Informational literacy or competence in information?

Abstract

The question, the doubt, the investigation and the reflection nourish our thoughts, because they make us understand some of the reasons why. Uneasy to know why there are different terminologies in the same language (portuguese) to define something that is the same, the authors try to reflect first on what generated such a difference that in fact is not a difference: information literacy versus information competence to define which in english is called Information Literacy. They do not perceive errors, but differences in application strategies taking into account how the expression would be better according to the local culture. After all, even countries speaking the same language are on different continents, with different backgrounds and cultural influences. The importance of interculturality in this context is evident. Another concern raised by the authors sought to understand whether the term information competence in itself already defines everything that involves “competences” in information and communication technology to use it as a tool or whether it needs to use digital competence, or digital literacy, together. The conclusion also refers to the fact that there are different interpretations of Information Literacy, and in the current context of digital culture, it cannot be imagined without considering together the digital technologies of information and communication, which is not wrong if it is also presented separately.