Running amok with a chainsaw: A personal perspective on Information Literacy (in Three Acts)

1. Running amok with a chainsaw: A personal perspective on Information Literacy (in Three Acts) Philip C CandyDirector of Education, Training and DevelopmentNHS Connecting for Health

2. Overview of presentation • Prologue • Act I: Information Literacy as a matter of life and death • Act II: Information literacy to change the world • Act III: Information literacy - chainsaw or scalpel? • Epilogue

3. Introduction • Four ‘big shifts’ or ‘paradigm changes’ that are changing the world of learning

4. Shift in perspective I: From the individual learner • To the learner in social context

5. Shift in perspective I:The learner in context Individual Lifelong Learner

6. Learning Organisation Individual Lifelong Learner

7. Learning Communities Learning Organisation Individual Lifelong Learner

8. The Learning Society Learning Communities Learning Organisations Individual Lifelong Learner

9. Shift in perspective II: From teaching to learning • The truth is that even those who enjoy to the greatest extent the advantages of what is called a regular education must be their own instructors as to the greater portion of what they acquire, if they are ever to advance beyond the elements of learning. What they learn at schools and colleges is comparatively of small value, unless their own after reading and study improve those advantages. • Craik, G (1830). The Pursuit of Knowledge Under Difficulties. • London: Charles Knight and SDUK.

10. Shift in perspective III: Recognition of the many sources of learning • Families • Preschools and schools - primary and secondary • VET Providers (public and private) • Universities • The workplace: Business and Industry • The Media • Libraries and information specialists • Community groups (clubs/churches) • Government (Local/State-Provincial/National/Regional)

11. Shift in perspective IV: The digital revolution • A glass web spans the globe which is transforming commercial, social and cultural life in ways we do not fully understand. The emergence of new digital information spaces alongside the existing physical places of public life is posing challenges for policy and service developers. We are seeing the creation and recreation of markets and economic activity; of political and public discourse; of cultural research and learning work. • Demspey, L (1999). Introduction. Information Landscapes for a Learning Society. Bath: UK Office for Library and Information Networking.

12. Towards a new approach to education and training New Lifelong Learning Paradigm Self-directed Learning Community Partnerships for Learning Technologically Assisted Learning

13. Act I • Information Literacy as a matter of life and death

14. Meet the National Health Service (NHS) • 1.4 million employees • 600 separate Trusts; 28 Strategic Health Authorities • More than 50 million patients • One consultation every 1.5 minutes • Total budget approximately £80 billion per annum • New National agency ‘Connecting for Health’ (“Better information for health, where and when it's needed”)

15. NHS Connecting for Health Better information for health, where and when it's needed NHS Connecting for Health is an Agency of the Department of Health. It is tasked with delivering the National Programme for IT in the NHS, which will provide an integrated IT infrastructure and systems for the NHS in England. It aims to connect over 30,000 GPs [Family Physicians] to almost 300 hospitals and give patients access to their personal health and care information, transforming the way the NHS works.

16. Meet the National Programme for IT (NPfIT) • Approx £6.5 billion capital costs • Designed to put ICT into every public health facility in England • One National SP; Five Local Service Providers • Integrated Care Record Service • ‘Choose and Book’ • Electronic Prescription Service • Picture Archiving and Communications Systems (PACS) • Remote diagnosis; Telemonitoring • Electronic Staff Record and Personal Learning Portfolios • National Electronic Library for Health

17. Major purposes of Connecting for Health • To connect delivery of the NHS Plan with the capabilities of modern information technologies and, in particular, to: • Support the patient and the delivery of services designed around the patient, quickly, conveniently and seamlessly. • Improve management and delivery of services by providing good quality data to support National Service Frameworks, clinical audit, governance and management information. • Support staff through effective electronic communications, better learning and knowledge management, cut time to find essential information and make specialised expertise more accessible (emphasis added). • (Department of Health (June 2002) Delivering 21st century IT, Support for the NHS)

18. The vision for the National Programme

19. The application of what we know already will have a bigger impact on health and disease than any drug or technology likely to be introduced in the next decade: Knowledge is the Enemy of DiseaseDr Sir Muir Gray (Director of Knowledge Process and Safety) Why the National Programme is Vital

