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Developing Research & Communication Skills Guidelines for Information Literacy in the Curriculum, published by Middle States Commission on Higher Education in 2003, is 'must' reading about integrating information literacy in the curriculum.

from the Table of Contents:

Introduction - Why Focus on Information Literacy?

1 Planning for Information Literacy - Institutional Goals, Curricular Design, and the Campus Context

2 Learning Goals and Teaching Strategies for Information Literacy  

Phase 1: Preparing Students for an Information Literacy Experience
Phase 2: Teaching Students to Find and Evaluate Sources
Phase 3: Teaching Students to Evaluate and Understand Content
Phase 4: Producing New Information

3 Information Literacy Assessment: A Reflective, Integrative,and Iterative Process

Why Assess Information Literacy? Taking Inventory; Institutional Constraints; Developing or Refining a Plan for Information Literacy Assessment; and Measuring Assessment Effectiveness

Appendices  - Including criteria and syllabi incorporating information literacy in different disciplines and at several different types of institutions

To become “information literate” students need to acquire skills finding, evaluating, and using information. But finding the best information in the most efficient manner are skills that must be taught and practiced over and over again. Traditionally, the term paper or research paper has been the most often used method of evaluating whether or not students can successfully apply information-seeking skills, but there are many alternatives to term papers that are just as effective, if not even more effective. Listed below are a number of external websites that provide examples of these 'alternatives to term papers.' Listed to the right are discipline-specific journals which can be searched for information literacy assignments.

The Library supports students and faculty in conducting their research, and many (although not all!) of the Library's resources are accessible online. The librarians want to work with you to plan assignments which will make good use of the resources in Andruss Library at Bloomsburg University and to present information literacy/library instruction sessions for your students. Contact your library liaison to plan assignments and to discuss your students’ research needs.

These links, which are either sites developed at other institutions or links to articles, discuss alternatives to term papers for developing students' information literacy skills.

The goals of the Andruss Library Outcomes Assessment & Information Literacy Committee are

(1) to empower students to become active lifelong learners and astute users of information

(2) to support academic departments in teaching students to use information efficiently and ethically, and

(3) to coordinate the Library's mission with the institutional mission so that students who graduate are information literate.

The importance of information literacy has been recognized by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education as an important student outcome. Information literacy has been defined by the Association of College & Research Libraries as a set of abilities requiring individuals to "recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information."

The Andruss Library Outcomes Assessment and Information Literacy reports, available below, contain information about the development of BU students' information skills. They may be useful to librarians and classroom professors planning information literacy instruction. 

This is a partial list of journals available from Andruss Library that will have ideas for teaching information literacy/critical thinking skills, including some journals for specific disciplines. We would like this list to grow, so please let your library liaison know of any that should be included.