What is information literacy?
The Libraries' information literacy programs aim to provide members of the University with the skills and knowledge needed to effectively identify, find, evaluate and ethically use information to support academic excellence and lifelong learning. This program emerges from the University's and Libraries' strategic plans.
"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."
Taken from the
Association
of College and Research Libraries
Who teaches information literacy?
These groups coordinate and conduct the day to day activities that constitute the Libraries' information literacy program:
User Education Services:- Pre-college (summer) instruction classes,
- General orientation sessions for students,
- Large first-year courses for freshmen,
- Professional Writing Program.
- Subject-specific orientation sessions for new graduate students,
- Subject-specific instruction classes for undergraduate and graduate courses.
- Orientation sessions to special collections,
- Tours for researchers, visiting dignitaries, professional colleagues,school groups, and more
Who provides leadership for this work?
User Education Services provides leadership to all instruction librarians responsible for information literacy activities.
Does the library have a student learning outcomes assessment plan?
Yes. The Libraries and conducting student learning outcomes assessment in all pre-college and first-year instruction programs coordinated by User Education Services, and in some of our subject-specific instruction classes, especially those courses taught on a routine basis that have multiple sections of students.
What standards are used?
Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education
These standards
provide a framework for assessing the information literate individual. There are
five standards and twenty-two performance indicators. The standards focus upon
the needs of students in higher education at all levels. The standards also list
a range of outcomes for assessing student progress toward information literacy.
These outcomes serve as guidelines for faculty, librarians, and others in
developing local methods for measuring student learning in the context of an
institution's unique mission. It is important to note that some disciplines may
place greater emphasis on the mastery of competencies at certain points in the
process, and therefore certain competencies would receive greater weight than
others in any rubric for measurement.
Paraphrased from the
Information
Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education
