Information literacy skills – UGC NET Question

Information literacy goes beyond basic technical skills to encompass critical thinking about information quality and relevance. It involves formulating questions, choosing appropriate sources, evaluating credibility and integrating findings ethically. These competencies are central to academic work in the digital age where information is abundant. Therefore the multi-step ability described in the stem is called information literacy.

Option A:
Option A, computer literacy, refers mainly to the ability to operate hardware and software tools. It does not necessarily include critical judgment about information content or source evaluation.

Option B:
Option B is correct because formal definitions from library and information science explicitly describe information literacy as recognising information needs and using information effectively. The sequence of tasks outlined in the stem mirrors these definitions.

Option C:
Option C, financial literacy, focuses on understanding money management, budgeting and investment decisions, which is unrelated to broad information-handling skills.

Option D:
Option D, media ownership, concerns who controls media organisations and has no direct connection with individual competencies in finding and using information.