Information Literacy: Leveraging information to meet

management objectives

Betty Braaksma Ganga Dakshinamurti

Paul DugalPaul Larson

CAUBO National ConferenceWinnipeg, Manitoba

June 17 , 2008

How true is this scenario?

“with the advent of the World Wide Web, every professional worker has become a searcher, but …without information training and skills, most people don't know where to look, how to ask for what they are seeking or when it is OK to stop looking..”

http://www.kmworld.com/Articles/Editorial/Feature/The-high-cost-of-not-finding-information-9534.aspx

http://www.my-computer-guy.com/Frustration.jpg

What is the cost?In 1999, a European study by IDC examined…the "knowledge work

deficit," and concluded that the cost of intellectual rework, substandard performance and inability to find knowledge resources was $5,000 per worker per year.

In 2007, the Lexis-Nexis Workplace Productivity Survey found that “white collar professionals spend an average of 2.3 hours daily conducting online research, with one in ten spending four hours or more on an average day.”

http://cceonline.net/images/Computer_Frustration.jpg

"The results of the [Nexis-Lexis] survey clearly suggest opportunities for American businesses to ease this growing [information overload] burden by providing workers with the right technology, training and tools.  Companies that take action on this issue will realize higher employee productivity and satisfaction."

What we’ll cover today

• What is information literacy & how can it benefit you?

• How to search for information• How to evaluate information• Where to search for information

What is information literacy?

…it is the ability to:a. Recognise information needsb. Locate and evaluate the

quality of informationc. Store and Retrieve informationd. Make effective and ethical use of information, ande. Apply information to create and communicate knowledge

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Locating information

Is there a difference between searching and finding???

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Know how to search

• Think about what kind of information you’re looking for

• Think about how to express that need in keywords or a series of keywords

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How can you learn to do this?

Summary: Effective searching

Your Information need

Professional expertise

Librarian assistance

Web evaluationtechniques

Good search strategy

Evaluating the quality of information

Making choices

• Start with a solid idea of the kind of information you need

• Evaluate using Web ABCs or Web Evaluation Rubric

• Does the website/book/article meet your information need?

Web evaluation ABCs

• Authority: Who created the website? Do you know them? Can you find out more?

• Bias: Why did they create the site? What is their perspective on the topic/subject?

• Content & Context: Professional, amateur, academic? Does it fit your information need?

Know where to look

Use a variety of reliable information resources

Articles Google ScholarLibrary databases

Books

Websites

Your Information need

Knowledge + resources = an information-literate star!

Your information need

Books

Librarian Assistance

Web evaluationTechniques

WebsiteArticles

Professionalexpertise

When do we need more resources?

When information we have is:• not complete• not comprehensive• not up to date• not authoritative• not correct

Access to Resources: Libraries

RESOURCES• Books• Journal articles• Demographic/census

data• Company data

ACCESS• Library catalogue

(BISON)• Bibliographic

databases• Statistical databases• Company databases

Searching BISON

What BISON can do:• BISON/catalogue is library’s inventory• Lists everything that the library owns, in either

print or electronic format, e.g. books & periodicals (including theses, government reports, newspapers)

• Helps you to locate the item using title, author, subject, keyword

What BISON CAN’T do:• Can’t find the content of items , i.e. periodical

articles, book chapters, statistical tables

Searching BISON: A Quick Overview!

-- Selected topic: Sustainability

Searching Databases

Types of Databases1. Bibliographic - provides access to journal

articles; text-based2. Statistical/Demographic – provides

statistical data/demographic tables; numbers-based

3. Company – provides historical and financial information about individual companies; both text & numeric

4. Combined & Comprehensive – just what it sounds like!

Bibliographic Databases - Examples

• ProQuest (ABI Inform; Canadian Newsstand)

• Ebscohost (Academic Search Elite)• Blackwell Synergy• Emerald Full Text

Statistical/Demographic Databases -Examples

• Canadian Census Analyzer• Census Canada• E-Stat

Company Databases - Examples

• Financial Post Infomart• Mergent Online

Combined & Comprehensive Databases - Examples

• Strategis• Canadian Almanac and Directory

Searching Databases

• Most university library databases are subscription-based, i.e. pay for access rights

• Subscribed databases need user authentication because they are limited to the university community

• “Authentication” at UM =– Input Library ID number & PIN as Faculty/Staff/Student – Must do this on and off-campus– “What if I’m not Faculty, Staff or Student?” - At UM, External Borrowers can access databases *inside a

library* with a day pass.

Example: One Path to an Article in ProQuest

1. Do search2. Limit results by

subject3. Limit subject results

by scholarly articles4. Limit subject +

scholarly results by full text

5. Select & show record 6. Retrieve article Remember that there can be

many paths!

How to Apply this to Real Life??

Specific examples of “Real Life” outputs from databases and websites

GHG Emissions for Select Countries, 2005

Source: Reducing U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions: How Much at What Cost? McKinsey & Company/The Conference Board, December 2007.

Why the interest in cleaner supply chains?

• Desire to cut energy costs

• Concern about regulation

• Competition for green customers

• Desire to boost productivity

Grenon, Georgina, Joseph Martha and Martha Turner (2007),“How big is your carbon footprint?” CSCMP’s Supply ChainQuarterly, Vol. 1, No. 3, pp. 34-39.

Eight Steps to a Greener Supply Chain

1. Begin with a business model; look at the economics

2. Transportation as “low-hanging fruit”

3. LEED-certified buildings; energy-reducing initiatives

4. Packaging Reduction

April Terreri, “Eight Steps to a Greener Supply Chain,”World Trade, March 31, 2008.

Eight Steps to a Greener Supply Chain

5. Education and training

6. Carbon credits

7. Waste reduction

8. Recycling

April Terreri, “Eight Steps to a Greener Supply Chain,”World Trade, March 31, 2008.

http://climate.uvic.ca/people/ewiebe/car/fuel_price.html

Peak Oil

“Civilization as we know it is coming to an end soon.This is not the wacky proclamation of a doomsdaycult, apocalypse bible prophecy sect, or conspiracytheory society. Rather, it is the scientific conclusionof the best paid, most widely-respected geologists,physicists, bankers, and investors in the world. Theseare rational, professional, conservative individualswho are absolutely terrified by a phenomenon knownas global Peak Oil.”

http://lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/

The Olduvai Theory ofIndustrial Civilization

Source: Duncan, Richard C. (1996), “The Olduvai Theory: Sliding Towards a Post-Industrial Stone Age,” Institute on Energy and Man, June 27.

http://lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/

The Greenhouse Gases

• Water vapour

• Carbon dioxide (CO2)

• Methane (CH4)

• Nitrous oxide (N2O)

• Ozone (O3)

• Sulphur Hexafluoride (SF6)

CO2SF6 CH4 N2O HFCs PFCs

Purchasedelectricity

for own use

Fuel combustion

Scope 2Indirect

Scope 1Direct Scope 3

Indirect

Companyowned

vehicles

Productionof purchased

materials

Outsourcedactivities

Productuse

Wastedisposal

Employeebusiness

travel

Contractorowned

vehicles

http://www.ghgprotocol.org/

Direct and Indirect GHG Emissions

Questions?

Thank you!