Infolit

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 Framework).

Why Do We Teach Information Literacy?

When they’re doing scholarly research, many students have trouble finding relevant sources simply because they’re not yet familiar with our academic context. For the past few years, the library has assessed the information literacy skills of the incoming class. In some cases, students are aware that they need to learn more. But often, their perceptions do not match their demonstrated knowledge and skills. For example, in a recent skills assessment, 59% of our incoming students said they were able to determine whether a source is appropriate for an academic project, yet only 39% of them understood the meaning of “peer-reviewed.”

Last year, librarians led 215 customized library workshops. We helped classes learn to select a research topic, define a research question, navigate research databases, and locate, evaluate and cite sources. We introduced students to the wide variety of primary sources available in Special Collections, and we provided hands-on experience with data analysis and visualization tools. 28% of our course-related workshops (61 workshops) supported first-year seminars. 53% (113 workshops) supported core courses, methods courses, senior theses, and more.

Number of Library Workshops in 2019-20