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Thanks Jonathan for raising this. I've been hearing a few similar comments from others recently. I have to admit I'm not a huge fan of the word i-skills myself. However I don't think i-skills is just a new fangled term for information literacy, though the documents produced by the I-skills programme do occasionally conflate the two. It seems to me that there are two sides to the picture. Staff need firstly information management know-how - part of which may be information literacy - and secondly for institutions to invest in systems to support their work. An effective 'information literate' organisation would develop both the staff and the systems and the two are interdependent. I wouldn't want to minimise the importance of terminology (which can influence expectations and perceptions) but I think the main focus needs to steer away from definitions and focus on the opportunities which the JISC I-skills programme documents present to us, for critical reflection on practice. It is possible to read the documents not as prescriptive but as a stimulus for debate and service development within institutions. This is just my personal view. Lis Lis Parcell HE Coordinator and Learning Resources Advisor (and former subject librarian) RSC Wales www.rsc-wales.ac.uk On Wed, July 13, 2005 10:43 am, Jonathan Smart wrote: > Apologies for being slow (or naïve) here, but I'm puzzled by the JISC's > terminology. Since the world has ostensibly moved on and information > literacy, as opposed to 'skills' is now in common parlance (for all the > well-documented reasons)and is recognised by our professional body (and > increasingly in other quarters as well as internationally), why has JISC > chosen an increasingly outdated term in 'skills', with all the associated > baggage that the term carries as outlined below? Is JISC simply out of > touch in this regard? > > Regards, > > > Jonathan Smart, > Academic Support Co-ordinator (Skills), > Room 201, Library, > University of Plymouth, > Drake Circus, > Plymouth PL4 8AA > Tel. 01752 238544 > Fax: 01752 232340 > > >