Information Literacy
What is Information Literacy?
Information literacy is the set of integrated abilities encompassing the reflective discovery of information, the understanding of how information is produced and valued, and the use of information in creating new knowledge and participating ethically in communities of learning. — Association of College and Research Libraries.
Librarians can work with you to create asynchronous or synchronous lesson to incorporate into any type of course.
Benefits for Students
- Improve research skills, critical thinking, and authorship
- Deepen learning and content knowledge
- Bring awareness to campus library expertise and resources
Teaching Information Literacy
Course-Integrated Instruction
Faculty may invite librarians to design and teach asynchronous or synchronous student-centered lessons that promote disciplinary research skills or more general information literacy development. These may take the form of brief recorded lectures or tutorials demonstrating library research techniques, sequenced and scaffolded exercises focusing on a particular skill, Zoom meetings to discuss in-depth research projects, or any combination thereof.
Research Assignments
Librarians can offer advice on planning research assignments that foster critical thinking, are aligned with the goals of your course, and make the best use of available information sources and digital tools. Please see our guide on designing successful research assignments.
Research Guides
Librarians can create custom online research guides for your courses that highlight key information sources, research tools, search strategies, and more.
Scavenger Hunts
Designed with first-years in mind, librarians can design fun, interactive workshops that get students into the library to explore collections, spaces, and services.
Zotero Workshops
Zotero is a free reference manager that helps with collecting, organizing, citing, and sharing research. Workshops are offered throughout the academic year and can be requested for an individual course by contacting library@brynmawr.edu.
Tutorials
Modules from a suite of interactive tutorials from Credo introducing students to basic library research processes can be embedded in any Moodle course and assigned as homework. Credo modules can be customized (to a certain extent) for a particular course. Email library@brynmawr.edu for assistance.
In the Major
Providing opportunities for students to engage in authentic information practices in their major helps promote discipline mastery and life-long learning.
The literature suggests that information literacy learning occurs best through situated experiences occurring within a disciplinary context, and that these learning opportunities should be designed sequentially to aid students as they transition along the continuum from novice to expert.
Departments may work with their subject librarian on developing an information literacy plan for the major. This may involve:
Core Concepts
Faculty may partner with librarians to develop instructional techniques, research assignments, and assessment tools based on four major information literacy concepts. Teaching to these concepts can help students develop their information literate abilities and deepen their disciplinary knowledge.
Research is a nonlinear, iterative process of asking questions and selecting and using appropriate resources to seek out relevant information. The process often produces new and increasingly complex questions, and requires persistence, adaptability, and flexibility to pursue new lines of inquiry or alternative directions as new understanding develops.
Examples of Essential Questions:
- Are learners aware of the major sources of disciplinary information?
- Can learners use discipline-specific search tools effectively to retrieve relevant information?
- Can learners define an appropriate scope of inquiry?
- Do learners view research as an open-ended, ongoing exploration?
Information is evaluated based on its creators’ expertise and credibility as well as its suitability for information need and use case. Power and authority structures control quality of information sources but may also privilege certain voices and restrict access to information. Bodies of evidence may provide established answers to a topic, but a research question may not have a single uncontested answer.
Examples of Essential Questions:
- Can learners evaluate the quality of information?
- Do learners understand the sociopolitical and economic issues surrounding knowledge production and dissemination?
- Are learners inclined to seek multiple perspectives when gathering and assessing information?
- Do learners have an awareness of their own information privilege?
Information creators and users hold certain rights and responsibilities when participating in scholarly communities. Individuals are responsible for making deliberate and informed choices about how they access, use, create, and share information and data.
Examples of Essential Questions:
- Do learners respect and give credit to the work of others using appropriate attribution and citation conventions?
- Do learners understand that intellectual property is a legal and social construct that varies by culture?
- Do learners respect principles of privacy, confidentiality, and other ethical issues as they relate to research?
New insights and discoveries emerge over time through sustained discourse within scholarly and professional communities. Scholars, researchers, and professionals communicate through a variety of formats and delivery methods. Iterative processes from researching to disseminating information vary, and the resulting information product reflects these differences.
Examples of Essential Questions:
- Do learners understand the processes of information creation and dissemination in their field?
- Can learners identify the contribution particular works or authors have made to a discipline?
- Can learners contribute to scholarly conversations at an appropriate level?
- Can learners use existing and emerging digital tools to conduct and share their research?
Program Rationale
We cannot assume that students arrive at college with the ability to engage in deep exploration and inquiry simply because they are accustomed to digital technologies. In fact, the ever-changing environment of higher education and the complex, proliferating, and often uncertain information landscape present many challenges to student learning. To realize the full potential of a liberal arts education, it is crucial that students gain a fundamental understanding of the nature of information itself, how it is created, organized, and retrieved in digital and analog formats, and its social and cultural context and impact.
Research on Information Literacy
Our program is informed by evidence on how students conduct research in the digital age and how the academic library contributes to student learning and success.
Assessment in Action (ACRL)
Major findings:
- Students benefit from library instruction in their initial coursework
- Library use increases student success
- Collaborative academic programs and services involving the library enhance student learning
- Information literacy instruction strengthens general education outcomes
- Library research consultations boost student learning
Project Information Literacy
Major findings:
- Majority of students feel research is more difficult than ever before
- Most students use a "limited compass" to navigate the complex information landscape
- Most students use familiar, risk-averse strategies to finding information
- Recent graduates feel unprepared to solve information problems in the workplace