Information and digital literacies; a review of concepts <s> Skill-based literacies; Computer literacy, IT literacy, and electronic literacy <s> This paper presents the results of a November 1995 survey of ALA-accredited library schools that was conducted to determine: (1) whether computer literacy is either an admission prerequisite or graduation requirement for M.L.S. programs; (2) the definition of computer literacy used by each school; and (3) the options for satisfying any requirements. Of respondents, 33.3 percent have a computer literacy admission prerequisite; 55.6 percent require computer literacy for graduation; and 11.1 percent have no formal computer literacy requirement. Computer literacy is defined by 86.7 percent of the respondents as the ability to use applications software such as word processing, spreadsheets, and database programs. Seventy-two percent of schools with a computer literacy graduation requirement allow this requirement to be met through coursework in the program. The author recommends that base-level computer literacy as defined by the programs should be attained through undergraduate-level coursework prior to admission to an M.L.S. program. <s> BIB001 </s> Information and digital literacies; a review of concepts <s> Skill-based literacies; Computer literacy, IT literacy, and electronic literacy <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> BIB002 </s> Information and digital literacies; a review of concepts <s> Skill-based literacies; Computer literacy, IT literacy, and electronic literacy <s> Data showing BIDS ISI usage by members of the University of Birmingham are analysed for the period October 1991 to September 1997. It is shown that there has been a relatively consistent rise in the total usage of the service at Birmingham, correlating with national trends. The pattern of usage reflects the shape of the academic year. Usage of ISI is considerably higher than other BIDS services. Various factors are identified which help to explain the comparative “success” of ISI. <s> BIB003
Computer literate: competent in the use of computers (Chambers English Dictionary) This simple dictionary definition conceals the fact that there is a spectrum of views as to quite what this 'competence' involves, somewhat analogous to the variation in definition of 'literacy' per se. Most common has been a pragmatic skills-based approach. Typical is the UK Royal Society of Arts computer literacy training scheme (RSA 1993) , which is defined as being for 'accreditation of those practical information technology skills necessary for work and indeed daily living'. In practice, this translate to an introduction to the skills required to operate a variety of computer applications packages -word processing, databases, spreadsheets, etc. -together with some general IT skills, such as copying disks and generating hard-copy printout. The text introduces these skills in a structured format of overview, build-up exercises, checklist of commands, selfassessment tests, and assignments. Similarly,  denotes computer literacy as 'usually implying the ability to use a personal computer', and  as 'development of skills to use technology'.. Examples of wider definitions of computer literacy, beyond the simple skills approach, involve some explicit indication of the importance of computers, and an ability to use them, in a social context. Typical are: 'whatever a person needs to be able to do with computers and know about computers in order to function in an information-based society' (Hunter 1983) 'whatever understanding, skills and attitudes one needs to function effectively within a given social role that directly or indirectly involves computers  'that compendium of knowledge and skills which ordinary educated people need to have about computers in order to function effectively at work and in their private lives' (Haigh 1985) A report of the Committee on Information Technology of the US National Research Council criticises the whole concept of computer literacy, with its skills connotation, as being far too modesty; the committee prefers the term 'IT fluency', to encompass skills, understanding of concepts, and an intellectual capability for abstract thinking about information (Committee on Information Technology 1999). BIB001 , following McClure (1994) , noted that computer literacy in the 1990s had often been seen as 'an extension of traditional literacy'. This was, however, in the restricted skills context noted above, 'requiring that individuals can complete basic tasks on a computer, such as word processing, creating and manipulating data on a spreadsheet, or using other types of software… [although] 'anything from the ability to do word processing to fluency with network applications might be considered computer literacy'. In a survey of ALA-accredited library schools, Lowell found that computer literacy was generally required for admission, and, while there was some variation in definition, this generally equated to an ability to use applications software packages. Tuckett (1989) sees computer literacy as having three components. The first two are those mentioned already: a general understanding of what computers can do, and the skills necessary to use them as an effective tool. He adds a third component: the demonstration of self-reliance in use of computers. He argues that, even if someone uses a computer to accomplish useful tasks every day, and has an idea of what, in totality, can be accomplished by its use, they cannot reasonably be called computer literate if they are entirely dependent on others for instruction in computer use, and for assistance should something go wrong. This element of self-reliance also appears throughout the literature on information literacy, though often implicitly rather than explicitly. As noted below, BIB002 , following earlier writers such as  emphasise that information literacy, understood in the sense of library instruction, should