information literacy in academic libraries

1. Information Literacy
Heidi Card
ULS Librarian,
Assistant to the Director on Research & Special Projects
University of Pittsburgh
hrc5@pitt.edu

2. What is Information Literacy?
A set of
skills/abilities
needed to find,
retrieve, analyze,
and use information

3. And more. . .
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Financial Literacy
Health Literacy
Scientific Literacy
Visual Literacy
Cultural Literacy
Technical Literacy

4. Why is Information Literacy
Important?
Information literacy is
increasingly important in the
contemporary environment
of rapid technological
change and proliferating
information resources.

5. The Solution to “Data Smog”

6. Who Needs Information
Literacy?

7. Is IL a Required Course?
Some colleges require a course for undergraduate programs:
 Information Literacy Requirements
Information literacy is an intellectual framework for identifying, finding,
understanding, evaluating, and using information. The mastery of these
skills is essential for lifelong learning and is the foundation of Duquesne
University’s special trust of seeking truth and disseminating knowledge
within a moral and spiritual context. Courses within the student’s major will
build on the introductory skills learned in the basic Information Literacy
class.
Charter Oak State College

8. How is IL Taught?
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College courses
Library courses
Library workshops
Library tutorials
Library modules
Library consultations

9. IL Topics
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Research Strategies
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Ethics in Research
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Finding Books
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Internet Evaluation
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Finding Periodical
Articles Online
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Using print indexes
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Current Events
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Effective Internet
Searching

11. Professional IL Resources

12. Blogs/Websites
The Big 6 - dedicated to teaching using the Big6 - the most
widely-known and widely-used approach to teaching
information and technology skills
Connecting Librarian - "connecting new ideas and
technologies"; though not specifically about information
literacy, the concept is a frequently discussed topic
Information Literacy Round Table (ILRT)
Information Literacy Weblog - addresses IL from a global
perspective

13. Listservs
Information Literacy Instruction
Listserv (ILI-L)
ACRL's College Libraries Section List
(COLLIB-L)

14. Organizations
Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Information Lit
 Institute for Information Literacy
 Instruction Section
 Professional Activity
Library Instruction Round Table (LIRT)
Library Orientation Exchange (LOEX)
National Forum on Information Literacy

15. Project Information Literacy
A report of preliminary findings and analysis from student discussion groups
held on 7 U.S. campuses in Fall 2008
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Results suggest that conducting research is particularly challenging
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Students’ greatest challenges are related to their perceived inability to find
desired materials
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Figuring out how to traverse complex information landscapes may be the most
difficult part of the research process
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Findings also suggest that students create effective methods for conducting
research by using traditional methods, such as libraries, and self-taught, creative
workarounds, such as “presearch” and Wikipedia, in different ways.

16. Purpose of Report
 To better understand how
early adults define and
conceptualize the process of
research
 To discover the steps that
early adults take to locate,
evaluate, select, and use
resources required for
course-related research and
for everyday research

17. What Frustrates
Students When
They Conduct
Research?

18. Students Value Libraries
1. For the library website, which they used, usually off-site, as
gateway to scholarly research databases.
2. For librarians as “navigational sources,” which they used most
often used for making sense out of the complex library system
on campus.
3. For librarians as “information coaches,” who they used for
refining thesis statements or helping them locate hard-to-find
resources (i.e., statistics or government documents).

19. Reference Desk

20. IL at ULS
 Mission and
Objectives
 Rubrics
 IL Working Group
 Assessment

21. Mission
 Core to the mission of the University Library
System (ULS) is partnering with faculty in each
department and program to foster information
literacy through a variety of educational
approaches.
 The ULS seeks to ensure that students at the
University of Pittsburgh are equipped to navigate
an increasingly complex information
environment.

22. Student Learning Outcomes for
the University of Pittsburgh
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Think critically and analytically
Gather and evaluate information effectively and appropriately
Understand and be able to apply basic, scientific and quantitative
reasoning
Communicate clearly and effectively
Use information technology appropriate to their discipline
Exhibit mastery of their discipline
Understand and appreciate diverse cultures (both locally and
internationally)
Work effectively with others
Have a sense of self, responsibility to others, and connectedness to the
University

23. Middle States Commission on
Higher Education
Several skills, collectively
referred to as “information
literacy,” apply to all disciplines
in an institution’s curricula.
These skills relate to a student’s
competency in acquiring and
processing information in the
search for understanding.

24. Objectives of IL at ULS
To ensure that University of Pittsburgh students will be
capable of:
 Gathering and evaluating information effectively and
appropriately;
 Identifying information sources appropriate to their
discipline;
 Critically evaluating and incorporating information to
address a specific information need;
 Utilize appropriate information technology;
 Understand the principle of intellectual property, and the
legal and ethical uses of information.

25. IL Working Group
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created in Spring 2006
charged with developing an information
literacy assessment program for the ULS
And developing new ways to market the
information literacy program to faculty
and students
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creating online tutorials (and revising existing ones)
finding new ways to promote information
literacy

26. Rubrics

27. Different forms of IL @ ULS
 Instruction:
structured classes
 Kiosks: “Help Hub”
 Individual
Consultation
 Tutorials online

28. New Instruction Room

29. Online Tutorials

30. IL Assessment

31. SAILS Results Indicated that
students struggled with:
• Developing a research strategy
• Using appropriate information
resources
• Identifying and finding scholarly
literature
• Plagiarism and ethical use of
information

32. How the ULS is Using SAILS Data
• To identify specific IL gaps of
students;
• Demonstrate to departments
the specific IL needs of their
students and partner to
address
• Eventually use this base data
as a means of measuring the
impact of IL instruction

33. Next Steps
 Need to comprehensively
review the data collected from
the current SAILS testing
 Identify gaps in order to
identify competencies of
current freshman
 Work with other
departments to integrate
findings into curricula

34. Outside the Classroom
Curriculum
 Introduction to ULS
 How to Write &
Communicate Clearly
 Interview Assistance
 Managing Information

35. Any Questions?

36. 谢谢！
謝謝！

37. References
Head, A. J. and Eisenberg, M. B. (2009). Project Information Literacy
Progress Report. The Information School, University of Washington.