Media and Information Literacy in Higher Education

Media and Information Literacy is written for librarians and educators working in universities and university colleges. Academic librarians and educators are expected to teach media and information literacy to students at levels ranging from bachelor to doctoral studies. In order to do so, they need to be familiar with students’ strengths and weaknesses regarding MIL. They need to understand the research process as a learning process and to be informed about what MIL challenges and problems students and PhD-candidates meet in schools and in higher education. The notion of �places of learning’ and not just �spaces for learning’ is advocated by Norwegian, European Union and United States Standards for libraries. This perspective is relevant to all kinds of education. It addresses the need for an ethical foundation that will encourage students to incorporate innovations, draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply knowledge to new situations, and create new knowledge. The book focusses on the contribution of academic librarians and educators to the creation of an environment for education and research, and builds on the new definition of media and information literacy (MIL), initiated by UNESCO, and also on the concept of civic literacy promoted by IFLA. Our aim is to construct a framework for the best possible library services for all learners, students and scholars. This book investigates what university and college students need to know about searching for and evaluating information and how teaching and learning can be planned and carried out to improve MIL skills. The discussions focus on the use of process-based inquiry approaches for developing media and information literacy competence, involving students in active learning and open-ended investigations and emphasizing their personal learning process. It embraces face-to-face teaching, and newer forms of online education. Examines the intersecting roles of academic librarians, teacher educators and library educators in preparing library students and teacher education students to use the library Brings new perspectives (from the teacher educator and the library educator) and draws connections between the higher and secondary education (K12)Draws on a number of competences, skills, knowledge, experiences and reflections from a variety of perspectives and focus on libraries as efficient tools in all kinds of education and learning activities.Written by an international group of authors with first-hand experience of teaching ILLooks at how libraries can contribute to the promotion of civic literacy within higher education institutions and in society more widely