The Irish ‘Working Group on Information Literacy’ – Edging towards a national policy

Abstract

The authors of this paper provide an overview of the activities of the Irish Working Group on Information Literacy (WGIL) and its role in advancing a national policy for information literacy in the Republic of Ireland.

The study focuses on the work of the group during its lifetime including the various activities, marketing and advocacy initiatives and some of the challenges and issues the group faced, in particular, the diversity of the Irish library and information sector and the lack of an integrated approach for information literacy development.

The study presents the findings of the report produced by WGIL entitled Library Association of Ireland: Working Group on Information Literacy: Review of Cross-Sector Activity 2006–2008 and Initial Recommendations for Further Action which reviewed best practices and information literacy activities in the various LIS sectors in the Republic of Ireland during a two-year period. The key recommendation of this report is for the leadership of the Library Association of Ireland to develop a national information literacy strategy that advocates for the importance of information literacy as a lifelong and transferable skill.

Keywords:

• Information literacy
• Information skills
• Republic of Ireland
• National policy

Notes

3 ANTLC – The Academic and national Library Training Co-operative established in 1995 with stated aim “to identify training needs within member Irish academic and national libraries to form the basis of an ongoing co-operative training and development programme.” http://www.anltc.ie/.

4 The CILIP Community Services Sub-Group on Information Literacy http://www.cilip.org.uk/get-involved/special-interest-groups/community-services/subgroups/information-literacy/Pages/default.aspx.

5 Library Association of Ireland http://www.libraryassociation.ie/.

6 From the CILIP website – information literacy: definition http://www.cilip.org.uk/getinvolved/advocacy/learning/information-literacy/pages/definition.aspx.

7 Australian and New Zealand Information Literacy Framework principles, standards and practices 2nd ed. Alan Bundy (AZIIL, Adelaide, 2004).

8 CONUL is the Irish Consortium of National and University Libraries. See the sub-group advisory committee on information literacy at http://www.conul.ie/.

9 Presentation delivered by Terry O’Brien, available at http://www.scribd.com/doc/2439023/Information-Literacy-session-at-the-ASLS-AGM-2007.

10 Presentation jointly delivered by Terry O’Brien and Jamie Ward, available at http://www.scribd.com/doc/5520984/Presentation-2008.

11 Article available in SCONUL Focus, 41, Summer/Autumn, 2007, pp. 26–30 http://www.sconul.ac.uk/publications/newsletter/41/9.pdf.

12 Article available in SCONUL Focus, 46, 2009, pp. 101–104 http://www.sconul.ac.uk/publications/newsletter/46/27.pdf.

13 See more information at http://www.gcu.ac.uk/ils/index.html.

14 See more information at http://library.wales.org/information-literacy/national-information-literacy-framework/.

15 From The Horizon Report 2007, accessed online May 9th 2011 at http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2007_Horizon_Report.pdf.

16 From The Horizon Report 2010, accessed online May 9th 2011 at http://wp.nmc.org/horizon2010/.

17 From The Horizon Report 2011, accessed online May 9th 2011 at http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/HR2011.pdf.