Here you can find Primary and Secondary Information Literacy Packs, as well as some helpful examples of lesson planning for secondary teachers.

The aim of the Primary programme is to provide schools with a structure for the delivery of information skills. Much of the pack is based on existing library skills programmes already in use in local schools. The Secondary Information Literacy programme aims to support and enhance teaching and learning across all subject areas.

Below you can find a brief overview of each programme; click into each for more information and documentation.

Primary Information Literacy

Developing Primary Information Skills Introduction

  • The aim of this programme is to provide schools with a structure for the delivery of information skills.  Much of the pack is based on existing library skills programmes already in use in local schools
  • Many of the skills used are those originally identified in the Hampshire School Library Service document 'Library Skills and the National Literacy Strategy KS 1 and KS 2' - September 1998 modified in 2004 and now developed into an interactive on-line course.
  • All school libraries are different, but there are a number of conventions which need to be in place in your library to enable you to use this programme successfully.

Pre-requisites for these resources to be successful are:

  1. Information resources should be in Dewey Decimal order with legible spine labels
  2. Fiction in alphabetical order (even if only by initial letter)
  3. Signs should show fiction and information areas
  4. Guiding should include shelf guides, 'Where to Look' charts, and Subject Indexes (all available free from the School Library Service for subscribing schools)
  5. Adult(s) to deliver the training - School Librarian, Teacher, Teaching Assistant, Governor, or parent
  6. A commitment by the Senior Management Team and staff to link the Skills programme into the curriculum

It is envisaged that the teaching of information skills will be applied to real study and specific tasks linked to curriculum based work, i.e. this material is not intended to be used in isolation. There will also be opportunities to undertake literacy activities.

It must also be considered that for the first few years of using this programme, children will not be coming with the knowledge and experience of skills learnt. This can be overcome by taking the main points from previous years as pre-teaching.

Activities need to be repeated regularly throughout the year in a variety of real research situations in addition to just learning the skills.

Secondary Information Literacy

“‘Information Literacy’ is knowing when and why you need information, where to find it, and how to evaluate, use and communicate it in an ethical manner.” CILIP 2004

The Hampshire School Library Service Information Literacy programme is based on 5 key areas:

  • Planning
  • Finding
  • Using
  • Presenting
  • Reviewing

For each area, a brief outline will be provided and links to appropriate resources both online and in print. These links can be made available to students on websites, VLEs and in other formats.

The Information Literate Person is one who:

  • Recognizes the need for information
  • Recognizes that accurate and complete information is the basis for intelligent decision-making
  • Formulates questions based on information needs
  • Identifies potential sources of information
  • Develops successful search strategies
  • Accesses sources of information including computer based and other technologies
  • Evaluates information
  • Organizes information for practical application
  • Integrates new information into an existing body of knowledge
  • Uses information in critical thinking and problem-solving

Christina Doyle, Final Report to the national Forum on Information Literacy. University of Calgary, Information Literacy Group, 1998

The aim of any library/LRC based Information Literacy programme in a secondary school should be to support and enhance the teaching and learning across all subject areas. This support should link directly to specific learning objectives in the curriculum, as well as offering a cross curriculum approach. The key feature should be consistency so that both students and staff can develop shared terminologies and transferrable skills.

A whole school approach to Information Literacy (IL) is the most effective way to ensure that the students learn to embed the skills in their work but any IL module should be flexible enough to allow for ‘cherry picking’ as appropriate. It should start with the basics and should not assume, in this high tech age when young people are using technology all the time outside the classroom, that they have by default the skills needed to become an information literate, independent learner. 

In a rapidly changing world, it is no longer sensible or possible to create a fixed information literacy package. Online resources are changing rapidly and so the aim of the SLS’s Hampshire Five is to set out the basic principles which are supplemented with links to appropriate and ever-changing resources.

For detailed background information about information literacy and other models, the website of the Indiana University of Indianapolis, School of Library and Information Science is worth having a look at - http://www.virtualinquiry.com/. Click in the ‘information inquiry’ tab and the ‘models’ to see an overview of all models.

Lesson Planning for Secondary Librarians

Find examples of lesson planning to support the secondary curriculum and a blank form