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=Students are provided with formal information literacy and research skills development opportunities in all courses. =

Evidence
‘If we truly believe that information and technology skills are essential for success, then we must make sure that people have frequent opportunities to learn and practice these skills. Systematic planning and delivery of integrated information skills instruction… is essential if we are to make a difference’ (Eisenberg 2008).

Being able to use computers is not enough. Students must be able to identify information problems and be able to locate, use and evaluate information (Eisenberg 2008).

Students commence their degrees with limited knowledge of info literacy. Students are not ‘so computer literate that they do not need library research classes’ (Salisbury & Ellis 2003).

Learners must think critically and coherently about finding, evaluating, using, and managing information: ‘As information resources and the tools to find them grow and increase in complexity so, too, do the means by which we help our students understand how to find and use them effectively’ (Goetsch and Kaufman, 1998, p. 162).

Evidence suggests that students often have difficulty locating information on the web. They have difficulty assessing the relevance of information, they tend to not explore, they focus on finding one answer to their query (Kuiper et al. 2005)

Search skills and skills to effectively use information must be acquired. Also skills to evaluate the source of information are crucial. Evidence suggests a lot of students fail to ask themselves about the authority of information. Students need supervision and support in acquiring both Web searching skills and ‘information literacy’. (Kuiper et al. 2005).

The popularity of common Internet search engines is both seductive and deceptive for students, according to Scott and O’Sullivan (2005). The problem, they say, is not access to information but efficiently and effectively finding specific and suitable information. Further, they comment on the difficulty students have in defining the information they are seeking and they point to the need for better understanding of ‘hypertext literacy’. Citing their earlier work they propose that the Internet creates a ‘cognitive divide’ between those who can and cannot navigate and negotiate hypertext and hypermedia. The authors conducted a hypertext evaluation action research study that required students to navigate a specified Internet site, to locate a particular piece of information, and, by addressing a series of questions, to describe their experience in doing this task. The study found that most students experienced difficulties and had little understanding of systems or strategies for searching, and relied on a basic keywords phrase tactic. They conclude that their study ‘highlights the critical need to incorporate exercises and instruction in navigating this hypertext environment’ (p. 24). However, they also emphasise the importance of students understanding that the Internet is only one information retrieval tool in a suite of many that are needed to avoid underutilising and misusing information.

Johnston and Webber (2003) note the emphasis on integrating personal abilities for recognising, locating, and evaluating, which distinguishes literacy capability from information searching or finding skills (p. 337). They propose that information literacy education requires more than a surface learning approach, rather, they suggest that ‘a framework for information literacy education through a student’s career is needed’ (p. 347).

Valtonen et al. (2009) Study student readiness for e-learning. They discover that students are not all equally ready to undertake e-learning. There are negative, neutral, and positive attitudes and beliefs concerning online learning. Also, their ideas about the possibilities of e-learning are superficial. Students must be shown the point and possibilities of e-learning if it is to be successful. It is simply not true that just because students are digital natives that they have transferable skills and a disposition to work in online environments. Many students lack self-efficacy and hence are likely to avoid difficult tasks in a domain. Although the students utilize ICT tools in daily life efficiently, and the difference in ICT skills across students was small, there were marked differences in beliefs about e-learning. Many students do not know enough about the possibilities for e-learning because of ‘functional fixedness’. They simply aren’t used to using the web to learn. It is important to offer students more information about the characteristics and possibilities for online learning.

Resources
Evidence of capability in this practice is seen through the provision of resources on conducting research, resources on finding content and other information via links to suitable databases, instructions on where to find suitable books and support materials provided by groups such as libraries on information literacy skills.

Rader (2002) compiles a list of institutions with model information literacy programs.

Salisbury & Ellis (2003) point to the inadequacy of ‘a single information literacy session in a semester’.

‘It is not enough to work one-on-one or to offer an isolated lesson in note taking or Web search engines. People need lessons in the full range of skills, delivered in the contexts of the overall information process, including relevant technologies, and based in real subject area assignments’ (Eisenberg 2008). This needs to be written into policy.