Information LiteracyA Five Minute Introduction

 Ben Bryson 

Reference & Instruction LibrarianAltamaha Technical College

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License. 1

Information Literacy

"To be information literate, a person must be able to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information."

 (ALA, Presidential Committee on Information Literacy: Final Report)

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Information Literacy Competency Standards in Plain English

(adapted from ALA, Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education [http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/standards/informationliteracycompetency.cfm])

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You can: Identify what kind of information

you need and how much 

("Standard One" in ALA, Information Competency Standards for Higher Education)

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You can: Quickly find the information you’re

looking for 

("Standard Two" in ALA, Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education)

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You can:

Judge the quality of the information you find

 ("Standard Three" in ALA, Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education)

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You can:

Use it to increase your knowledge 

("Standard Three" in ALA, Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education)

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You can:

Communicate what you have learned to others

 ("Standard Four" in ALA, Information Literacy Competency Standards in Higher Education)

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You can:

Give credit where credit is due 

("Standard Six" in ALA, Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education)

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Essential Questions

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How do I know what kind of information I will need?

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What is the best way for me to find this information?

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How can I judge the quality of the information I find?

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How can I best use and communicate the information I find?

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What can I do to credit my sources properly?

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Make It Happenwith a Research Strategy

(adapted from The Seven Steps of the Research Process [http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/skill1.htm]with permission from Olin Library Reference Research & Learning Services Cornell University Library Ithaca, NY, USA)

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Strategy for Success #1

Identify and Develop Your Topic 

 - State your topic as a question- Identify the main concepts or keywords in your question

 (Step 1 in "The Seven Steps of the Research Process")

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Strategy for Success #2

Find Background Information 

- Use keywords to search encyclopedias or subject dictionaries

(Step 2 in "The Seven Steps of the Research Process") 

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Strategies for Success #3

Look for information in a variety of places.

 - Search the library catalog for books.- Search online databases for journal articles.- Search the internet for appropriate web pages.

(Steps 3, 4, and 5 in "The Seven Steps of the Research Process")

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Strategy for Success #4

Evaluate the information you found. 

- Is it relevant to your topic?- Check the authority of the source.- Find supporting information. 

(Step 6 in "The Seven Steps of the Research Process")

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Strategy for Success #5

Cite what you find and use in a standard format.

 - MLA for English and other Humanities courses- APA for Psychology and other Social Science courses

(Step 7 in "The Seven Steps of the Research Process")

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Works Cited  

American Library Association. Presidential Committee on Information Literacy: Final Report. Rep. Chicago: American Library Association, 1989. ALA | Home - American Library Association. Web. 12 Oct. 2010.  American Library Association. Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. Working paper. Chicago: American Library Association, 2000. ALA | Home - American Library Association. Web. 12 Oct. 2010.  Olin Library Reference. "The Seven Steps of the Research Process." The Seven Steps of the Research Process | Olin & Uris Libraries. Cornell University Library, 22 Dec. 2009. Web. 12 Oct. 2010.

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