What is Information Literacy?
Information literacy is a set of abilities that enables individuals to "recognize
when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use
effectively the needed information." (
Information Literacy Competency
Standards for Higher Education. American Library Association. 2006.)
The Value of Faculty/Librarian Partnerships
Recent studies have shown that college students rely on their professors for
research guidance and are more likely to interact with librarians if faculty
involve librarians in the classroom or recommend that students meet with librarians
during the research process.
Information Literacy and the First Year Seminars
The primary goals of the First Year Seminar Program are to engage students in
liberal arts learning and nurture the development of critical academic skills.
By definition, information literacy is the foundation for lifelong learning.
It is essential to all fields of knowledge, in all learning environments, and
at all levels of education. It enables students to increase their mastery of
content by improving their investigations and allowing for more self-directed
learning.
Librarians can work with you to achieve information literacy goals
whether or not your course includes a research component.
Library Contacts | Research
Paper Alternatives | Recommended Readings
An information literate student should be able to:
- Select and refine a topic
- Develop a thesis and/or hypothesis
- Construct an effective search strategy
- Understand intellectual property & plagiarism issues
- Distinguish between types of information sources
- Critically evaluate resources
- Synthesize information
- Communicate information in an appropriate format
- Understand how scholarly information is generated, disseminated,
and used
- Understand the social, economic, and political contexts in
which information is produced and consumed
Information Literacy Concepts and Strategies for Achieving Them
1. Select and refine a topic
Core competency
- Understand how questions are refined and redefined in the course of research
Key skills
- Use general sources to shore up background knowledge and fill-in gaps
- Broaden or narrow a research topic to an appropriate level of focus for
the assignment
Teaching strategies
- Have students describe their topic in a few sentences (~50-75 words)
- Have students keep a log of how their topic changes and evolves
2. Develop a thesis and/or hypothesis
Core competency
- Formulate questions to guide path of inquiry
Key skill
- Determine current state of knowledge about a topic
Teaching strategy
- Help students navigate the process of turning a general interest into a
research question or problem with topic consultations
3. Construct an effective search strategy
Core competencies
- Distill a topic or research question into searchable concepts
- Select appropriate resources to begin researching a topic
Key skills
- Generate keywords to search for -- broader and narrower terms, synonyms,
related concepts
- Recognize that research is an iterative process
- Use basic and advanced database searching techniques (Boolean connectors
[and, or, not], wildcards, or truncation)
Teaching strategies
- Emphasize the value of the research process in learning -- including dead-ends
and course corrections
- Have students consider which academic discipline(s) are germane to their
question
- Have students consider what kinds of information sources (books, research
articles, newspapers, advertisements, images, data, etc.) will be helpful
in researching their question
- Have students list resources they plan to use to find the information sources
they need
- Recommend appropriate encyclopedias, databases, indexes, and other reference
tools
- Have students search for the same topic in two different sources and compare/contrast
the results
4. Understand intellectual property & plagiarism
issues
Core competencies
- Recognize when ideas need to be attributed to others and what is "common
knowledge"
- Quote and paraphrase properly
- Document sources accurately and correctly
Key skills
- Use style manual(s) to correctly format citations for various information
formats
- Use bibliographic management tools (e.g. RefWorks, Zotero, EndNote)
Teaching strategies:
- Indicate the preferred style manual in your discipline and explain why/how
it's useful to scholars
- Use complete citations on the course syllabus
- Discuss how the honor code applies to assignments in your course
- Give students a paraphrasing exercise
- Require students to submit proper citations on preliminary bibliographies
and draft assignments
5. Distinguish between types of information sources
Core competencies
- Interpret bibliographic citations correctly
- Understand appropriate uses of types of sources in different disciplines
or contexts
- Understand the differences between popular and scholarly materials
- Understand what primary and secondary sources are
Key skills
- Recognize basic source types (books, journals, newspapers, government documents)
by looking at a bibliographic citation
- Be able to determine if a source is primary or secondary for a given research
question
- Recognize when non-scholarly sources are appropriate
Teaching strategies
- Have students compare a popular and scholarly article on the same topic
- Require students to use a mixture of information source types
6. Critically evaluate resources
Core competency
- Evaluate information for usefulness, bias, currency, authority, and other
relevant criteria
Key skill
- Apply appropriate criteria depending on the type of source under examination
and information need
Teaching strategies
- Highlight specific evaluative criteria of particular importance in your
field/discipline
- Ask students to examine selected sources (texts, websites, images, etc.)
and evaluate them according to stated criteria
7. Synthesize information
Core competencies
- Interpret, analyze, and sythesize information in order to form new knowledge
- Engage with information in ways that demonstrate critical thinking and new
understanding of the material
Key skill
- Recognize and acknowledge conflicting information and/or viewpoints
Teaching strategies
- Require student to show progress through "benchmark" assignments
-- preliminary bibliographies, outlines, thesis statements, drafts, etc.
8. Communicate information
in an appropriate format or medium
(paper, poster, web site, video, podcast, presentation - e.g. PPT, Keynote, Prezi,
graph, spreadsheet)
Core competency
- Determine what kind of presentation is suitable for a given audience or
context
Key skills
- Be familiar with available software/programs
- Incorporate technology learning time into project planning (identify sources
of technical support in advance)
Teaching strategies
- Model different ways of presenting information in class
- Require students to use a variety of formats to present their work
9. Understand how scholarly information is
generated, disseminated, and used
Core competencies
- Understand the purpose of the peer review process
- Be aware of different modes of scholarly communication
Teaching strategies
- Discuss the publishing culture in your discipiline -- key journals, publishers
- Discuss information sharing in your discipline -- listservs, blogs, wikis,
conferences
10. Understand social, economic, and political contexts
in which information is produced and consumed
Core competencies
- Awareness that not all information is freely available
- Awareness of open access/open source initiatives
Teaching strategy
- Knowledge=Power: Discuss!
Library Contacts
Reference & Instruction Librarians, Main Library
Special Collections Librarian, Ed
Vermue
College Archivist, Ken
Grossi
Art Librarian: Barbara Prior
Public Services Librarian, Conservatory Library: Kathy
Abromeit
Science Librarian: Alison Ricker
Recommended Readings
About Information Literacy Standards and Learning Outcomes
Information
Literacy: A Neglected Core Competency (2010)
from Anticipating the Future of Higher Education a special issue of
EDUCAUSE Quarterly
Information
Literacy Resources from the Association of College & Research Libraries
(ACRL)
About the Information Seeking Behavior of College Students/Teenagers
Learning the Ropes: How Freshmen Conduct Course Research Once they Enter College [pdf] (2013)
Study by Project Information Literacy (PIL) of high school seniors and first year college students.
Studying Students: A Second Look (2013)
Presents new anthropological studies of how students study, collaborate, conduct research, work on writing and other course assignments, and use technology; a follow-up to the pioneering 2007 publication by the same researchers at the University of Rochester.
Truth Be Told: How College Students Evaluate and Use Information in the Digital Age [pdf] (2010)
Findings of a survey of more than 8,000 college students across the U.S.