Workshops

 Workshop 3: Information Literacy in the context of Scientific Information Policies (IMPORTANT NOTE – Workshop running time 10:00-12:30)

Convenor:

Carla Basili, Associate Professor, Sapienza University in Rome

Aspasia Togia, ATEITh

Claudia Yogeswaran, University College London

 

1. An efficient framework for analysing Information Policies is the “3Cs model”. According to this model, the main axes along which an efficient information policy articulates are:

- Connectivity: measures aimed at creating a well-established structure – both institutional (for example, the libraries in a country) and technological (for example, the Internet) – acting as a “conveyer” (or distribution network) of information to every citizen;

- Content: measures aimed at assuring that reliable information is conveyed to “connected” users;

- Competencies: measures aimed at assuring that “receivers” are able to efficiently retrieve and fully exploit the conveyed information, i.e. , the Information Literacy goal.

2. Information Literacy is linked to Information Policy in the European Commission vision. Information Literacy explicitly entered the EU policy making landscape (only) with the IMPACT Programme (1988-1995) – a community programme devoted to Information Policy – and more specifically through the action line “Increasing user-friendliness and improving information literacy”.

3. Information Literacy is natively a policy issue, but not yet entered in the policy debate. Information Literacy was natively conceived as a policy goal, involving the decisional level of society. The corpus of literature on Information Literacy is permeated by the initial coin of the term “Information Literacy” attributed to Paul Zurkowsky, who in 1974 wrote to the US National Commission on Libraries and Information Science that: “ … the top priority of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science should be directed toward establishing a major national program to achieve universal information literacy by 1984.”

4. Scientific Information is increasingly a pillar in the policies for the European Research Area (see EC official documents like "Study on the economic and technical evolution of the scientific publication markets in Europe" 2006) followed by a public consultation (from 31 March to 15 June 2006) addressed to individual researchers, academic organisations, libraries, information organisations and publishers. Results from the 2006 consultation have provided the basis for the next Communication on scientific information in the digital age: access, dissemination and preservation (2007).

5. Policy measures for scientific information have been and will continue to be subject to periodic review and revision, as a function of factors both internal and external to the science system.

The concept itself of "scientific information policies" tends to adapt to new configurations of the scientific system, to emerging models of knowledge circulation, the alternation of new agents, as well as to the role and functions of innovative vehicles for the dissemination of scientific results. (research data, research infrastructures, knowledge transfer besides knowledge sharing, open access)

6. From an economic perspective, knowledge sharing and transfer are increasingly the leitmotiv of the recommendations issued by the European Commission to support the economic development of Europe.

 In view of the above, the workshop intends to analyse Information Literacy as an element of Scientific Information Policy, aiming to understand the mutual influence between Information Literacy policies and Scientific Information policies.

More specifically, the workshop is aimed on the one hand to understand how new patterns of circulation for scientific information can induce changes in the traditional models of Information Literacy, and on the other how Information Literacy policy objectives constitute an integral part of Information Policy strategies.

 

Panelists

Information literacy policies in Europe and the European Observatory on IL Policies and Research (Aspasia Togia)

Scientific Information Management Policies and Information Literacy Schemes in Greek Higher Education Institutions and Libraries (I. Clapsopoulos, S. Zapounidou, M. Balatzaras and D. Petrinos)

Information literacy aspects in the Open Science environment (P. Georgiou)

Information literacy skills and aspects: some quality assurance aspects (Milena Dobreva)

 

 

There is registration fee (40 Euros) for this workshop.

 

The number of participants will be set by the workshop organisers

This workshop will be offered as a full day event.