Information Literacy in the Digital Age: Myths and Principles of Digital Literacy

Authors

Bernd W. Becker, San Jose State UniversityFollow

Abstract

Librarians have traditionally served as the champions of information literacy, adopting it as a core principle of the profession and creating a movement that tries to facilitate fair, equal access to knowledge and its creation. There are plenty of publications on this topic, but as the Information Age has become the Digital Age, there also needs to be a discussion of how information literacy is evolving. More specifically, librarians are now finding themselves shouldering the responsibilities of digital literacy alongside traditional approaches to information literacy, especially considering how more and more information needs can only be met via digital resources. This paper serves to add to this discussion by examining the different elements of the two literacies, the myths that surround them, and provide some basic principles of information literacy learning and instruction in the digital age.

About Author

Bernd Becker is an Associate Librarian at San Jose State University's Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library. He wears many hats at SJSU. His primary assignment is liaison librarian to the Psychology and the Counselor Education departments, overseeing the information literacy instruction and references needs for those areas. He also serves as the Collection Development Coordinator at King and is a regular author for the Taylor and Francis journal Behavioral & Social Sciences Librarian.

Recommended Citation

Becker, B. W. (2018). Information Literacy in the Digital Age: Myths and Principles of Digital Literacy. School of Information Student Research Journal, 7(2). https://doi.org/10.31979/2575-2499.070202