Conceptions of geospatial information: implications for information literacy education

Maryam Nazari, University of Sheffield

Conceptions of Geospatial information: Implications for Information Literacy Education

Maryam Nazari

University of SheffieldDepartment of Information Studies

Information Literacy: Research and Strategy Seminar, Centre for Information Literacy Research, University of Sheffield, March 2008


Overview

• The study background

• Methodology

• Conceptions of Geospatial information

• Implications for information literacy education


Information literacy

A set of competencies which helps individuals:• to recognize when they have a need for information• to determine their information need and their

needed information• to find, evaluate, and use information effectively

Learning how to learn lifelong learning


Two big questions

IL in IL in the GIS ODLthe GIS ODL

What does IL mean in disciplinary areas?

How can it be illuminated?

Competencies neededto accomplish GIS tasks

Nature and characteristics of GIS discipline

To explore real learning and teaching experiences

Various meaning and conceptions

Various meaning and conceptions

To explore real learning and teaching experiences


A rationale for this study

Information Information Literacy EducationLiteracy Education

What does it mean in disciplinary areas?

How can it be illuminated?

Competencies neededto accomplish information

and learning tasks

Nature and characteristics of GIS

Some other disciplines but NOT Geographic Information System/ Science (GIS)

Phenomenography and Survey but NOT

Exploratory Case Study

Librarians but FEW Academics and

educators

Face to face but NOT Online Distance Learning (ODL) programs


Methodology

Real information andlearning needs

Perceptions, and teaching and learning experiences of,

GIS and geo/spatial information

Real IL educational needs

An embedded An embedded

exploratory case studyexploratory case study

Identify

Explore - Academics and students

- 30 GIS ODL courses

- 3 ODL programs

- semi-structured interview

- questionnaire

- students’ reflection

- document study

- To identify competencies GIS students need: a) to be able to find, evaluate, and use geospatial information; b) to solve problems geo/spatially

Explore


Exploration of Geospatial information conceptions

Data collection– In-depth, semi-structured interviews with 27 academics

and 7 students

Questions- How would you describe geospatial information (GI)

and what makes it unique?- How would you describe the physical format of GI?

Data analysis- Grounded theory methods


Conceptions of GI

Spatial Temporal

SpatiallyTechnology-mediated

Spatially contextualised

Geospatial Geospatial informationinformation


Conceptions of GI - 1

Spatial


Location

Attributes

Locational (e.g. name of streets, postal codes)

Non-locational (e.g. diseases, pollution, sand, water etc)

Represents the earth feature

Information about the location

Information about the target phenomenon in the location



Temporal


It represents features of the earth in certain point(s) of time

It is about a dynamic-temporal phenomenon i.e. the earth

It has a life span e.g. census data



Spatially contextualised


needs to be spatially conceptualised and contextualised

socially and geographically constructed phenomenon



Spatially technology-mediated

Geospatial Geospatial informationinformationGI is

readable and usable by GIS

It needs to be formed and transformed

- x,y,z coordinates;- latitude-longitude;- spatial identifier

GI is originally in any format

- Text; e.g. names of streets, lakes etc- Number; e.g. table of census data, columns of spreadsheet etc- Visual formats; e.g. maps, graphs, digital maps and images, scanned aerial photographs etc.

but readable and usable in certain formats


Forms of mediation

Formation

Manipulate

Analysis

Handle

Communicate

Map

Apply

Display

Overlay

Transformation

Organise

To make sense of GI

To make use of GI

With the involvement of spatially and non-spatially enabled technologies and tools


User input


Forms of user input and needed competencies

Conception User input Competencies

C1- Spatial Spatial way of thinking of GI

- To conceptualise GI as a spatial phenomenon

- To understand, visualise, represent GI as 3-D information

C2- Temporal Spatial and temporal way of thinking of GI

- To conceptualise GI as a dynamic and temporal phenomenon

- To understand, visualise, represent GI as 4-D information




C3- Spatially- contextualised

- Contribution to the formation and making sense of GI as socially and geographically constructed information

- Contribution to the contextualisation of the data spatially

- To have awareness of this feature of GI

- To have knowledge of the contextual issues around the GI

- To conceptualise and contextualise GI as a spatial and temporal phenomenon within its social and geographical context

- To apply the GI as spatially-contextualised information for various purposes e.g. making plans, decisions etc




C4- Spatially technology-mediated

- Contribution to the spatial formation and transformation of GI in the forms of various cognitive and operational activities

- To understand the way that technology (GIS) perceives GI

- To select appropriate operations to form and transform GI

- To evaluate and select appropriate spatially and non-spatially enabled tools and technologies for certain operations and purposes

- To use various spatially and non-spatially enabled tools and technologies


Implications

• Librarians and information literacy experts• To move from generic IL models (e.g. Big6,

SCONUL, ACRL) toward a specified IL framework which meets the specific needs of GIS learners

• To enable students to identify their information and learning needs by thinking and questioning critically

• To re-think the construction of IL tutorials


• GIS educators The variation in the ways of perceiving GI calls for an IL

approach that:• makes students aware of the user input element and

enables them to diagnose their information and learning needs

• enhances the GIS curriculum by integrating the competencies explicitly in the GIS course objectives

• facilitates students learn how to interact with, and use, GI more effectively within technological environments (ODL)

Implications – cont.


University of SheffieldDepartment of Information Studies

The John Campbell TrustGlobal Exchange Program Award

- Ms. Sheila Webber (my supervisor in Sheffield)- Dr. Robin S. Smith (my GIS advisor in the ICOSS)- Mr. David DiBiase (my advisor in Penn State)- Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) - Global

exchange program award- The John Campbell Trust – CILIP- GIS instructors and students in the Universities of Leeds

and Southampton, and Pennsylvania State University


Thank you very much

• Questions?

Please refer to:• Nazari, Maryam, and Sheila Webber. 2008. Conceptions of geospatial information: implications

for information literacy education. Presented in: IADIS Multi Conference on Computer Science and Information Systems 2008, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 22 – 27 July.