A portrait of OLAS as a young information literacy tutorial

This article begins with an analysis of the information society, discussing its repercussions and defining the term, information literacy. It also describes the need for, as well as the creation and development of, an online information literacy tutorial, named Olas at Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) Libraries. Olas follows international best practice and its overall framework is based on US, Australian and UK information literacy models, while its learning outcomes follow those produced by both the Council of Australian University Librarians and Peter Godwin, South Bank University, London. Olas aims to introduce basic and advanced concepts of information literacy to the broadest possible range of learners both on‐campus and remotely. Olas is currently being piloted at WIT. Apart from the integrated commercial database products to which access is contractually limited to WIT students and staff, it is freely available from WIT Libraries' Web site. Further development is focused on building an improved version of the course in the WebCT virtual learning environment. The WebCT version will include more richly interactive content, will facilitate credited assessment of WIT‐registered students, and will address outstanding accessibility issues.