Information and digital literacies; a review of concepts <s> Information Literacy and Learning <s> Developing an effective response to the information age requires leadership. Only effective leadership will make pos sible the coalitions of faculty, resource specialists, community leaders, parents, and legislators needed to equip today's students with the processes they will need tomorrow. <s> BIB001 </s> Information and digital literacies; a review of concepts <s> Information Literacy and Learning <s> In this interview, PTO (U.S Patents and Trademark Office) Commissionner Bruce Lehman discussed his plans for reoganizing and reenginnering the Patent and Trademark office, the inattention of America's CEI to their own intellectual property, and the benefits of 20-year terms <s> BIB002 </s> Information and digital literacies; a review of concepts <s> Information Literacy and Learning <s> Abstract In cooperation with the university's Center for Teaching Excellence, an interactive Library Assignment Workshop was developed to educate teaching faculty on designing effective library related assignments. Feedback from workshop attendees was positive and supported repeating the workshop several time per year, with a focus on new faculty. <s> BIB003
As Ford (1995) and  note, the term having been first used in the 1970s, its rapidly changed its meaning in response to educational reform, and to international concerns:' information literate people are those who have learned how to learn because they know how knowledge is organised, how to find information, and how to use information in a way that others can learn from them' (Ford 1995) . This link between the concept of information literacy and learning has been a consistent theme, and has strongly coloured the meaning of the term. Educational institutions and associations have urged the incorporation of information within each and every programme of study. Take for example a pronouncement of the US Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (Ford 1991): 'Information literacy, the ability to locate, process and use information effectively, equips individuals to take advantage of the opportunities inherent in the global information society. information literacy should be part of every student's educational experience. ASCD urges schools, colleges and universities to integrate information literacy programmes into learning programme for all students'. In the same vein, BIB001 argue that 'the dynamic and changing information environment of the last quarter of the century makes the acquisition of information literacy during formal education both a practical necessity and a moral right'. Defining information literacy rather broadly as 'that skill which allows us to express, to explore and to understand the flow of ideas among individuals and groups of people in a vastly changing technological environment … the process, skills and habits of accessing and using ideas and information are undergoing revolutionary changes. Information literacy refers .. to this set of complex, integrated, higher-level skills appropriate to our age'. They are critical of the ALA approach to information literacy as being too librarycentred, and are particularly critical of the view of information literacy as an extension of bibliographic instruction (both of these are discussed below).  similarly argues that a 'political' aspect of the use of the information literacy term is its provision of a link to the 'nonlibrary world'.] Lenox and Walker argue that information literacy must include sources far beyond those provided by libraries, including films, television, posters, conversations, etc., and that students: 'if we are to teach information literacy, we must teach students to sort, to discriminate, to select, and to analyze the array of messages that are presented. MacAdam (1990) makes a similar point, in respect of the teaching of information literacy to students of mass communication. There seems here to be a strong flavour of media literacy, though these authors do not use the term. (It is also fair to note that other authors, such as have argued that information literacy must include information from sources such as television and newspapers.) Further, Lenox and Walker argue strongly against information literacy as an isolated skill, seeing it as a formative agent, central to the whole educational curriculum: 'teaching information is .. a conceptual framework for the development of educational models and curricular concepts in systematically addressing information skill development in a diverse society .. a curriculum and pedagogy designed to help [students] use their knowledge in deciding, acting and behaving in this world'. Information literacy is then closely associated with resource-based learning, in which teachers and librarians both act as facilitators of students' learning (Brevik and Gee 1989, Lenox and BIB001 . By contrast,  argue that information literacy may be developed as an academic discipline, and taught in its own right. They give the example of a one semester (12 week) course, taught to undergraduate students in the Business School of Strathclyde University, aiming at providing students with a foundation of information seeking and communication skills for use in their studies of other topics. One important strand of an emphasis on information literacy as a component, perhaps a core component, of formal education is an emphasis on life-long learning, for which information literacy is seen as essential, and in a series of initiatives undertaken in the USA, information literacy was promoted in this way. Educational associations predominated among more than 50 national associations represented on the US National Forum for Information Literacy, formed in 1993, and described as 'an umbrella group of national organizations committed to turning people into effective information consumers ' (Breivik and Ford 1993) . The idea of information literacy as a vital tool for lifelong learning was also promoted by Candy, Crebert and O'Leary (1994) in a report dealing with Australian undergraduate education. The first significant response of