Implementing information literacy requirement at Lingnan University

Abstract

Today, with information technology (IT) permeating every aspect of the society, it is generally agreed that an educated person should know how to use IT to help find, analyze, and use information in order to address problems and issues in his or her daily life and profession. This ability to search for information and use it effectively is also a prerequisite for continued life long development, an educational goal of many higher education institutions and is included as part of the profile of a graduate in Lingnan University.s goals and objectives. As a result, the Information Literary Requirement was incorporated into Lingnan University IT Strategic Plan 1997 and the Requirement was implemented in fall of 1999. In the Lingnan University IT Strategic Plan, the importance of information literacy is stressed with the goal to ensure that every graduate from Lingnan University is an information literate person who will have a long and productive life in today.s information age, thus providing Lingnan with a competitive edge over other institutions of higher education in Hong Kong. It is also stated that the goal of information literacy education is for someone to acquire the traits of the information literate person. To achieve this goal, a learning environment conducive to information acquisition, analysis, and use should be created in addition to a program that provides such knowledge. In other words, a culture that understands the importance of information literacy should be fostered. This article introduces the philosophy for the formation of the Information Literacy Requirement at Lingnan University and reports its experience in implementing the Requirement in the past two years.