Information & Media Literacy

Rogers, R. (2016, December 9). News Hole [Illustration] RobRogers.com. https://robrogers.com/2016/12/09/news-hole/

This guide provides information and resources that will help explain how and why fake news has become a problem, how to identify a fake news story, and what can be done to improve the situation.  It will also give you tools and techniques that will help you distinguish fakes and hoaxes from real credible sources.

What are all these "Literacies" you've mentioned?

• AI Literacy:
  "We define AI literacy as a set of competencies that enables individuals to:
  • critically evaluate AI technologies;
  • communicate and collaborate effectively with AI;
  • and use AI as a tool online, at home, and in the workplace....

(Long, D., Magerko, B. (2020, August). What is AI Literacy? Competencies and Design Considerations. AI Unplugged. Retrieved March 31, 2023, from https://aiunplugged.lmc.gatech.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/36/2020/08/CHI-2020-AI-Literacy-Paper-Camera-Ready.pdf)

• Data Literacy:
  "MIT professor Catherine D’Ignazio and research scientist Rahul Bhargava describe data literacy in a paper as the ability to:
  • read data, which means understanding what data is and the aspects of the world it represents.
  • work with data, including creating, acquiring, cleaning, and managing it.
  • analyze data, which involves filtering, sorting, aggregating, comparing, and performing other analytic operations on it.
  • argue with data, which means using data to support a larger narrative that is intended to communicate some message or story to a particular audience.

In order to be data literate, “you have to be verbally literate, numerically literate, and graphically literate,” Kazakoff said."

(D’Ignazio, C., Bhargava, R. (2015, September 28). Approaches to Building Big Data Literacy. Bloomberg Data for Good Exchange. Retrieved September 29, 2022, from https://dam-prod.media.mit.edu/x/2016/10/20/Edu_D'Ignazio_52.pdf)

• Information Literacy:
   "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." ¹ "
  
  (Association of College and Research Libraries. (2011). Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. ACRL Association of College and Research Libraries. Retrieved September 28, 2022, from https://web.archive.org/web/20110408200834/http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/standards/informationliteracycompetency.cfm)
   
• Media Literacy: 
  "...We define digital and media literacy as a constellation of life skills that are necessary for full participation in our media-saturated, information-rich society. These include the ability to do the following:
  • Make responsible choices and access information by locating and sharing materials and comprehending information and ideas.
  • Analyze messages in a variety of forms by identifying the author, purpose and point of view, and evaluating the quality and credibility of the content.
  • Create content in a variety of forms, making use of language, images, sound, and new digital tools and technologies.
  • Reflect on one’s own conduct and communication behavior by applying social responsibility and ethical principles.
  • Take social action by working individually and collaboratively to share knowledge and solve problems in the family, workplace and community, and by participating as a member of a community. ..."

(Hobbs, R. (2010). Digital and Media Literacy: A Plan of Action. The Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program. Retrieved September 29, 2022, from https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Digital_and_Media_Literacy.pdf)

• Meta Literacy:
  "To be metaliterate requires individuals to understand their existing literacy strengths and areas for improvement and make decisions about their learning. The ability to critically self-assess different competencies and to recognize one’s need for integrated literacies in today’s information environment is a metaliteracy"
  
  (Mackey, T., Jacobson, T. E. (2014).  Metaliteracy Reinventing Information Literacy to Empower Learners. American Library Association​​. Retrieved September 29, 2022, from https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjg8_2Mmbr6AhUBFVkFHetCBws4ChAWegQIChAB&url=
  https%3A%2F%2Fwww.alastore.ala.org%2Ffile%2F3692%2Fdownload%3Ftoken%3DYacY-M5C&usg=AOvVaw0FC8Q7qgBhl3C5ia6R8YNl)
   
• News Literacy:
  "News literacy is the ability to determine the credibility of news and other information and to recognize the standards of fact-based journalism to know what to trust, share and act on."
  
  (The News Literacy Project. (2022). You have the power to stop misinformation. News Literacy Project. Retrieved September 29, 2022, from https://newslit.org/)
   
• Privacy Literacy:
  "In privacy literacy, learners use the information they have about how their private information will be stored, used, or distributed, combined with their personal philosophy about what information should be public and private, to make informed decisions."
  
  (Wissinger, C.L. (2017). Privacy literacy: From theory to practice. Communications in Information Literacy, 11(2), 378-389. Retrieved July 13, 2023, from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1166461.pdf)
   
• Visual Literacy:
  "Visual literacy is a set of abilities that enables an individual to effectively find, interpret, evaluate, use, and create images and visual media. Visual literacy skills equip a learner to understand and analyze the contextual, cultural, ethical, aesthetic, intellectual, and technical components involved in the production and use of visual materials. A visually literate individual is both a critical consumer of visual media and a competent contributor to a body of shared knowledge and culture.

  In an interdisciplinary, higher education environment, a visually literate individual is able to:

  • Determine the nature and extent of the visual materials needed
  • Find and access needed images and visual media effectively and efficiently
  • Interpret and analyze the meanings of images and visual media
  • Evaluate images and their sources
  • Use images and visual media effectively
  • Design and create meaningful images and visual media
  • Understand many of the ethical, legal, social, and economic issues surrounding the creation and use of images and visual media, and access and use visual materials ethically"

(Hattwig, D., Burgess, J., Bussert, K., Medaille, A. (2011, October). ACRL Visual Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. ACRL Association of College & Research Libraries - Advanced Learning Transforming Scholarship. Retrieved September 29, 2022, from https://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/visualliteracy)​​​