Information Literacy
Information literacy encompasses more than using library tools. Navigating our current information ecosystem requires engagement with “a richer, more complex set of core ideas.” (ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education). Defined by the Framework, information literacy is “the set of integrated abilities [and knowledge] 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.”
Why it matters
- Searching and evaluating information sources, identifying structures and systems, understanding creative and scholarly processes, and contributing and sharing information/knowledge are all essential to participation in society and civic engagement.
- Navigation within a complex information ecosystem requires knowledge and skill.
- Developing information literacy skills and concepts is essential to success in an academic setting.
Library & Information Literacy Instruction
UMD librarians have developed a set of questions to guide instruction that supports engagement with the core concepts of information literacy. In Understanding by Design, Wiggins and McTighe define these essential questions as “provocative questions that foster inquiry, understanding, and transfer of learning” (22). Their purpose is to encourage engagement and exploration of the questions rather than answers. Librarians use these questions to define our priorities, inform instructional design, and facilitate ongoing engagement with key ideas.
Designing library instruction around essential questions:
- Allows librarians to focus on encouraging inquiry, discussion, and reflection.
- Promotes engagement with broad concepts rather than isolated skills, which enables greater transfer of knowledge across academic and non-academic contexts.
- Provides clear priorities which allow for the design of sessions that are distinct and differentiated from each other, creating a sense of progression and coherence.
- Generates curiosity and creativity in the teaching and learning process.
Our information literacy essential questions
- How can we know what we don’t know?
- What is the value of curiosity in research and in our everyday lives?
- What factors shape how easy or difficult information is to find and use?
- Why can’t we freely access all information?
- Why is the research process iterative?
- How can we recognize authority?
- Who is believed and who is questioned? Why?
- Why is scholarly conversation relevant?
- Why are some voices amplified and some voices silenced in scholarly conversations?
- How is the creation process reflected in a final product?
- How do we show that we value others’ work in our own?
- What rights should we have as information users, owners, and creators?
- How do we decide how to share our work?
Information for Instructors
Requesting Library & Information Literacy Instruction
Invite collaboration with a subject librarian who specializes in the discipline(s) of your class to offer information literacy instruction and support for your students. Together, you will discuss your course and discover connections between course content and the Library’s essential questions. Based on these conversations, the librarian will design instruction that integrates information literacy into your course and facilitates exploration of one or more relevant essential questions.
Contact your subject librarian to discuss your course and goals for instruction and collaboration. If you are unsure who your subject librarian is, contact Kim Pittman.
Course support from librarians
UMD subject librarians can work with you to help your students navigate the research process and evaluate information critically. Librarians can offer support for your course in several ways:
- In-person/embedded information literacy instruction to support course assignments.
- Online research guides for specific courses or assignments.
- Online instruction for specific courses or assignments.
- Individual or group consultations with students.
- Librarian consultations on research assignment design.
Librarians deliver instruction that supports information literacy learning. Typically, information literacy instruction does not include tours of the library because the focus on the building provides a limited view of library resources and the research process. To request a library tour, please contact Kim Pittman.
Program learning outcomes for library instruction
- Students will develop effective search strategies for their information needs, revising searches in order to persist in the face of search challenges.
- Students will evaluate sources based on information need and the context in which the information will be used.
- Students will identify multiple perspectives on a research topic.
- Students will formulate research questions that are appropriately scaled, facilitate inquiry, and can be supported by available resources.