Information literacy

Owner: Veronica Kenausis

INTENDED OUTCOMES

Information literacy forms the basis for lifelong learning. It is common to all disciplines, to all learning environments, and to all levels of education. It enables learners to master content and extend their investigations, become more self-directed, and assume greater control over their own learning. An information literate individual is able to:

• Determine the extent of information needed
• Access the needed information effectively and efficiently
• Evaluate information and its sources critically
• Incorporate selected information into one’s knowledge base
• Use information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose
• Understand the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information, and access and use information ethically and legally

(From American Library Association Information Literacy Standards for Higher Education)

GUIDELINES

Should count for a minimum of 10% of the students' final grade. May be combined with other FYE elements.

IMPLEMENTATION

Work with a library faculty member to create an appropriate assignment/presentation. Some examples include:

1. Traditional research paper/presentation the demonstrates the students' ability to gather appropriate information, incorporate it into a cohesive argument and use the information ethically.
2. An annotated bibliography to demonstrate ability to perform the intellectual work necessary to support a position/argument in a traditional research paper.
3. Guided information search to encourage students to use various discovery tools and information formats to reinforce the understanding of the research process.
4. Integrated exercises or assignments to reflect stages in information process.

ASSESSMENT

Faculty should establish clear criteria to evaluate student work. For example, using appropriate assignments and exercises (see Implementation above), faculty could determine how successfully (e.g., 1-5 scale) students achieved each of the following criteria.

1. Ability to locate and obtain appropriate information sources.
2. Ability to support an argument with secondary source information.
3. Ability to use information ethically.
4. Ability to cite sources in the appropriate format.