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Information Literacy at Andruss Library
The goals of the Andruss Library Outcomes Assessment & Information Literacy Committee are:
- To align the Library's educational mission with the institutional mission and vision
- To support academic departments in teaching students to “find, evaluate, and ethically use information using the appropriate technology” which is one of Bloomsburg University's General Education Outcomes
- To enable students to become active lifelong learners through information literacy instruction in a variety of settings and contexts
Request Information Literacy Instruction
Request an instruction session(s) by contacting your Department Liaison Librarian or by submitting the above online form, which gets relayed to the appropriate librarian (for best results, submit the form at least two weeks in advance of the session).
About Information Literacy Instruction: In consultation with course instructors, librarians provide hands-on classroom instruction on strategies and resources designed to improve students' information research skills. Faculty may request one or more instruction sessions tailored to specific course assignments. Sessions may be scheduled in AL 243, the Library classroom, or in other computer labs or classrooms on campus depending on availability.
Andruss Library Outcomes Assessment and Information Literacy Reports
The Andruss Library Outcomes Assessment and Information Literacy reports contain information about the development of BU students' information skills. They may be useful to librarians and classroom professors planning information literacy instruction.
What is Information Literacy?
The new Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education defines information literacy as “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.” (http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework)
At Bloomsburg University, information literacy is taught within the disciplines. It is also one of the ten BU General Education goals: Goal 2. Information Literacy - Find, evaluate, and ethically use information using appropriate technology.
Information literacy in practice requires:
- competence in using information technology
- understanding how information is created, published, organized, and accessed
- being able to frame questions using subject-appropriate terms
- applying appropriate criteria to evaluate and select relevant and authoritative sources
- using information to create new knowledge, crediting others’ intellectual property in discipline-appropriate reference styles
How “information literate” are BU students?
The short answer is -- about as information literate as students at many other institutions. Data from the NSSE Special Topic Module on Information Literacy shows both BU freshmen and seniors are average in their information literacy competencies. So then the question naturally becomes, what does average look like? Project Information Literacy provides some answers to that question.
Project Information Literacy, a large-scale nationwide research study of undergraduate information-seeking strategies and research practices, found that students experienced difficulty with research when defining a topic, narrowing it, and filtering irrelevant results. And not surprisingly, in their follow-up studies PIL that “students lacked the research acumen for framing an inquiry in the digital age where information abounds and intellectual discovery was paradoxically overwhelming for them.” The full report may be read here.
Information Literacy Rubrics & Curriculum Map
The following are all resources faculty and librarians may use when assessing student information literacy outcomes.
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 (if not more) effective. The following list includes links to websites or articles that discuss alternatives to term papers for developing students' information literacy skills. Contact your library liaison for help or suggestions in designing assignments to develop students' information use skills.
How can faculty integrate the teaching of information literacy into their programs and courses? Have a conversation with your department's liaison librarian or browse the following Andruss Library links or those from the ACRL to explore ideas.
ACRL websites & information
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Framework for Information Literacy Appendices~Investigate threshold concepts in your discipline and gain an understanding of the approach used in the Framework as it applies to the discipline you know.
— What are the specialized information skills in your discipline that students should develop, such as using primary sources (history) or accessing and managing large data sets (science)?
~Look for workshops at your campus teaching and learning center on the flipped classroom and consider how such practices could be incorporated into your courses.
— What information and research assignments can students do outside of class to arrive prepared to apply concepts and conduct collaborative projects?
~Partner with your IT department and librarians to develop new kinds of multimedia assignments for courses.
— What kinds of workshops and other services should be available for students involved in multimedia design and production?
~Help students view themselves as information producers, individually and collaboratively.
— In your program, how do students interact with, evaluate, produce, and share information in various formats and modes?
~Consider the knowledge practices and dispositions in each information literacy frame for possible integration into your own courses and academic program.
— How might you and a librarian design learning experiences and assignments that will encourage students to assess their own attitudes, strengths/weaknesses, and knowledge gaps related to information?
Practical resources answering many of students' questions about identifying, finding, evaluating, and using information effectively. Students are also encouraged to contact the librarian for their discipline for help with their information search process.
- Last Updated: May 12, 2022 1:48 PM
- URL: https://guides.library.bloomu.edu/FacultyResources
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