Exploring Information Literacy in Relationship: Intelligence and Personality as Factors

In the last three decades, the domain of Information Literacy (IL) has caught the attention of international college educators and information professionals. The explosion of information in education, government and business requires college students to have the skills necessary to enter an information-rich digital age. These skills include the ability to acquire, organize and interpret vast amounts of information from multiple sources. The need for competency in IL is clear, however the factors contributing to this emerging construct have not been explored. This study explored the construct of IL in relationship to well-known variables that contribute to student success, specifically intelligence and personality. As hypothesized, results showed a positive relationship between intelligence and IL, however results failed to support the hypothesized relationship between IL and personality (as measured by the Big 5).