Abstract

VITORINO, Elizete Vieira  and  PIANTOLA, Daniela. Dimensions of Information Literacy (2). Ci. Inf. [online]. 2011, vol.40, n.1, pp. 99-110. ISSN 0100-1965.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0100-19652011000100008.

This article aims to develop reflections on the dimensions of information literacy, with focus on educational and philosophical aspects, trying to show some developments that now present themselves as a key issue: which dimensions make information literacy an essential issue to the foundations of information science? Technical, aesthetic, ethic and political dimensions are analyzed from Rios' (2006) theoretical framework, as well as from the research already started and published. The technical dimension is related to the skills and tools to find, evaluate and appropriately use the information that is needed, while the aesthetic dimension derives from the subjectivity implicit in the reception and transmission of informational content, since every action carries a personal content, a specific way of expression, which is configured as an aesthetic form. Because the production, dissemination and use of information are closely linked to the involvement of individuals in a community, these processes invariably assume an ethical and political aspect. Being ethical, the political activity has an educational function: the transformation of men into citizens. Therefore, as citizenship is not built only from the material access to informational content, also including the ability to interpret reality and construct meaning, the identification and analysis of these four dimensions of information literacy allows clarifying complex aspects of Information and Competence.

Keywords : Competence; Dimensions of competence; Information; Information literacy; Information professionals.