness of various forms of information seeking behaviour are well enough known to be measured with any accuracy, as would be necessary if some types of behaviour, and hence users, are to classed as information illiterate. She queries whether this label could reasonably be attached to an academic researcher who never uses electronic sources, but purchases their own subscription to a relevant specialised printed source; particularly if this person is also successful in attracting grants, publishing articles, etc. Though this particular example is somewhat dated -it would be difficult in the late 1990s to find a chemical researcher who ignored digital information -the general principle holds good. What may be regarded as essential for information literacy by the library/information specialist may be seen very differently from other professional perspectives. Bruce (1997A, 1997B) makes the same point, from a relational perspective on information literacy, showing how very differently it may be regarded, even by a seemingly fairly similar group of academics and academic librarians. BIB002 is concerned about the 'alarming divorce of information from knowledge' in discussions of information literacy. He argues that information literacy needs a definition of information which recognises that it is not structured data, nor restricted to the printed word, nor only to formal sources -needs to include insights from varied disciplines, and has doubts about treating the concept as a subject in its own right: 'The quest for information literacy draws us inexorably into deeper questions about the nature of knowledge, pointing again to the need for it to be embedded in subject based thought, rather than being treated as a standalone specialism.' Though he concedes that the phrase 'has some value in expressing what might need to be done if the aims of information policies are to be made concrete', he stresses that this must involve a greater concentration on issues of meaning than is usually the case. Although Mutch does not make the specific connection, these arguments serve to show the potentially strong relations between information literacy and knowledge management. This is made explicit by Abell (1999) who argues that information literacy, as a part of the daily skill set for people across an organisation, is an important part underpinning skill for the introduction of knowledge management.