Information Literacy

- How to find new connections (to people and information)
- How to trust those connections (critically evaluate and assess the reliability of them)
Search for information effectively and efficiently |
Evaluate information and its sources critically |
Understand the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information |
Access and use information ethically and legally |
- Am I searching widely enough, or am I stuck in my filter bubble?
- Are Google, or even Google Scholar searches enough to find the most useful information, or are alternative search engines and Open Access search engines, such as the Directory of Open Access Journals worth investigating?
- Can I find richer information from Library Catalogues, Open Access journals (journals you do not pay to read), and databases?
We may also choose to grow our network by joining new communities, such as forums, groups or new social media platforms. Joining any new group, on or offline, can be beneficial, but also a bit daunting, so it’s worth checking out these questions before getting involved:
- Who are the administrators and/or owners of the online community? Is there a ‘Contact Us’, ‘About Us’ or ‘Help’ button somewhere on the page?
- How active is the community? How many posts are there from how many different members per day?
- How can you assess and trust the people you are interacting with in the community (are there many anonymous members, or are members identifiable by name or photo)?
- Are the community ‘rules and regulations’ easily accessible and easily understood?
- Can you see any examples of flaming (heated, personal online arguments), trolling (posting controversial comments online intended to provoke an emotional reaction) or other types of online abuse?
- How authoritative and trustworthy is the ‘original poster’ and the information in their posts?
Share any specific examples of good practice that you know of in the comments below.What methods do you use for finding and assessing information and checking out online communities?
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