the library / information community to the emerging concept of information literacy was that of the American Library Association (Brevivik 1989  , whose Presidential Commission reported in 1989 (ALA 1989) , also taking a view of information literacy firmly from the educational, specifically lifelong learning, viewpoint: 'What is called for is not a new information studies curriculum but, rather, a restructuring of the learning process .. based on information resources available for learning and problem solving throughout peoples lifetimes .. [which] would 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 responsibilities'. The report addressed the importance of information literacy to individuals, to business and to citizenship., arguing that the key to providing for all three areas was the establishment of information literacy as a part of formal education, but then applicable throughout an individual's lifetime. It took a wide definition of information resources, by no means restricted to formal library sources, and arguing that information could come from 'a computer, a book, a government agency, a film or any number of other possible resources' The ALA's definition of the term (ALA 1989) includes the following: 'To be information literate an individual must recognise when information is needed and have an ability to locate, evaluate and use effectively the information needed .. Ultimately information literate people are those who have learned how to learn. They know how to learn because they know how information is organised, how to find information, and how to use information in such a way that others can learn from them'. The ALA report called for a revamping of the learning process itself, rather than of any particular curriculum, ensuring that students were competent in six general areas: • recognising a need for information • identifying what information would address a particular problem • finding the needed information • evaluating the information found • organising the information • using the information effectively in address the specific problem BIB002 paraphrases this, with an emphasis on library users, as information literacy referring to 'users who understand the importance of information and who have the competence to locate, evaluate and manage it comfortably'. Similarly, BIB003 summarises it as 'information-seeking, assimilation and critical analysis skills'. A somewhat broader definition, along the same lines, is that given by  , for whom information literacy can be defined as 'understanding the role and power of information, having the ability to locate it, retrieve it, and use it in decision making, and having the ability to generate and manipulate it using electronic processes'.  expresses it simply that 'information literacy involves knowing your way around in the information world'. Doyle (1992) gives a somewhat expanded version of these points, in defining an information literate person as someone who: • recognises that accurate and complete information is the basis for intelligent decision making • recognises the need for information • formulates questions based on information need • identifies potential sources of information • develops successful search strategies • accesses sources of information including computer-based and other technologies • evaluates information • organises information for practical application • integrates new information into an existing body of knowledge • uses information in critical thinking and problem solving Another variation is presented by Bruce (1994) who gives seven 'key characteristics' of an information literate person, as one who: • engages in independent, self-directed learning • uses information processes • uses a variety of information technologies and systems • has internalised values that promote information use • has a sound knowledge of the world of information • approaches information critically • has a personal information style that facilitates his or her interaction with the world of information The idea of the 'personal style' as being important in understanding information literacy is emphasised by, inter alia, Carbo (1997) , who includes individual traits and learning styles as one axis of a model for information literacy, and Siitonen (1996) , who sees an understanding of each person's own 'intellectual, psychic and psychological capabilities' as important in a 'truly information literate person'. A more recent instantiation of the link between new trends and information literacy is the New Learning Communities programme of the Coalition for Networked Information  . This programme, designed to support new initiatives in education made possible by the availability of networks and networked information resources, focused on the convergence of three trends: increased availability of networks, specifically the Internet, in US higher eduaction; increasing requirement for collaboration in teaching and learning; need for students to develop information literacy as part of the curriculum. The concept of information literacy in this programme seems very much to resolve around students identifying, accessing and evaluating Internet resources for project work, with an element of web page creation; closely akin to what has been described elsewhere as Internet literacy. A much broader definition of information literacy to is given by  . Emphasising that information literacy is essential for survival in the future, she argues that the information literate citizen will be characterised by an ability to acquire and use information appropriate for any situation, within or beyond the library, both locally and globally. This will be brought about by a variety of rather general competencies, so that information literate people will be able to: • survive and be successful in an information/technology environment • lead productive, healthy and satisfying lives in a democratic society • deal effectively with rapidly changing environments • ensure a better future for the next generation • find appropriate information for personal and professional problem solving • have writing and computer proficiencies