21. The situation in a nutshell • In contemporary society, a constellation of changes has complicated the adult's challenge of being healthy: the health care system's shift from a paternalist to a partnership model, with more individual responsibility for prevention, informed decision making, and consent; complex choices about insurance; the need for self-management of chronic conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure; and responsibility for both children's and elders' health care. Adults at all literacy levels must cope with conflicting media reports about environmental health hazards, diet and nutrition, the safety of hormone replacement therapy, and the appropriate frequency of screening tests; myths and misconceptions about communicable diseases such as smallpox, anthrax, and SARS; pharmaceutical company advertising about new drugs; and the vast amounts of health information available on the Internet. • (Kerka, ERIC Digest #478948, 2003)

22. A complex information environment… • For clinicians and staff • Integrated Care Record Service • The National Knowledge Service • The National Electronic Library for Health • Multiple reports, directives, regulations, policies • An extensive programme on Health Informatics • For patients • The National Electronic Library for Health • NHS Online • ‘MyHealthSpace’ • Lots of technical jargon • Thousands of web-based sources of information

24. Why the Internet can be bad for your health • Diabetes websites too complicated • Language used was beyond average comprehension • Online health advice for people with diabetes is often too complex to understand, analysis suggests. • A scientist at Bath University looked at pages about diabetes on 15 internet health sites run mainly by charities and official bodies. • He found people would need a reading ability of an educated 11 to 17-year-old to understand the sites. • However, he said the average reading age of people in the UK was equivalent to an educated nine-year-old. • Complicated language • Dr Maged Boulos from Bath University found the NHS Direct Online site was the hardest to understand. People would need the reading ability of an educated person aged 16 to comprehend information, he estimated. • http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3641634.stm [Friday, 10 September, 2004]

25. Why is information literacy important in health and human services? • It is truly a matter of life and death. • people’s life chances (and their civic participation) are strongly influenced by both their access to and understanding of various information resources, • it is especially vital that clinicians, patients and carers understand fully any documents, charts, statistics, diagrams, instructions, dosages, records, treatments and other materials they are given in order to ensure appropriate and accurate diagnosis, treatments and instructions (and, where appropriate the reasons for these). • It applies to everyone. No one - rich or poor, young or old - is exempt from the need to understand information about their own health or that of those for whom they are responsible. • Clearly there is a particular burden of responsibility on clinicians and service providers, but patients and carers share with them the need to be information literate about aspects of health and human services. • Even complex concepts and technical jargon can be made accessible and intelligible to interested lay people. • Governments are vitally concerned with this aspect of their responsibility; • not only because of the fundamental responsibility to ensure the health and wellbeing of their citizens, • but because of the vast amounts of money that may be saved when people take appropriate care of themselves and their families and follow the directions or suggestions of healthcare professionals. • Information literacy in health can bring about lifestyle changes and accordingly prevent excessive use of healthcare services.

26. Health literacy is increasingly international in scope. • With global population movements – both voluntary (migration and travel) and involuntary (natural disasters, war, civil disturbances) - diseases can often spread as fast as, if not faster than, information about those diseases. • The recent SARS epidemic and AIDS/HIV pandemic are examples of where information literacy could have reduced the spread of the problem, or alerted clinicians, officials and members of the public to the cause, spread and preferred treatment regimes. • Health and Human Services touch on a number of different sectors, departments, companies and communities. Accordingly, there is considerable potential for inter-sectoral collaboration. This includes: • Formal education (pre-schools, schools, colleges, universities) • Non-formal and community education programmes • Clinics, surgeries, hospitals and healthcare providers • Insurance companies and Health Departments • Librarians and information specialists • Publishers, broadcasters and web hosting organisations • Pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers. • These and other groups may be willing – indeed may be required – to collaborate to create local, national and regional information literacy campaigns. • Not surprisingly, when people experience a particular health condition – accident or illness - there is a general thirst for information about its likely progression and how to manage it. • Furthermore, there is a longstanding tradition of people helping each other, and a willingness to share insights and suggestions about treatments. • These traditions in health care of ‘self help’ on the one hand, and ‘mutual support’ on the other, have become even more pronounced since the advent of the Internet. The consequence of this is that programmes that are designed to enhance people’s health information literacy are very likely to be positively received, as they pertain to both acquiring and creating information.

