Information Is Everywhere, Experts Are Few: Bring Your Academic Success with Information and Digital Literacy
Information Is Everywhere, Experts Are Few: Bring Your Academic Success with Information and Digital Literacy

Written by Nuryaman, S.Ptk (Librarian of Research Library of UIN Jakarta Postgraduate School)

Nuryaman_Pustakawan UIN Jakarta (2)"Information is Everywhere, Experts Are Few"
A quote from the Information School at the University of Toronto says, "Information is everywhere, but only a few are experts at using it." This perfectly describes the current situation where information on a single topic can be found in dozens or hundreds of publications, especially online. So, how can someone find information that’s relevant to their needs? Do they have to read everything one by one? Or should they ask someone else to do it?

Digitalization has significantly changed how academics at universities access information. The rise of “electronic” resources has pushed campus communities to get used to digital references. In the past, professors, students, and researchers mostly relied on printed books and library journal articles. They had to visit the library physically; if they had trouble, they could ask the librarian for help.

Today, those references have transformed into e-books and e-journals that are accessible online. Using these electronic sources is different from dealing with printed materials. Searching for sources can't just rely on catalogues, internet connections, or fancy gadgets; you need the skills to effectively and efficiently find, filter, and use information. This skill is known as information literacy.

Moreover, information literacy can be combined with digital literacy to boost our ability to analyze and synthesize digital information, which amounts to about 402.74 million terabytes of data daily (Duarte, 2023). This shows that just reading one source at a time online isn’t a practical solution, especially for students and researchers who are pressed for time and resources. Current scholars need timely, quick and accurate information.

Finding relevant information quickly and accurately isn’t easy. This challenge has led to the term “information poverty,” which describes a situation where individuals or communities lack the skills, abilities, or resources to access, understand, and effectively use information (Britz, 2004). Surprisingly, information poverty doesn’t just relate to the overwhelming amount of information available today; it highlights users' limitations in utilizing that information.

_2 NuryamanFor instance, at universities, students might get reprimanded by their advisors for having very few or outdated references in their research proposals. Yet, their campus might offer over 40,000 book titles, subscriptions to e-resources and online repositories, plus open-access sources, AI-based searches, and many academic databases, both national and international.

This situation often arises from a lack of information and digital literacy skills, regardless of professional background, education, economic status, or demographics. Weak literacy skills can lead to misinformation and the overall quality of academic work produced. The significance of information poverty can be seen in various hoax cases at both national and global levels.

As students, academic success is the main goal: mastering the material in each course, graduating on time, and building a great career (Cachia et al., 2018). To achieve this, information and digital literacy are crucial key. Like a key, these literacies help unlock learning barriers often faced by undergraduate and graduate students, such as self-directed learning, critical thinking, and digital competencies.

Unlike in school, students are expected to be ready to learn independently from various information sources. Once they find a source, they can't just take the information at face value; they need to analyze and synthesize it critically. Additionaly, universities expect students to be trained in using various tech tools for learning and research. So, if students constantly rely on others to complete their academic tasks, they will struggle.

These expectations are part of the academic culture that students must uphold to maintain academic integrity. This integrity is reflected in students’ awareness, attitudes, and behaviours, emphasizing the principles of searching, using, and sharing information ethically according to institutional and national standards.

Pict_Titik Layan Bidang Keilmuan UIN Jkt_1For postgraduate programs, the necessary skills for graduates are outlined in Permendikbud No. 3 of 2020 on National Higher Education Standards (check for the latest version if available). According to the Academic Guidelines for the Master's and Doctoral Programs in Islamic Studies 2021-2024 (Revised Edition), PhD graduates must be able to formulate arguments and solutions in their fields based on a critical view of facts, concepts, principles, or theories that can be scientifically and ethically justified. Meanwhile, master’s graduates are expected to make decisions in solving problems in developing knowledge and technology while applying humanistic values.

Looking closer, this call emphasizes key terms like critical thinking, data credibility, relevance to educational goals, and technology involvement. All these key terms reflect the essence of information and digital literacy, which, in practice, fosters critical and ethical attitudes in using information. This is vital since completing academic tasks—like papers, articles, reviews, and even theses and dissertations—requires searching for, selecting, and synthesizing relevant sources.

A study involving 4,105 students from 15 different programs shows that digital literacy impacts students' academic performance (Ardhiani et al., 2023). When individuals are skilled in finding and using information in the digital world, the number of information experts will increase, speeding up the development of our nation's literacy index.

 

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