Introduction to Information Literacy
LIB 100 provides you with an introduction to Information Literacy. The aim is to give you the knowledge and tools you can use throughout your career and life. Information surrounds us everywhere, it connects us to friends, family, and colleagues. You experience it in both the real world and the virtual world. We share our lives and experiences with our phones. How does this shape and construct our reality?
Growing up you’ve had access to more information than anyone born 50 years ago. This includes your parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. If you told them about the internet when they were your age, it would have sounded like science fiction. Now they are probably on social media connecting with their friends. Have you ever asked them how they found important information about the world without the internet?
We have access to an unfathomable amount of information. Google is an excellent example of this phenomenon. Have you ever had a Google search come back with less than 100 results? Most of the time we get a lot of “o’s” at the bottom, each representing additional results to our query. The results are based on algorithms Links to an external site.. Unless you use Duck Duck Go Links to an external site. or use an incognito/private browser page, all the results received are based on lots of things but mostly your past searches. Google knows who you are and where you are. Their tracking creates your own personal filter bubble. A filter bubble is “a state of intellectual isolation that allegedly can result from personalized searches when a website algorithm selectively guesses what information a user would like to see based on information about the user, such as location, past click-behavior, and search history” (Bozdag 2018). All your search results reflect what Google thinks you want to see and what they can sell you on behalf of their advertisers.
How many times do you go beyond the first results? I rarely find anyone who says they go to the second page. We know that organizations manipulate metadata (keywords) to bring you to their sites. That is why when you order from Grubhub, they suggest you might want to reorder from your last few restaurants and likely, other restaurants that paid them for placement. Businesses and organizations rise to the top of your searches for two main reasons. First, they make sure their sites contain terms (keywords) that appeal to the most users. Second, they pay for placement on the site. When I search for something basic, such as bedsheets, Target and Walmart are frequently on my first search page. This makes sense. They are large stores with an impressively large collection of stuff. But what kind of results would I get if I’m looking for something out of the ordinary?
One thing we can be confident about is that things do change. Facebook is possibly starting to tumble into irrelevance Links to an external site.. The author, Ryan Broderick, argues that if you can decipher facebook’s algorithm, you can rise to the top. If enough people enter the same terms, it trains the algorithm. This is how it works on other social media platforms. If you follow certain entities, you see a lot of similar content in your feeds. Tik Tok can get annoying. If you like one video, suddenly, you’re getting more of the same. The same with Instagram. It can get scary Links to an external site.. If a group decides to “game” Google using “bots”, they are manipulating results on a large scale. A trend favoring specific ideas or movements may create collective bias and racism and could trigger algorithms to regurgitate stereotypes and reinforce racist tropes. In Algorithms of Oppression Links to an external site., Dr. Safiya Umoja Nobel* discloses how Google algorithms yielded an overwhelming number of pornographic websites when users simply typed in the words "black women." I am not bashing Google, rather I want to posit that knowing how it works can (re)frame how you use it. It is excellent for basic information such as translating between languages and learning about what year California became a state.
Information Literacy
Here are some questions. Do you read any printed media? Newspapers? Magazines? Likely you don’t. Where do you find out about current events/news? If you’re using social media, can you trust their point of view? How do you determine if a source is reliable?
LIB 100 will help you develop the skills needed to think critically about information. Information Literacy is about knowing the best way to find the research you can use in your assignments.
The ALA Presidential Committee on Information Literacy offers a much more involved definition:
"To be information literate, a person must be able to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and effectively use the needed information. Producing such a citizenry will require that schools and colleges appreciate and integrate the concept of information literacy into their learning programs and that they play a leadership role in equipping individuals and institutions to take advantage of the opportunities inherent within the information society. Ultimately, information literate people are those who have learned how to learn. They know how to learn because they know how knowledge is organized, how to find information, and how to use information in such a way that others can learn from them. They are people prepared for lifelong learning because they can always find the information needed for any task or decision at hand."(1989, bolded by Shahoian)
We will work together, step by step, as a class to think critically about information. It is a process. You may begin to notice in your social media feeds that other people might just pass things along. They may see a post and share it because it’s just so surprising or shocking or funny. Ask yourself, do they intend it as information or entertainment. They’re not thinking about its accuracy, this is just a form of entertainment. Are they also considering how the recipient might interpret the post?
