The serial crisis is the situation that arises when the budget of the library for the subscription of Journals remains static in spite of the rising subscription costs of journals which in turn affect the collection development policy of the libraries.
The serial Crisis led to the formation of Library Consortia around the world.
The Fault in Our Stars
-John Green
This book comes from the author of famous books like Looking for Alaska, Turtles All the Way Down, Paper Towns. His books received many accolades including a Printz Medal and Edgar Award. He has twice been a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize and was selected by Times magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the world. John has also co-created many online video projects, including Vlogbrothers and the educational channel crash course with his brother.
This particular fiction is a story of two teenage cancer patients who met at a support group and discovered their charm for each other. Hazel Grace who is the lead in the story was taught to live the moment instead of just mourning what has happened to her and always thinking of the sad end approaching her day by day. Here the change is brought by another guy at the support group named Augustus Waters who is the male lead of the story, a very enthusiastic character who believes in living the moment. That’s how the story continues starting from their occasional meeting to waiting for the late-night calls along with some side character such as Augustus’s friend who lost his eyes and seemed to be the arrogant author of the books which Hazel like the most and want to discover the end of which, their trip to Amsterdam and all.
There are some dialogues that make you feel them from the depth of your heart and leave you in a jolt like
“You die in the middle of your life,
in the middle of a sentence”
This work is full of emotions, feelings, some unexpected twists. This not only showcases the teen’s love or affection they generate for each other but also the flood of sadness and misery felt by the parents who knew their children are not to live long and their efforts to make them live the life, no matter how long it’s going to be.
In the end, I conclude this review by saying that in my opinion, it’s a must-read book to know how life is, unexpected, unpredictable, sometimes nothing is beautiful than it, sometimes nothing is worse than it, and yes that’s how life is.
Many famous authors have also made positive comments on the books. Some are:
“You laugh, you cry, and then you come back for more”
-Markus Zusak (author of The Book Thief)
So in my opinion, it’s a good 313 pages read one can surely go for if he like some kind of romance genre books and some sort of books which make you feel the emotions hidden in the words.
This book efficiently does the work of arousing emotions through its words. Also, it’s a good read to start for a beginner as is not too much lengthy so the reader doesn’t lose interest while reading, in fact, the curiosity developed while reading will definitely make you finish the books as soon as possible.
That’s all about the book.
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Thank You.
Do share your opinions as they will motivate us to do better.
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Thank you.
Introduction:
Information literacy is the set of integrated abilities
encompassing the reflective discovery of information, the understanding of how
information is produced and valued, and the use of information in creating new
knowledge and participating ethically in communities of learning [1]
The above definition of information literacy is by ACRL which
works as a division of the association we call ALA.
This as well as several other definitions are given by several
other experts of the field define information literacy in many different ways,
but the main focus is always on harvesting the needed information at the right
time and utilize the same to solve the problem. [2]
But when it comes to evaluating someone in terms of his
information literacy skills, some standards, or we can say that some indicators
must be there which test the level of information literacy in the test
individual.
To facilitate this need of evaluation The Association of
College and Research Libraries (ACRL, 2000) an association working as a
division of the American Library Association (ALA) released the ‘Information
Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education
Information Literacy Standards:[3]
For the purpose of evaluation and to act as the standards and
performance indicators for the information literacy programs of higher
education institutions, ACRL division of ALA has formulated 5 standards, which
are directly linked to the performance indicators embedded in them accordingly.
[4]
The final version of these competency standards was approved
in January 2000 which was prepared by the ACRL Task Force on Information
Literacy Competency Standards.
ACRL has also provided information literacy standards for
other fields such as for journalism students and professionals, for nursing,
for anthropology and sociology students, for science and technology, for
teacher education etc.[5]
Information Literacy Competency Standards and Performance Indicators for
Higher Education:[6]
ACRL task force on Information Literacy Competency Standard’s
final version which got approved in 2000 defined 5 Information Literacy
Standards with performance indicators that are to be considered as the best
practices which the higher education institutions can adopt to assess the
information literacy programs.
These standards are:[7]
Standard One:
The Information
literate student determines the nature and extent of information needed.
Performance indicators:
1.
