In order to become information literate, you must first be conscious of the fact you have a need for information. This entails understanding there are certain things you already know and certain things you need to learn in order to accomplish a given task and, in order to accomplish that task, you must find a way to bridge the gap between what you know and what you don't know.
Once you have recognized there is a gap between that which you know and that which you don't, the second step to becoming information literate is recognizing the different ways you may be able to go about bridging the information gap. You must not only understand what sources of information -- such as books, the Internet, magazines and professionals -- are available, but also be able to assess which of those resources would work best for the task at hand.
Once you have identified which resource you should consult to complete your task, the next step is knowing the most efficient way to get the information you need out of that particular resource. You wouldn't go about looking for information in a peer-reviewed journal the same way you would look for information with an Internet search engine. You must therefore have an understanding of how various information resources work in order to achieve information literacy.
Once you know what resource you need to use and the most efficient strategies for using that resource, you need to know how to attain that resource and how to extract the information from it. This step requires you to have skills such as note-taking, the ability to construct the most effective searches to put into search engines, knowledge of how to search databases, knowledge of how to utilize an RSS feed to access different angles to go about covering a topic and the ability to effectively browse the Internet.
You must understand not all information you come across will be neutral in order to consider yourself information literate. This means you must possess the ability to read information with a critical eye and be able to recognize biases in texts. You must have an understanding of the way the media works, so you know better than to take everything you read at face value. Depending on the type of information you are dealing with, you may also need knowledge of the way different data calculation systems work to be able to accomplish things, such as evaluating the validity of statistics and conclusions reached based on statistics.
Once you have located and retrieved the information you need, you must possess the ability to organize it in a way that is accessible and understandable to you, apply it to real-life scenarios to solve problems and make decisions and communicate that information to others in a way that is comprehensible.
The seventh and last pillar of information literacy refers to the ability to gather all acquired information into a single, accessible entity, such as a website or critical essay. Depending on the nature of the task, this pillar may also require you to have the ability to create or deduce new information or provide a fresh perspective on a topic based on the accumulation of all the bits of information from your resources.