Most of our social media friends share similar backgrounds or beliefs. What we share from our feeds reflects our common backgrounds and similar beliefs. This limits our exposure to diverse points of view. We end up reinforcing our beliefs. It is intimidating to deviate and express different points of view. By not seeking out different voices, we create and participate in information bubbles. These bubbles essentially isolate us from alternative points of view and resources, reinforcing our political or personal world views. Anyone who expresses a different opinion takes a risk of being seen as an unwanted outlier, breaking away from our “filtered” group reality.
How often do you change your opinion about something? If you only watch Fox News or CNN, listen to certain podcasts (e.g., Joe Rogan, The Daily), you miss a wider view of the world. You aren’t listening to information that challenges your ideas. This tends to create confirmation bias Links to an external site.. Our existing beliefs are unintentionally fixed. As an example, if you want to buy a new phone, you probably aren’t going to look around at all the phones. You may only buy Samsung. Looking at other options takes time and energy. You know you’ll be happy with the new phone. You already know the outcome, even though there may be an amazing new Google Pixel, but you know the outcome. You’ll be happy with the latest Samsung. Only buying a Samsung isn’t a problem, but confirmation bias has repercussions. If you decided you never want a Pixel or iPhone, you only process information consistent with your beliefs. Either of the phones might offer a feature you would find useful, but you won’t even think about looking at alternatives.
Confirmation bias is antithetical to research excellence. Real-world hot topics like vaccination hesitancy or homelessness are more complex than a new mobile phone. You can’t write a great research paper if you already know the answer. Academic research must have multiple points of view and a wide range of sources.
When we use materials located in a library’s database, much of that information has already gone through the research process. Here is a very brief summary of what that means: An identified expert with the credentials, expertise, experience, and knowledge to conduct studies in their area of specialization has written an article that is then anonymously reviewed by multiple peers that also have the credentials, expertise, experience, and knowledge to judge the quality of the article in question. (The author’s name is omitted from the article and the author does not know the names of the reviewers. This is done to ensure that reviewers are not biased.) If these peer experts think the article is good enough, they will send it along to a team of editors, fact-checkers, panelists, and proofreaders, each of whom can potentially catch problems or errors. Then, it is published in a journal that is viewed by all the professionals in that field, who may further comment on the article’s legitimacy. A peer-reviewed journal article is written by an authority, controlled for bias, verified by others to ensure credibility, is dated so you know if it is current, and vetted by multiple teams to make sure it is accurate. (Shahoian)
If something serious was going on, I wouldn’t trust an anonymous, probably extremely biased person with unknown authority, knowledge, or expertise, who posted something on Tik Tok one day that no expert has deemed accurate or current. On the other hand, if that person is a doctor speaking about a medical idea? If they are really a doctor and speaking about their specialty, does their opinion carry more weight than the accumulated knowledge of multiple doctors who must demonstrate their expertise in journals?
Critical Information Literacy
Critical Information Literacy asks us to consider looking beyond well-cited articles and experts. We are asked to seek voices that reflect our communities. GCC is working to ensure we consider diverse points of view as part of our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) initiatives. We are asked to bring forth views of those who have previously been silenced into our curriculum. It broadens our research. Greater Los Angeles is one of the most diverse communities in the United States Links to an external site.. “Los Angeles is an incredibly diverse city, home to people from over 140 countries who speak 224 languages that have been identified.”** Using diverse voices, ones that highlight different perspectives, into your research increases our understanding of our neighbors.
It is all about the Research
We are often told that if we want to know something we should do our own research. I completely agree. In this class we will learn about how information is constructed, that gathering it should be a thoughtful process that may take some time and effort. Doing excellent research is a process that takes time. Every research paper you write includes the work of others who preceded you. By using their work and ideas in your assignment, you join in the ongoing and evolving conversation. Now we begin our journey to understand why it is essential you start your research with an open mind, open to learning about other points of view, voices, and research.
This introduction was adapted in parts from an essay by Prof. Shant Shahoian
* Check out Dr. Nobel’s GCC One Book, One GCC 2020 Zoom discussion
Links to an external site. about her book Algorithm of Oppression with students, faculty and staff.
** U.S. Census: City of Los Angeles & Glendale: census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/glendalecitycalifornia,losangelescitycalifornia/PST045221 Links to an external site.