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Unit 12: Evaluation of User Educational Programmes

Category 2: Independent Learning Notes
Standards:
1. The student who is an independent learner is information literate and pursues information
related to personal interests.
2. The student who is an independent learner is information literate and appreciates literature
and other creative expressions of information.
3. The student who is an independent learner is information literate and strives for excellence
in information seeking and knowledge generation.

Category 3: Social Responsibility
Standards:

1. The student who contributes positively to the learning community and to society is
information literate and recognizes the importance of information to a democratic society.
2. The student who contributes positively to the learning community and to society is
information literate and practices ethical behavior in regard to information and information
technology.
3. The student who contributes positively to the learning community and to society is
information literate and participates effectively in groups to pursue and generate information.
(AASL and AECT, 1998).
Since information may be presented in a number of formats, the term “information” applies to
more than just the printed word. Other literacies such as visual, media, computer, network, and
basic literacies are implicit in information literacy.
Many of those who are in most need of information literacy are often amongst those least able to
access the information they require:
Minority and at-risk students, illiterate adults, people with English as a second language, and
economically disadvantaged people are among those most likely to lack access to the information
that can improve their situations. Most are not even aware of the potential help that is available to
them (Presidential Committee on Information Literacy, 1989, para. 7) .
As the Presidential Committee report points out, members of these disadvantaged groups are often
unaware that libraries can provide them with the access, training and information they need. In
Osborne (2004) many libraries around the country are finding numerous ways to reach many of
these disadvantaged groups by discovering their needs in their own environments (including prisons)
and offering them specific services in the libraries themselves.

Self Assessment
State whether the following statements are true or false:
8. In 1983, the seminal report “A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform”
declared that a “rising tide of mediocrity” was eroding the very foundations of the American
educational system.
9. 1979, the A.L.A. Presidential Committee established the National Forum on Information
Literacy.
10. The first step in the Information Literacy strategy is to clarify and understand the require-
ments of the problem or task for which information is sought.

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 81