27. Although Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are impacting on many – perhaps most – aspects of contemporary life, they are having a particular impact on the provision of health and human services. • This includes not only e-health and telemedicine, the development of integrated patient care records and the provision of self test protocols and tools, but also the above-mentioned ability to contact others, to participate in online discussions and forums, and to readily access large amounts of information about specific conditions, diseases and treatments. • This latter especially poses information literacy challenges, not only because it confronts users with abundant, often contradictory information which they must evaluate, but also because it is subtly altering the balance of power between clinicians and patients. Indeed, the equitable provision of access to the same information is the avowed intention of the UK’s National Electronic Library for Health (NeLH). • Because health-based information comes in a variety of forms and formats, it exemplifies perfectly the multi-faceted nature of contemporary information literacy. • For instance, clinicians and patients are equally likely to be confronted with statistics, charts and diagrams, drawings, photographs, videos, broadcasts, CDs and websites, as well as the more familiar text-based resources, and various combinations of these. • Accordingly to fully understand the causes and consequence of particular medical or health situations and treatment regimes, clinicians, patients and other users may all require high levels of information sophistication. • Finally, information literacy is particularly relevant to health because health and wellbeing are so fundamental to the human condition; • guaranteed by the International Declaration of Human Rights. • Furthermore, both health and information literacy share a fundamental alignment and symmetry with the four pillars that support lifelong learning: learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together and learning to be (Delors, Learning: The Treasure Within).

28. Act II • Information literacy to change the world

29. Information Literacy – not just for Health • ALIA Statement on Information Literacy for all Australians (2001) • PrincipleA thriving national and global culture, economy and democracy will be best advanced by people able to recognise their need for information, and identify, locate, access, evaluate and apply the needed information. • Statement • Information literacy is a prerequisite for: • participative citizenship; • social inclusion • the creation of new knowledge; • personal, vocational, corporate and organisational empowerment; and • learning for life.

30. Leading up to the World Summit on the Information Society • Last November, a small group of experts from around the world met at Alexandria under the auspices of UNESCO and the US National Forum on Information Literacy to discuss Information Literacy as a fundamental entitlement for everyone (information literacy for all) • Sectors considered: Business and Commerce; Education at all levels; Government and Civil Society; Health and Human Service • Result: The ‘Alexandria Proclamation’

31. An attempt to convey the richness • …of three days of discussion and deliberation • …in a single slide!!

32. Putting Information Literacy in its place Universal Health and longevity Increased wealth and prosperity Better informed decision making A culture of learning and sharing insights Respect for diversity Environmental sustainability Improved quality of life for all We are trying to achieve A changed world which means this requires • Individuals and groups to • Recognise the need for change • Make decisions • Take actions which differs according to the aim But something important is missing here which demands developing Information Literacy which implies covers various forms of not just the supply of Resources Freedom to act Vision and hope Transparent governance Technology infrastructure Financial resources Education Opportunities for learning throughout life • Information • Different forms • Different channels • Different sources • Different languages and of course

33. Putting Information Literacy in its place: Ends and Means Universal Health and longevity Increased wealth and prosperity Better informed decision making A culture of learning and sharing insights Respect for diversity Environmental sustainability Improved quality of life for all We are trying to achieve A changed world which means this requires • Individuals and groups to • Recognise the need for change • Make decisions • Take actions which differs according to the aim which demands developing Information Literacy which implies not just the supply of Resources Freedom to act Vision and hope Transparent governance Technology infrastructure Financial resources Education Opportunities for learning throughout life • Information • Different forms • Different channels • Different sources • Different languages and of course

34. Putting Information Literacy in its place: A multi-faceted concept Universal Health and longevity Increased wealth and prosperity Better informed decision making A culture of learning and sharing insights Respect for diversity Environmental sustainability Improved quality of life for all We are trying to achieve A changed world which means this requires • Individuals and groups to • Recognise the need for change • Make decisions • Take actions which differs according to the aim which demands developing Information Literacy which implies not just the supply of Resources Freedom to act Vision and hope Transparent governance Technology infrastructure Financial resources Education Opportunities for learning throughout life • Information • Different forms • Different channels • Different sources • Different languages and of course

35. Information literacy: An extended definition • comprises the competencies to recognize information needs and to locate, evaluate, apply and create information within cultural and social contexts; • is crucial to the competitive advantage of individuals, enterprises (especially small and medium enterprises), regions and nations; • provides the key to effective access, use and creation of content to support economic development, education, health and human services, and all other aspects of contemporary societies, and thereby provides the vital foundation for fulfilling the goals of the Millennium Declaration and the World Summit on the Information Society; and • extends beyond current technologies to encompass learning, critical thinking and interpretative skills across professional boundaries and empowers individuals and communities.

