Information Literacy in the Finnish Information Studies’ Curricula Maija-Leena Huotari, Prof. Department of Finnish, Information Studies and Logopedics, University of Oulu

Presentation aims at 1) Highlighting the importance of a broad definition for the concept of information literacy (IL). 2) Indicating the courses of Finnish information studies (IS) departments’ curricula that relate to IL. 3) Introducing the recent Finnish academic disserations in IL.

IL Defined?  Literacy is a relative concept => Refers also to meaning and understanding of content  The first occurance of the term ’information literacy’ referred to the use of information in problem solving and decision making, i.e. to value of information as a resource  Later on IL also used to refer to the survival of democratic institutions

IL Defined? (Continued…)  Information literacy relates to a a number of other ’literacies’, e.g. such as library literacy, media literacy, computer literacy, network literacy, digital literacy (Bawden, 2001)  Refers to skills to be learnt and competences to be demonstrated => Refers to the concept of knowing in KM research

IL Defined? (Continued…)  ”Information literacy is the ability to access, evaluate, and use information from a variety of sources.” (Doyle, 1994; cited by Bawden, 2001, p. 231)  Links to learning: ” The ability to locate, process, and use information effectively…” (Ibid, p. 232)  Teachers and librarians act as facilitators for students’ learning

IL Defined? (Continued…) The American Library Association’s definition referres to learning => Competency in six areas: 1) Determining the extent of inf. needed 2) Accessing the needed inf. effectively and efficiently 3) Evaluating inf. and its sources critically 4) Incorporating selected inf. into one’s knowledge base 5) Using inf. effectively to accomplish a specific problem 6) Understanding the economic, legal and social issues of inf. use

IL defined for curriculum development  Can be seen as an umbrella definition that includes many other literacies and implies business as well as private life in the context of lifelong learning and flexible learning (European Curriculum Reflections on LIS Education, 2005, p. 79)  Library and information professionals have a special role in the process in which people become information literate. Thus, they have to learn to do this effectively. (Ibid, p. 80)

IL defined for curriculum development (Continued…)  It is essential for LIS students to: a) be aware of IL as a concept b) become information literate themselves c) learn about some key aspects of teaching IL (Ibid., p. 80) IL can be taught in many different ways depending of the nature of the programme, course, resources available, the teacher’s pedagogical orientation, etc.

IL in Finnish IS Curricula?  In Finland information studies education, at the university level, is provided in the Department of Information Studies, the University of Tampere, the Department of Information Studies, Åbo Akademi University, the Department of Finnish, Information Studies and Logopedics, the University of Oulu

IL in Finnish IS Curricula? (Continued…) Two approaches: 1) Teaching students how to become information literate 1) Incl. to some extent in the basic studies for all university students 2) Through the university libraries linked to the curricula in many disciplines

IL in Finnish IS Curricula? (Continued…) 2) Courses ´How to provide information services on instruction in information literacy’ do not exist 3) Content of IL concept is implicit in the curricula: 1. Tampere University: a) Information seeking (Basic and advanced levels) b) Information retrieval (Basic level) c) Instruction and customer service of information retrieval –project (Advanced level)

IL in Finnish IS Curricula (Continued…) 2. Oulu University d) Information work I-III (Basic & advanced levels) e) User training (Advanced level) f) Information and learning (Advanced level)

IL in Finnish IS Curricula (Continued…) 3. Åbo Akademi University g) Communication and learning (Advanced level) h) Psychological and pedagogical aspects of information behaviour (Advanced level) i) Socio-cultural and cognitive aspects of information behaviour (Master’s level) 1., 2., 3. Research seminars at the advanced and master’s levels

An example of a course on IL  Provided as a course (the intermediate level) of a pilot programme in LIS funded by the European Social Fund and conducted by the Department of Communication, and the Palmenia Center for Continuing Education, the University of Helsinki, in  Based on interdisciplinary collaboration of information studies, education, communication science, and pedagogical technology [see: Huotari & al. (2006) Informaatiotutkimus, 25(3): 70-81]

An example of a course on IL (Continued…)  Applied the ideas of: A pedagogical manuscript for a web-based course that is based on the student-centered approach of learning (Lindblom-Ylänne, Nevgi & Kaivola 2003) Blended learning (i.e. e-learning, a hybrid course, open/flexible learning) (see Graham 2005) The use of weblogs

An example of a course on IL (Continued…)  The aim of the course was to introduce the students with the design of web-based teaching material (e.g. on how to use library and information services), and to practice teaching, too.  The outcomes incl.: The students learned to use the weblogs quite easily to design web-based teaching material They designed material to support individual, self-learning

An example of a course on IL (Continued…) The aspects of content, target audiences, and conceptions of different learning styles were included in the materials designed Interaction, support and feedback for users/learners were not included The topical areas included e.g. teaching information retrieval (IR) skills at the primary school level; IR of music; IR of research on classical period; IR on genealogy; etc.

An example of a course on IL (Continued…)  Experiences of interdisciplinary collaboration in designing the course were promising  The ideas will be applied in the new information studies’ curriculum at the University of Oulu

Recent Finnish Doctoral Theses related to IL  Halttunen, Kai: Two information retrieval learning environments. Acta Universitatis Tamperensis Tampere: Tampere University Press, (  Kautto, Vesa: Teaching research literacy evaluation in higher education. Analysis of four disciplines. Acta Universitatis Ouluensis B 58. Oulu: Oulun yliopisto, ( (in Finnish with an English abstract)  Heinström, Jannica: Fast surfers, broad scanners and deep divers: personality and information seeking behaviour. Åbo: Åbo Akademi University Press, 2002.

Conclusion  IL is implicitly integrated in the Finnish information studies’ curricula => There is a clear need for courses concerned with pedagogical competences and skills of information specialists and librarians => Competences and skills to collaborate with university, high and primary school teachers should be included in the curricula as well

Conclusion (continued…) => The knowledge processes viewpoint provides a new perspective to understand the role of the library and information services within their parent organizations and to integrate also instruction in information literacy with these processes. (See Huotari & Iivonen 2004, 2005)

References  Bawden, D. (2001). Information and Digital Literacies: A Review of Concepts. Journal of Documentation, 57(2),  The American Libraty Association’s standards cycompetency.htm cycompetency.htm  European Curriculum Reflections on Library and Information Science Education (2005) Leif Kajberg & Leif Lorring (Eds.) Copenhagen: Royal School of Library and Information Science.  Graham, C.R. (2005) Blended learning systems: Definition, current trends, and future directions. Teoksessa: Curtic J. Bonk & Charles R. Graham (Eds.) Handbook of Blended Learning: Global Perspectives, Local Designs. (s. 3-21). San Francisco: Pfeiffer Publishing.

References (Continued…)  Huotari, M.-L. & Iivonen M. (2004). Yliopistokirjaston strateginen kumppanuus yliopiston tietoprosesseissa. Informaatiotutkimus 23(3),  Huotari, M.-L. & Iivonen, M. (2005). Knowledge processes: A strategic foundation for the partnership between the university and its library. Library Management, 26(6/7):  Huotari, M.-L., Nevgi, A., Joutsenvirta, T. & Koski- Kotiranta, S. (2006) Pedagogiikka ja media: Monitieteellisiä aineksia kirjasto- ja tietopalvelualan koulutuksen innovatiiviseen kehittämiseen. Informaatiotutkimus, 25(3):