A student possessing information literacy can identify, understand and
express the information-related needs.
2.
A student possessing information literacy can recognize and find various
potential information sources available in whatsoever format.
3.
A student possessing information literacy takes into consideration the
costs involved in the acquisition of the desired information with a comparison
to the benefits of acquiring that particular piece of information.
4.
A student possessing information literacy is capable of reevaluating the
nature as well as the extent of the needed information.
Standard two:
The information
literate student accesses needed information effectively and efficiently.
Performance indicators:
1. A student possessing information literacy chooses the best available
method for the investigation of information and also relies on the best
information retrieval system for gaining the access to the information.
2. A student possessing information literacy formulates better search strategies
for the implementation purpose.
3. A student possessing information literacy uses both the online or in-person options for the retrieval of the best information in there.
4. A student possessing information literacy can redefine the search
strategy in accordance with the need of the time.
5. A student possessing information literacy extracts, records and manage
the retrieved information along with their sources efficiently.
Standard three:
The information
literate student evaluates information and its sources critically and
incorporates selected information into his or her knowledge base and value
system.
Performance indicators:
1.
A student possessing information literacy extracts and summarizes the
main theme idea from the gathered information.
2.
A student possessing information literacy understands and implicates the
initial evaluation criteria for both the information as well as the information
sources.
3.
A student possessing information literacy constructs the main idea
embedded in the information gathered and use it to formulate new concepts
4.
A student possessing information literacy does a comparative analysis
between the knowledge gained and the prior available knowledge to determine the
added values, contradictions, or any other uniqueness in the information.
5.
A student possessing information literacy checks whether the newly gained
knowledge makes any impact on the acquirer’s value system and if so then takes
necessary steps to reconcile the differences.
6.
A student possessing information literacy validates the understanding and
interpretations of the information by making some quality discussions with
other individuals, subject experts or the researchers working in the same
field.
7.
A student possessing information literacy analyses the need if the
initial query is to be revised or not.
Standard four:
The information
literate student, individually or as a member of a group, uses information
effectively to accomplish a specific purpose.
Performance indicators:
1. A student possessing information literacy uses newly acquired as well as
prior knowledge to plan and create the required product or performance.
2.A student possessing information literacy makes revisions to the
development process timely and in accordance with the needs.
3.A student possessing information literacy makes effective communication
of the products to the audience.
Standard five:
The information
literate student understands many of the economic, legal, and social issues
surrounding the use of information and access and uses information ethically
and legally.
Performance indicators:
1.
A student possessing information literacy is well aware of the legal,
ethical, and socioeconomic issues which affect information and information
technology.
2.
A student possessing information literacy works in accordance with the
laws, rules, regulations, policies of the institutions involved, etiquettes and
netiquettes related to the access as well as the use of the information
resources.
3.
A student possessing information literacy gives proper acknowledgment to
the source of the information while communicating the product or performance to
its audience.[8]
The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) has
replaced the Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education
(ACRL, 2000) with the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education
(ACRL, 2015)[9]
Arrangement pattern of the Standards:
These standards are arranged in a hierarchy in accordance
with the Blooms’ (1956) which is used two define and differentiate between
different levels of human cognition i.e. thinking, learning, and understanding.
That’s why, as we move from standard 1 towards standard 5, we observe an
increase in the complexity and cognition level required to achieve that
standard too.[10]
These are arranged in increasing order of mental requirement
or simply we can say the cognition level as the former standards focus on
access to information while the later ones focus on the critical evaluation of
the extracted information.[11]
Conclusion:
By making the analysis and review of various information
literacy standards formulated by ACRL or any other organization as UNESCO,
SCONUL or any other, we can conclude the following points:
§ In all the information literacy
standards the arrangement follows a pattern that is indistinctively from lower
order (gathering) towards the higher order (evaluation, analysis and creating
new information from the prior information).
§ The arrangement pattern is somewhat
similar to that of the Bloom’s Taxonomy (1956)
§ All the standards put forward by the different association follows a basic hierarchy as shown in the given figure 1.