36. The Alexandria Proclamation • Within the context of the developing Information Society, we urge governments and intergovernmental organizations to pursue policies and programs to promote information literacy and lifelong learning. In particular, we ask them to support • regional and thematic meetings which will facilitate the adoption of information literacy and lifelong learning strategies within specific regions and socioeconomic sectors; • professional development of personnel in education, library, information, archive, and health and human services in the principles and practices of information literacy and lifelong learning; • inclusion of information literacy into initial and continuing education for key economic sectors and government policy making and administration, and into the practice of advisors to the business, industry and agriculture sectors;

37. The Alexandria Proclamation (cont’d) • programs to increase the employability and entrepreneurial capabilities of women and the disadvantaged, including immigrants, the underemployed and the unemployed; and • recognition of lifelong learning and information literacy as key elements for the development of generic capabilities which must be required for the accreditation of all education and training programs. • We affirm that vigorous investment in information literacy and lifelong learning strategies creates public value and is essential to the development of the Information Society. • www.ifla.org/III/wsis/BeaconInfSoc.html [accessed 28 March 2006]

39. Act III: • Information literacy - chainsaw or scalpel?

40. Today’s information landscape • In the present information environment, there is a super-abundance of information • It is of very variable quality • Much of it is likely to be of marginal relevance to any given enquiry • Any given search is likely to yield an excessive number of ‘hits’ • How to deal with this

41. Strategies for coping • Improve people’s search strategies • Increase their capacity for discernment • But first, a brief excursion into terminology

42. Information literacy: what is it? • A basic literacy for the 21st Century • “To be information literate, a person must be able to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate and use effectively the needed information” (ALA Presidential Commission, 1989) • Evolves throughout the course of a learning project • “the acquisition of those skills by all citizens should be treated as a basic human right” – NCLIS 2002 • Widespread support, but different conceptions – formal education, government, employers and professions, librarians and information specialists • (see, for instance, ALIA ‘Statement on Information Literacy for All Australians’ and Alexandria Proclamation)

43. Why is it important? • With the rapid increase in the amount of information and the increasing availability of information technology, information literacy has quickly become one of the most vital sets of skills for the twenty-first century. • Fundamental to their success as students and is also a basic requirement in most occupations, especially those for graduates • Fundamental set of skills for personal life, including active citizenship • ‘Attitude of mind’; it is always evolving; not a once and for all accomplishment • Fundamentally needed for continuing/lifelong learning

44. Is it the same as ICT Literacy? • Do you, or people you know, use the term information literacy to include technology fluency? • What are the similarities and differences?

45. ICT literacy: What is it? • A basic literacy for the 21st Century • “ICT literacy is using digital technology, communications tools, and/or networks to access, manage, integrate, evaluate and create information in order to function in a knowledge society” (ICT Literacy Panel, 2002) • European Computer Driving Licence • Can ICT literacy be context free? • Intergenerational differences – confidence and competence • Many users are self-taught • Collaboration between formal education, workplaces and communities

46. Hierarchy of ICT Literacy (Market Equity, 2002, p. 19)

47. ICT Literacy Generic and domain specific elements Partnership between IT and subject specialists Cumulative and hierarchical Various elements or components Evolves over time Published guides to assist learners Information Literacy Generic and domain specific elements Partnership between Info. and subject specialists Cumulative and hierarchical Various elements or components Evolves over time Published guides to assist learners Two different kinds of literacy

48. Digital Literacy: A hybrid concept Information literacy ICT Literacy Digital literacy

49. Digital literacy: What is it? • A new hybrid concept that blends ICT literacy and information literacy • “to be deeply literate in the digital world means being skilled at deciphering complex images and sounds as well as syntactical subtleties of words. Above all, it means being at home in a shifting mixture of words, images and sounds” (Lanham, 1995, p. 161) • The ability to navigate in cyberspace and to negotiate hypertext documents is separate both from ICT literacy and form information literacy, but entails elements of both • Because digital literacy is constantly evolving, its development has to be viewed as an ongoing -- indeed as a lifelong -- project.

50. So, back to my question … • Is information literacy more like a chainsaw or a scalpel?