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Faculty Guide to InfoLit at Azusa Pacific University

This guide helps you incorporate Information Literacy into your courses by using Credo InfoLit which provides high-quality, standards-aligned instructional materials on information literacy and critical thinking skills. They are ideal for supplementing an

What is Information Literacy and Why does it matter to Faculty?

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 & Research Libraries, 2015)

Information Literacy at Azusa Pacific University:

During a course, students may develop information literacy by 

  • Thinking critically to find, access, and engage appropriate resources
  • Identifying how information in this course’s discipline is produced and valued
  • Conducting quality research activities, even to create new knowledge
  • Participating ethically in this course’s community of learning

(From ACRL, http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework)

How Can IL Benefit Students?
A 2017 survey of 42,000 students in more than 1,700 courses at 12 major research universities showed that:

  • Retention rates were higher for students whose courses included IL instruction.
  • Students whose courses included IL instruction reported higher average first-year GPAs than those whose courses did not.
  • Students who took IL instruction successfully completed 1.8 more credit hours per year than students who did not.

How Can IL Benefit Faculty?

Students who are information literate are better able to come up with workable topics for their papers, research those topics independently, and write papers that conform to rigorous academic standards.

An ability to think critically is essential to a student's time in school and is a vital life-long skill.

Employers highly value critical thinking skills too, with a 2013 AAC&U study showing that “a candidate’s demonstrated capacity to think critically, communicate clearly, and solve complex problems is more important than their undergraduate major."

It's not easy to teach students to adopt a new thinking style; in today's polarized environment, it can even be difficult to impart to them the importance of deliberate and critical thinking.

Attention Librarians: This brief two-minute video above can be used to promote the InfoLit Modules to faculty and explains how the InfoLit Modules can be incorporated into existing courses and used to measure students’ information literacy skills. Feel free to use this video in presentations, emails, and other orientation or promotional materials for faculty.

ACRL Information Literacy Competencies

The ACRL Information Literacy Framework is organized into six frames, each consisting of a concept/standard essential to the information literacy process. An easy to understand summary of the 6 frames can be found at "How Information Works". 

The Six(6) Frames: 

  1. Authority is Constructed and Contextual
  2. Information Creation as a Process
  3. Information Has Value
  4. Research as Inquiry
  5. Scholarship as Conversation
  6. Searching as Strategic Exploration

Below is a user-friendly translation of the six frames. The function is restated for each frame and to demonstrate the interconnection between the concepts in the information literacy process which provides a step-by-step approach for conducting college-level research.

Step-by-Step:

  1. State/Identify what is needed (Research as Inquiry)
  2. Choose/Select resources (Information Creation as a Process)
  3. Search available resources (Searching as Strategic Exploration)
  4. Evaluate materials within the resources (Authority is Constructed and Contextual)
  5. Synthesize the materials to solve a problem or create a product (Scholarship as Conversation)
  6. Cite what is used (Information has Value)

See how the InfoLit Tutorials fit with the ACRL Framework by going to Beyond Google: Foundations of Information Literacy & Research

(Adapted from http://library.lasalle.edu/c.php?g=131004&p=856611)