§ These standards along with their
performance indicators can prove to good evaluation criteria for the checking
effectiveness of the various information literacy programs being run by any of
the institution
Figure 1 The basic hierarchy of the Information Literacy Standards
§ All the standards were primarily
formulated by special emphasis on the explicit type of knowledge may it be
gathering of the information from relevant sources or disseminating the same
being bound by the IPR and other legal and ethical issues, and the tacit
knowledge is somewhere left behind which preparing these drafts.[12]
§ Various information literacy standards
are prepared by ACRL alone for students as well as professionals working in
different fields may it be teaching, journalism, nursing, anthropology, science
and technology, but what remains the same is the basic pattern and idea behind
these standards. All the standards follow the same hierarchy and guide the
implementer towards the same goals through the nearly same path as shown in
figure 1.
§ Information literacy is getting live
status in various higher educational institutes but there is need for special
skills development, training the library professionals to act as instructors
and instructional designers giving weight to the value of information literacy.
§ Rather than being limited to the
library science field, a more multidisciplinary approach to information
literacy research and instructions should be there in the curriculum.[13]
§ Offering formal information literacy
programs is getting pace in various educational institutes such as University
of Texas, The California State University, and The University of Washington
etc.
References:
·
LISBDNETWORK. (2019, February 19). Information Literacy. Library &
Information Science Network. https://www.lisbdnetwork.com/information-literacy/
·
Lau,
Jesus. (2006). Guidelines on Information Literacy for Lifelong Learning.
·
"Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education",
American Library Association, February 9, 2015.
http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework (Accessed June 11, 2021)
Document ID:
b910a6c4-6c8a-0d44-7dbc-a5dcbd509e3f
·
"Objectives for Information Literacy Instruction: A
Model Statement for Academic Librarians", American Library Association,
September 1, 2006.
http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/objectivesinformation
(Accessed June 11, 2021)
Document ID:
bbb3383f-1eba-dcd4-e94e-90a036e3a76d
·
"Standards, Guidelines, and Frameworks - Alphabetical
List", American Library Association, April 16, 2018.
http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/alphabetical (Accessed June 11, 2021)
Document
ID: c0aa687a-5bb1-428c-8425-a16a520c7913
·
Library Association, A. (2000). ACRL STANDARDS:
Information Literacy Compentency Standards for Higher Education. College &
Research Libraries News, 61(3), 207-215.
Doi: https://doi.org/10.5860/crln.61.3.207
·
"Information Literacy Standards for
Anthropology and Sociology Students", American Library Association,
February 6, 2008.
http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/anthro_soc_standards
(Accessed June 11, 2021)
Document ID:
4abee5ef-a4ee-5c84-b1d2-9ee5a4e11b5e
·
"Information Literacy Standards for Science and
Engineering/Technology", American Library Association, July 24, 2006.
http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/infolitscitech
(Accessed June 11, 2021)
Document ID:
b65e0fb0-5ded-a6d4-2d06-d3cb068960af
·
Adams, N. E. (2015). Bloom’s taxonomy of
cognitive learning objectives. Journal of the Medical Library Association:
JMLA, 103(3), 152–153. https://doi.org/10.3163/1536-5050.103.3.010
·
Uribe Tirado, A., & Castaño Muñoz, W.
(2012). Information literacy competency standards for higher education and
their correlation with the cycle of knowledge generation. LIBER Quarterly,
22(3), 213. https://doi.org/10.18352/lq.8167
·
Kasowitz-Scheer, Abby and Pasqualoni, Michael,
"Information Literacy Instruction in Higher Education: Trends and
Issues" (2002). Libraries' and Librarians' Publications. 34.
https://surface.syr.edu/sul/34
·
D’Angelo, B. J., Jamieson, S., Maid, B. M.,
& Walker, J. R. (2017). Information Literacy. WAC Clearinghouse.
[1]
"Framework
for Information Literacy for Higher Education", American Library
Association, February 9, 2015.
http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework (Accessed June 11, 2021)
Document ID:
b910a6c4-6c8a-0d44-7dbc-a5dcbd509e3f
[3] LISBDNETWORK.
