Prompt 9: Information LIteracy

Our topic this week is information literacy. This is important to consider as you begin working on your next assignment (the literature review).

What is information literacy? Well, it is something you have been working on your entire college career (and hopefully before). According to Plattsburgh State (my alma mater),  Information literacy is the ability to recognize the extent and nature of an information need, then to locate, evaluate, and effectively use the needed information. Some more information from your future alma mater as well as the University of Idaho and Wikipedia.

Many people make the mistake that it is about finding information but it is much more than that – it is about evaluating and effectively using it.

We live in a knowledge economy (read more about that with Drucker and the rise of the knowledge worker) and we are surrounded by more information than we can possibly process, use, or even store. This means we need to become good at Crap Detection.

Traditionally information comes to us in a variety of forms. Periodicals traditionally offer more current information than books, although of course the web usually has the most current information. Newspapers, popular magazines, trade journals, and academic journals are all examples of periodicals. Not all periodicals offer the same guarantees in terms of the quality of the information they provide and so do not provide the same weight of support for your arguments. For example, trade journals are typically written and edited by professionals working in the field so they are more credible than newspapers and popular magazines. However, academic journals typically publish articles that have undergone an intense peer-review process by experts in the field so they are the most credible of all sources. Books may fall somewhere in between trade journals and academic journals in terms of credibility -- although that may depend on the publisher. However, the time to publication is often lengthy so they may not include the most up-to-date information. The credibility of information on the web depends very much on the source of the information and how it has been examined, evaluated, and explained (see Crap Detection).


You have to weigh the advantages and disadvantages for your particular rhetorical context. Different communities and different genres will privilege one over another – although even then that may depend on purpose. And last, but not least: Some strategies you can use to evaluate information.