1. Promoting media and information literacy in libraries
Frank Huysmans University of Amsterdam
20/06/2016
Presentation for the Committee on Culture and Education

2. Structure of the Presentation
Media & Information Literacy (MIL)
Public libraries and MIL
Policy approaches to MIL
What we know about effectiveness
Conclusion
20/06/2016
Presentation for the Committee on Culture and Education

3. 1. Media & Information Literacy (MIL)
Media literacy
ability to critically engage with media and mediated content
knowledge, skills, attitudes, ethics
Information literacy
recognize information needs
locate, evaluate and use information for personal goals
Common ground and differences
coming from separate traditions (academic/practice)
media literacy and information literacy connected following digitization of media and information
20/06/2016
Presentation for the Committee on Culture and Education

4. 2. Public libraries and MIL
Promoting information literacy
from 1970s onwards
assist learners and teachers in finding and evaluating sources of textual information
Enhancing media literacy
starting second half of 1990s: ‘digital skills’ / ‘ICT skills’
children vs. adults
protection vs. empowerment
information & media: access vs. sharing
media labs, makerspaces, hackathons etc.
20/06/2016
Presentation for the Committee on Culture and Education

5. 3. Policy approaches Library organizations & academic researchers
formalization of information literacy by professionals and scholars
recognized by government, integrated in policies
Supranational organizations
EC & OECD: economic & technological perspective
IFLA & UNESCO: social & cultural perspective
Moscow Declaration 2012: “MIL is defined as a combination of knowledge, attitudes, skills and practices required to access, analyse, evaluate, use, produce and communicate information and knowledge in creative, legal and ethical ways that respect human rights”
20/06/2016
Presentation for the Committee on Culture and Education

6. 4. What we know about effectiveness
Information literacy
wealth of research on broader concept ‘information behaviour’ (how do people search for information?)
Media literacy
in general: evidence not solid yet
diverse approaches in theory and method
some evidence of effectiveness
not much known (yet) of effectiveness of library programs
UNESCO’s Global Media and Information Literacy Assessment Framework offers useful framework for comparative research and benchmarking
20/06/2016
Presentation for the Committee on Culture and Education

7. 5. Conclusion Unified approach: Media & Information Literacy
support citizens of all ages in acquiring the knowledge, skills, attitudes and ethical stance to become more media and information literate
Recommendations
recognize full potential public libraries in ET2020
support public libraries (policy, finances)
continue working on unified approach of MIL with international and library organizations
work towards research program in Horizon 2020, using UNESCO’s Assessment Framework
20/06/2016
Presentation for the Committee on Culture and Education