(2019, February 19). Information Literacy. Library & Information Science
Network. https://www.lisbdnetwork.com/information-literacy/
[4] "Objectives
for Information Literacy Instruction: A Model Statement for Academic
Librarians", American Library Association, September 1, 2006.
http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/objectivesinformation
(Accessed June 11, 2021)
Document ID: bbb3383f-1eba-dcd4-e94e-90a036e3a76d
[5] "Standards,
Guidelines, and Frameworks - Alphabetical List", American Library
Association, April 16, 2018.
http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/alphabetical (Accessed June 11, 2021)
Document ID:
c0aa687a-5bb1-428c-8425-a16a520c7913
[6] Library
Association, A. (2000). ACRL STANDARDS: Information Literacy Compentency
Standards for Higher Education. College & Research Libraries News, 61(3),
207-215.
doi:https://doi.org/10.5860/crln.61.3.207
[7] "Information
Literacy Standards for Anthropology and Sociology Students", American
Library Association, February 6, 2008.
http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/anthro_soc_standards
(Accessed June 11, 2021)
Document ID: 4abee5ef-a4ee-5c84-b1d2-9ee5a4e11b5e
[8]
"Information
Literacy Standards for Science and Engineering/Technology", American
Library Association, July 24, 2006.
http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/infolitscitech (Accessed June 11, 2021)
Document ID: b65e0fb0-5ded-a6d4-2d06-d3cb068960af
[9]
D’Angelo, B. J., Jamieson, S., Maid, B. M.,
& Walker, J. R. (2017). Information Literacy. WAC Clearinghouse.
[10]
Adams, N. E. (2015). Bloom’s taxonomy of
cognitive learning objectives. Journal of the Medical Library Association:
JMLA, 103(3), 152–153. https://doi.org/10.3163/1536-5050.103.3.010
[11]
LISBDNETWORK. (2019, February
19). Information Literacy. Library & Information Science Network. https://www.lisbdnetwork.com/information-literacy/
[12] Uribe
Tirado, A., & Castaño Muñoz, W. (2012). Information literacy competency
standards for higher education and their correlation with the cycle of
knowledge generation. LIBER Quarterly, 22(3), 213.
[13] Kasowitz-Scheer,
Abby and Pasqualoni, Michael, "Information Literacy Instruction in Higher
Education: Trends and Issues" (2002). Libraries' and Librarians'
Publications. 34.
https://surface.syr.edu/sul/34
INTRODUCTION:
“Tomorrow's illiterate will not be
the man who can't read; he will be the man who has not learned how to learn”
– Alvin Toffler
It is very much clear from the above statement that the in
the coming decades, to be literate, one has to be primarily information
literate and when it comes to the implications of this literacy in the daily
needs as we all know that is the ultimate goal, one has to adopt the thing we
call LIFELONG LEARNING.
Hence these two are like the substitutes of each other, one
is there to facilitate and make other the point of focus.
These two modern paradigms should ideally be harnessed to
work symbiotically and synergistically with one another if people and
institutions are to successfully survive and compete in the 21st
century and beyond
Bundy, (2004) defines the relationship between information
literacy and lifelong
learning as follows. "Information
literacy is the foundation for the independent learning and lifelong learning."[1]
Defining Lifelong Learning:
“It is the development after formal education: the continuing
development of knowledge and skills that people experience after formal
education and throughout their lives” (Encarta, 2008)
Lifelong learning builds on prior learning as it expands
knowledge and skills in depth and breadth (London, in press)
“All learning activity undertaken throughout life, with the
aim of improving knowledge, skills and competences within a personal, civic
social and/or employment related perspective” (European Commission[EC], 2001,
p.9)[2]
“The process of gaining knowledge and skills throughout your
life, often to help you do your job properly” (Cambridge dictionary online)[3]
Defining Information Literacy:
ACCORDING TO ALA,
“Information literacy is a set of abilities requiring
individuals to “recognize when information is needed and have the ability to
locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.”[4]
ACCORDING TO PAUL ZURKOWSKI,
An
information literacy individual, according to Zurkowski, is anyone who had
learned to use a wide range of information sources in order to solve problems
at work and in his or her daily life.
Zurkowski's
definition continues to have validity over 30 years later.
