About us

Information literacy encompasses library user education, information skills training and education, and those areas of personal, transferable or 'key' skills, attitudes and habits of learning relating to the use and manipulation of information in the context of learning, teaching and research issues in higher education.

Remit of the WGIL: To take a lead role in the development of theory and practice in relation to information literacy (IL) and its role in the process of learning. The Group will:

• Develop, refine and promote the concept and SCONUL model of information literacy within the higher education sector
• Ensure that the role of information literacy in learning and teaching, research, and organisational enhancement is communicated effectively and understood by the wider educational professional groups in HE
• Work collaboratively with other groups (both within and outside SCONUL) and organisations to stimulate strategies and the development of underpinning pedagogies relating to information use in HE
• Develop the WGIL web site to provide a focus for IL in HE in the UK
• Inform and advise the SCONUL Executive Board on IL and learning issues

Rationale for the WGIL
The Group is informed by recent debates about graduate skills, research training, communities of practice, e-learning and digital library developments, learning and teaching using digital information environments. The Working Group is concerned with the wide spectrum of ways in which libraries, librarians and the use of information contribute to, and enhance the effectiveness of, the process of learning and the support for learners and researchers. The developing concept of information literacy is an especial area of interest, and the Group will refine and promote the SCONUL Seven Pillars model for information literacy. IL is interpreted broadly, to encompass not only the development of information skills in higher education, but including aspects of understanding, knowledge creation and management, critical analysis, evaluation and judgement, and the entirety of interactions between users and information resources in the pursuit of excellence in learning, teaching and research.

Information Literacy in 2007: some reflections

Updated February 2008 by Moira Bent Moira.Bent@ncl.ac.uk.