Integrating Data Literacy into Information Literacy Programmes: Any Difference?

Abstract

There is an urgent need to address data literacy in undergraduate library instruction. In Africa and especially in Nigeria, the need for a data information literacy program (DIL) to prepare students to engage in an electronic research environment is also articulated by scholars in recent literature. However, the question as to whether data literacy should replace information literacy has not been properly articulated in recent times in Africa even though it is acknowledged that the resultant effect of this data literacy is expected to precipitate the advent of the data revolution and the rise of digital technologies which are needed in today’s information age. The question of the degree of the nature of the integration of data literacy into information literacy programs and how it could be taught synergistically and push data literacy strategically for the fourth industrial revolution is a major fulcrum of this study. This paper, therefore, involves a theoretical and systematic literature engagement with a focus on integrating data literacy into information literacy programs in academic libraries and in undergraduate library instruction and curriculum.