ACCORDING TO ACRL (Association of College and Research
Libraries)
“Information
literacy is a set of abilities requiring individuals to recognize when
information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively
the needed information.”
Similarities and Differences:[5]
·
The similarity between these concepts is that both
improve
§ the set of
personal choices and options
§ quality and
utility of education and training
§ prospects
of finding and keeping a job
§ effective
participation in social contexts
·
The difference is that
§ Information
literacy is a set of skills that can be learned
§ Lifelong
learning is a good habit that must be acquired and accompanied by the adoption
of a positive frame of mind.
Benefits of Lifelong Learning:[6]
Lifelong learning is continuous,
deliberate and self-motivated.
Lifelong learning:
·
Enhances skills
·
Improves job performance
·
Sharpens the mind
·
Sharpens confidence
·
Develop interpersonal communication skills
·
Opens the mind
·
Makes mind information-hungry
·
Increases curiosity
·
Makes the world a better place
·
Make the learners active participants in the
information society
·
Develops a higher level of thinking[7]
Major drivers towards the Information Literacy and Lifelong Learning:[8]
·
Persuasive effects
of new technologies
It is nearly impossible to escape the implications of new
technologies, which affect every aspect of our lives. Thus simply to go about
one’s everyday life, there is a constant barrage of new technologies,
terminologies to be mastered and hence it becomes crucial to be information
literate as well as habitual of lifelong learning.
·
Globalisation
Changing geo-political situation, to issues of mass
migration, the displacement of large numbers of people, and the impacts of
different cultures and religions on established ways of thinking and behaving
has developed the need and opportunities for travel and language learning. Now
in this changing scenario, to learning is very much important to develop new
skills to gain or retain the employment
·
Changing pattern of works
There has also been observed changes in the pattern of the
works from the traditional desk jobs or limited area jobs to the jobs which
primarily require the skills like communication skills, management skills, interpersonal
behavior etc. This also proved to be a major driver for the person to develop
curiosity about lifelong learning and be information literate so that they can
withstand the changing work related needs.
·
Explosion of available information
As we are
observing the case of information explosion or information bloom, and we are
well aware that in today’s scenario the knowledged is the powerful, hence we
must adopt the thing that is called lifelong learning to be in the race of
being an active participant of the society and for that particular reason, being
information literate too becomes important as the sources and types of
information, the pattern of information is changing and only those who are
information literate will be able to inculcate this information.
Information Literacy as a helping hand in Lifelong Learning:
Information
literacy develop several qualities in a person which is supposed to be
information literate and these qualities help the individual to foster the
lifelong learning.
Some major
one being:
·
effective information seeking
·
informed choice of information sources
·
information evaluation and selection
·
comfort in using a range of media to best advantage
· Awareness of issues to do with bias and reliability of
information
·
Effectiveness in transmitting information to others
·
Less hesitation while communicating
·
Active participation in the knowledge society
Figure 1
the concept of Information Literacy[9]
Conclusion:
“An
investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”
– Benjamin
Franklin
After
reading and analyzing various aspect, scopes, needs, and trends of both the
lifelong learning as well as information literacy, we can easily conclude
that whether they both differ in terms of their properties like on being the
tool, other being a habit, these are like supplementary to each other in
today’s scenario.
On the
basis of our observation following conclusions are drawn:
·
Information literacy is a tool
·
Lifelong learning is a habit
·
Information literacy supplements the lifelong learning
·
Both are the need of the time
· Both focus on making the user an active participant of
the information society
·
Whether they both are optional is majority of aspects
and depends on personal choices, to survive in the changing community
effectively, one must be information literate and has to cultivate the habit of
lifelong learning.
Further readings:
·
Information literacy eGyanKosh http://egyankosh.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/35346/5/Unit-11.pdf
·
Lifelong Learning eGyanKosh http://egyankosh.ac.in//handle/123456789/53655
[1] Ranaweera,
Prasanna Importance of Information Literacy skills for an Information
Literate society., 2008 . In NACLIS 2008, Colombo (Sri Lanka), 24th June 2008
[2]
London, M. (2011). Lifelong Learning:
Introduction. The Oxford Handbook of Lifelong Learning, 2–11.
https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195390483.013.0013