not be used to refer to the acquisition of computer literacy. This is perhaps in response to earlier writings which saw the concept at least partly in this way; for example a National Institute of Education report which envisaged a kind of hybrid 'computer/information literacy', largely focused on hardware and software tools  ; a report from the US Department of Education which foresaw a learning society in which each person would be required to manage complex information in electronic and digital form [sic] , and therefore placed emphasis on computer literacy (Department of Education 1983); while in the Netherlands during 1984 the Advisory Committee for Education and Technology proposed a hybrid new subject, information literacy and computer literacy (ICL), defining it as 'the knowledge and skills concerning the use of computers for getting information to solve a given problem or to know more about a certain subject, as well as for the control of processes  . There is an emphasis on 'general' databases such as bus timetables and encylopedias. More recently, this ICL concept has moved towards general information handling and skills, and towards differentiating between data, information and knowledge, though still remaining slanted towards computer applications (Behrens 1994). Similar early formulations of information literacy placing undue stress on IT aspects are noted by  Oxbrow (1998) sees information literacy as differing from, and going beyond, computer literacy by virtue of a changed focus: on 'the content that flows through the technology -a focus on information and knowledge'. Without this broader focus, he suggests, 'a computer literate society is likely to be inefficient and frustrated'. Similarly,  suggest that information literacy is 'emphatically not just computer literacy: but rather the ability to identify and evaluate information (using whatever tools are appropriate -such as those provided by IT) and learn to "read" information within its cultural and social context.' By contrast, Brouwer (1997) sees information literacy as a component of a broader concept of computer literacy. He based this upon a 'critical thinking approach to information technology', with tree principle components: • an understanding of the power and limitations of technology tools • information literacy, based upon a critical approach to understanding and using information • social-political dimensions of understanding information technology use The broadest conception of computer literacy has been put forward by BIB002 who describe a curriculum for computer literacy based upon seven dimensions, which are in turn other literacies: • tool literacy -understanding and using IT tools, including hardware, software and multimedia • resource literacy -understanding the forms and access methods of information resource, especially networked resource • social-structural literacy -understanding the social situation and production of information • research literacy -use of IT tools for research and scholarship • publishing literacy -ability to communicate and publish information • emerging technology literacy -ability to understand innovations in IT, and to make intelligent decisions about new technologies • critical literacy -ability to evaluate critically the benefits and costs of information technologies [note that this does not equate to 'critical thinking' discussed elsewhere] The term information technology literacy, or IT literacy, may also have carried with it an initial connotation of a somewhat broader perspective than computer literacy;  is an example. However, in practice the terms have been used largely synonymously -certainly so in a library/information context -to indicate a set of basic competencies with computer and telecommunications systems; a typical example is Henri (1997). In the business computing literature, the term 'information literacy' has generally been used with a strong emphasis on IT systems and applications, as discussed below. In other circumstances, it has appeared to mean a general 'comfort factor' in computer use: e.g. a comment, in accounting of different usage of the BIDS database system, that staff and students in science, engineering and mathematics 'tend to be more IT literate than elsewhere' BIB003 . Coles (1998) noting that defining and measuring IT literacy is not a straightforward task, and that there are many ways of interpreting the concept, as well as measuring it, adopted an approach based on what she describes as quite simple criteria . As part of a study of use of electronic sources in UK public libraries, users were asked about the number and nature of application packages which they used, the environments (home, work, etc.) in which IT was used, the number of computers in their home, and their levels of anxiety or confidence in using computers. The data enabled a classification into six levels of IT literacy: non-users; reluctant users; work-related users; casual users; experienced users; high-flyers. This again is an effective equivalencing of the concepts of ITand computer-literacy, albeit that the types of applications used were much broader than the 'office packages' often used as the benchmark, and includes games, e-mail, library OPACs and CD-ROMs, and the Internet. The terms 'electronic literacy' and 'electronic information literacy' were used by Barclay (1995) in a book with the title 'Teaching Electronic Information Literacy'. Aimed at those teaching the use of electronic information systems, it opens with 'electronic literacy' and learning theory as the two basic tools, … and continues with advice on putting together an 'electronic literacy workshop', teaching basic electronic searching strategies, and using the Internet to teach the Internet. There seems to be, apart from some consideration given to sources such as CD-ROM, little difference between this concept, and those of network literacy or Internet literacy, to be discussed later.