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Why is information literacy so important in the sciences and applied sciences?
Why is information literacy so important in the sciences and applied sciences?
If you intend to pursue a career that relates to any science discipline (such as biology, chemistry, geology, etc.) or to any applied science discipline (such as nursing, engineering, or computer science) then you'll need to be especially proficient at finding and using information sources. In these disciplines, researchers and practitioners must regularly refer to information sources to educate themselves, to keep themselves up-to-date on the latest best practices, and to help make informed decisions.
Scientists and applied scientists also use information sources when they are conducting research. Specifically, they consult sources in order to build upon the findings of those sources. In other words, new discoveries, inventions, and practices don't just emerge from nothing, rather they come about when researchers build upon facts and information originating from earlier discoveries.
Take, for example, this source, which is a journal article:
- Craig, L. S., et al. (2008). Stream restoration strategies for reducing river nitrogen loads. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 6(10), 529-538.
That article describes strategies for reducing the amounts of environmentally damaging nitrogen (originating from agricultural fertilizers) that drain into streams and rivers. It wouldn't have made sense to write an article about how to reduce nitrogen pollution in streams unless there had already been research establishing:
1) nitrogen exists in streams and rivers
2) it is a pollutant
3) it causes enough damage that we need to do something about it.
So, that article builds upon and extends findings from previously published research.
Information literacy is ESSENTIAL to success in your career
Information literacy is ESSENTIAL to success in your career
You just learned that scientists and applied scientists are constantly drawing upon information from previously published studies to provide background, context, and direction for new studies. That's how we make progress – by accumulating facts and then expanding research efforts into new areas. But none of that can happen unless researchers are able to share their progress with each other across space and time. In fact, we need a way for any researcher to be able to search for and refer to the work that any other researcher has done. To make this happen, we must have a documentation and retrieval system that meets these four conditions:
Research discoveries must be publicly recorded and stored in sources.
Sources must be findable.
Sources must be accessible.
Researchers must have the appropriate skills for finding, accessing, and using sources.
Notice that last condition involves you and your information literacy skills. If you don't have the information literacy skills to understand sources – or to find, access, and use them – then you'll struggle to be an effective and successful scientist or applied scientist. Let's look at each of these conditions in more detail, starting with the first one.
1. Research discoveries must be publicly recorded and stored in sources
1. Research discoveries must be publicly recorded and stored in sources
To be of future use to others, research discoveries must be publicly recorded and stored. Publishers fulfill this role by recording and storing research results in sources which they make available in print or online (or both) – usually for a fee.
If you feel like you're not all that familiar with the how information ends up in sources, or the role publishers play in producing sources, or how to identify different types of sources in their online and print formats, then you should review Lesson 2: How does information end up in sources from the Information Literacy Basics tutorial.
In the sciences, new research discoveries are first announced in two main types of sources: journal articles (specifically research articles) and conference papers. Over time, discoveries and facts that were first documented in journal articles and conference papers may end up recorded in other types of sources as well. For example, research establishing that nitrogen is harmful to aquatic ecosystems was first recorded in various journal articles, but over time that information will be summarized and presented in other types of sources, such as a college textbook on freshwater ecology or an encyclopedia entry on freshwater pollution.
To sum up, one of the main functions of information sources is to record and store facts and discoveries for posterity. Without sources, we'd have no record of what we already know.
2. Sources must be findable
2. Sources must be findable
There's no point in recording and storing information about research discoveries in sources unless that information can be found and used. Nowadays, we almost exclusively rely on databases for finding sources. For example, if you were looking for journal articles on a particular topic, you could search free databases like Google Scholar or PubMed to find them. Or, if you have access to a campus library, you could search the databases your library subscribes to, which might include: Scopus, CINAHL, GeoRef, BIOSIS, Web of Science, etc.
3. Sources must be accessible
3. Sources must be accessible
Even if you can find appropriate sources to consult, they won't be of use to you unless you can access them and read them in their entirety. Suppose you searched a database and found a source you want. Usually there is a link to the full-text of the source somewhere in the database record, but clicking that link doesn't necessarily mean you'll be allowed to view the full-text. Whether you can actually view and/or download the full-text of a source will depend on whether it happens to be free, or whether you can afford to pay a fee to the publisher to view it, or whether you are affiliated with a library that has purchased or subscribed to it.
That's right, your campus library pays fees to purchase or subscribe to vast numbers of print and digital books, journals, magazines, and newspapers, so that you don't have to pay for them yourself. Since most sources are not free or cheap, libraries buy and collect them, thus solving the accessibility problem.
Just imagine you are conducting research on how to design concrete buildings to withstand earthquakes, but you can't afford to buy and consult this expensive book:
- Moehle, J. (2015). Seismic design of reinforced concrete buildings. McGraw-Hill Education.
Then, you type the title of that book into the search box on your campus library's website to see if your library has it – and it does – in fact, there's a link to "Online access" allowing you to read the book at home from your computer:
And, even when your campus library doesn't own a source you need, it provides a service known as document delivery or interlibrary loan to help you get the source from another library that has it. So, libraries play an important role in your ability to access sources, not just by purchasing and subscribing to various sources, but also by providing services like interlibrary loan/document delivery.
FYI - The campus library at Northern Arizona University is called Cline Library. You can find the link to Cline Library's Document Delivery Services on Cline Library's home page. Keep in mind that if you ever need help finding a source or using the Document Delivery Service, you can get help via email (librarians@nau.edu) or by using Cline Library's online chat service.
4. Researchers must have the appropriate skills for finding, accessing, and using sources
4. Researchers must have the appropriate skills for finding, accessing, and using sources
Sources don’t just find and use themselves; researchers like you must have the appropriate skills to locate and use them. What types of skills are we talking about? All of the following and more:
You'll need to know what types of sources are likely to have the information you need.
You'll need to know what databases to use to find those types of sources.
You'll need to know how to search those databases with keywords, and you'll need even more sophisticated search skills for times when your search must be thorough.
You'll also need to know how to interpret your database results and how to manipulate and refine your searches to retrieve better results.
You'll need to be able to choose the most relevant sources from your results and access the full-text of those sources.
Last but not least, you'll need to know how to process the information you gathered from the sources you found and incorporate those sources into your thoughts and writing, citing them appropriately.
All the basic skills you need to accomplish these things are covered in the Information Literacy Basics Tutorial. You should review that content because this tutorial will build upon those skills to provide you with more advanced skills.
See how it all fits together?
See how it all fits together?
Because researchers need to communicate information to each other over space and time, we've developed a system to make that happen. Publishers record and store information in sources. Those sources are made findable using databases. Libraries pay publishers to make both sources and databases accessible. But none of it matters without the involvement of you and your information literacy skills.
A closer look at some really important sources in the sciences
A closer look at some really important sources in the sciences
To get started improving your information literacy skills, you need to fully understand sources, including what they are, how they differ, and how to identify them (and particularly how to identify them in their online form). Much of this was covered in Lesson 2 of the Information Literacy Basics Tutorial. In that tutorial, you learned about different types of sources including:
If you have never read that material, it's really important that you do so now, before moving on.
This tutorial will zero in on journal articles as a source, focusing on the two most important types of journal articles: research articles and review articles. In the next lesson we'll focus on research articles.
You are finished with Lesson 1. What's next?
You are finished with Lesson 1. What's next?
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