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  2. Introduction to Information Literacy

Introduction to Information Literacy

Christian Leuprecht

Hon. B.A., D.É.A., M.A., M.A., Ph.D. (Queen's)

Type Advantages Concerns Target Audience Who produces
Invisible College
  • Quicker than the conventional sources.
  • Empower marginal groups
  • Quality varies
  • Reliability varies
  • It may be hard to reach
 General Public/ Members of a particular social movement
  • General Public
  • Political Activists
TV NEWS
  • Stories updated in their web pages
  • Breaking news provide quick access
  • Pictures and video coverage
 Stories may disappear from web pages General Public Journalists
Newspapers
  • Primary source of evidence especially about local issues
 Web versions and print versions differ General Public Journalists
Magazines
  • More extensive reports
  • Opinions
 Some of them can be unreliable General Public Journalists
Journals
  • In depth and systemic analysis of an issue
  • Authoritative Source for any research - especially peer reviewed ones
  • Dense-technical language
  • Not a source of current events
 Academic community Academic Community
Books
  • Broad overviews of any topics
  • In depth analysis of an issue
  • Bibliographies can provide clues for a research.
 Not a source of current events General Public/Academic Community Scholars / Journalists
Government Publications
  • Rich factual information
  • Official sources
  • Difficult to get information from foreign governments
  • Hard to reach
 General Public/Academic Community State departments/Officials
Reference Materials
  • Good Starting point for research - Provides references for a topic
  • Good Source of quick facts
  • Helpful for defining a term
  • Descriptive - Does not offer arguments
  • You cannot check out from library
 General Public/ Academic Community Reference Librarians/ Scholars