Information literacy in Portugal: A perspective from European Higher Education Area

Abstract

This paper takes as general reference the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), whose creation endeavoured an educative approach of all European Union countries. A new educational model needs new skills. The informational skills constitute one of the most important requirements needed by university students in the information society context and they were effectively prioritized in the conception of the new educational models, consequently they should have an impact in the teaching-learning process. So, it is important to know and understand how these university students are prepared in terms of competences and skills, regarding the access, (re)production, use, and diffusion of the information gathered and applied in different contexts. It is also necessary to establish a connection between apprenticeship and the acquisition of informational skills prior to the university, during the university frequency period and at the end of the university degree. This configures a comprehensive approach that will consider the educational context, the student’s informational behaviour and his personal and social contexts and demands. In fact, those concerns and positioning are in the core of the ongoing research project that supports the present paper. It focuses on the issue of informational literacy in the actual Portuguese and European learning models and the determination of the competences contextually acquired and the intrinsic abilities to search and use (reference, assimilate and transform) any type of information. The informational behavior study in focus has two important aspects to consider: the education reforms introduced in the Portuguese pre-university schools; and the transformations introduced by the Bologna Process in the EHEA. This project also intents to contribute to the definition of a strategy that will support the effort of Portuguese universities on getting a good performance in the promotion of information competences. The theoretical-practical model that must be reached shows the importance of the information literacy theory which is clearly emphasized in this paper.