The 3 Directions: Situated Information Literacy

Abstract

In-depth case studies of the research experiences of university students gave rise to a conceptual framework for understanding the students’ behaviors related to reading, writing, and thinking as well as information seeking, the fundamental components of information literacy. The 3 Directions refer to the students’ movements toward (1) a product—Actions and Products Direction; (2) learning about their subject—Cognition Direction; and (3) participation in a scholarly or professional community—Participation Direction. Situated cognition offers a full explanation of the 3 Directions. This model is applied to the assessment of advanced-level information literacy in the disciplines and to the design of a basic level online tutorial.