Information Literacy:

From Standards

To Framework

Sara D. Miller

Michigan State University Libraries

Library-Led DH Pedagogy Workshop

October 17, 2014

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Why standards?

• Define and codify IL

• Set expectations

• Librarian role

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Development

of Standards

• 2000, ACRL

• Standards and

Performance

Indicators

• Skills /abilities

focus

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IL: “Old” Definition

• Information literacy is 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." (1)https://www.flickr.com/photos/andikam/6169917260/

Standard #1

• The information literate student determines the nature and extent of the information needed

Performance indicators: – defines and articulates the need for information– identifies a variety of types and formats of potential

sources for information. – considers the costs and benefits of acquiring the

needed information– reevaluates the nature and extent of the information

need.

Standards 1-5 and Performance Indicators taken from ACRL Standards (see citations)

Standard #2

• The information literate student accesses needed information effectively and efficiently

Performance indicators:– selects the most appropriate investigative methods or

information retrieval systems for accessing the needed information

– constructs and implements effectively-designed search strategies

– retrieves information online or in person using a variety of methods

– refines the search strategy if necessary– extracts, records, and manages the information and its

sources

Standards #3-5

The information literate student…

• 3. evaluates information and its sources critically and incorporates selected information into his or her knowledge base and value system.

• 4. individually or as a member of a group, uses information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose.

• 5. understands many of the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information and accesses and uses information ethically and legally.

• Standardized assessments

• AAC&U VALUE rubric

• Integration into campuswide goals

• Learning Outcomes

• Curriculum Mapping

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Used to

develop:

Impetus for revision

• Linear process

• Consumer focus

• Skills and tools over concepts

• “Deficiency” model

• Prioritizing of 1-3

• Roles of librarians https://www.flickr.com/photos/96dpi/3227807209/

• Threshold concepts• Metaliteracy• Knowledge processes

(or abilities) and dispositions

• Next draft: November 1, finalized January 2015

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New Framework:

Theoretical background

IL Redefined

• Information literacy is 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." 1

• Information literacy is a repertoire of understandings, practices, and dispositions focused on flexible engagement with the information ecosystem, underpinned by critical self-reflection. The repertoire involves finding, evaluating, interpreting, managing, and using information to answer questions and develop new ones; and creating new knowledge through ethical participation in communities of learning, scholarship, and practice. 2

Structural differences

Standards

Performance

indicators

Outcomes

Frames

Knowledge processes

(abilities)

Dispositions

Scholarship is a Conversation

• Scholarship is a conversation refers to the idea of sustained discourse within a community of scholars or thinkers, with new insights and discoveries occurring over time as a result of competing perspectives and interpretations.

– Knowledge processes (abilities): Identify the contribution that particular articles, books, and other scholarly pieces make to disciplinary knowledge.

– Dispositions:See themselves as contributors to scholarship rather than only consumers of it.

Frames taken from Draft 2, ACRL Framework (See citation)

Research as Inquiry

• Research as Inquiry refers to an understanding that research is iterative and depends upon asking increasingly complex questions whose answers develop new questions or lines of inquiry in any field.

– Knowledge processes (abilities): Provide evidence of understanding that methods of research leading to new knowledge creation vary by need, circumstance, and type of inquiry.

– Dispositions:Value intellectual curiosity in developing questions and learning new investigative methods.

Authority is Constructed and

Contextual• Authority of information resources depends upon the

resources’ origins, the information need, and the context in which the information will be used. This authority is viewed with an attitude of informed skepticism and an openness to new perspectives, additional voices, and changes in schools of thought.

– Knowledge processes (abilities): Identify markers of authority when engaging with information, understanding the elements that might temper that authority.

– Dispositions:Motivated to find authoritative sources, recognizing that authority may be conferred or manifested in unexpected ways.

Format as a Process

• Format is the way tangible knowledge is disseminated. The essential characteristic of format is the underlying process of information creation, production, and dissemination, rather than how the content is delivered or experienced.

– Knowledge processes (abilities): Recognize that different creation processes result in the presence of distinct attributes.

– Dispositions:Are inclined to seek out markers for information sources that indicate the underlying creation process.

Searching as Exploration• Locating information requires a combination of inquiry,

discovery, and serendipity. There is no one size fits all source to find the needed information. Information discovery is nonlinear and iterative, requiring the use of a broad range of information sources and flexibility to pursuit alternate avenues as new understanding is developed.

– Knowledge processes (abilities): Demonstrate the importance of matching information needs and search strategies to appropriate search tools.

– Dispositions:Show through their searching that they value persistence, adaptability, and flexibility.

Information has Value

• Information has Value acknowledges that the creation of information and products derived from information requires a commitment of time, original thought, and resources that need to be respected by those seeking to use these products, or create their own based on the work of others. In addition, information may be valued more or less highly based on its creator, its audience/consumer, or its message.

– Knowledge processes (abilities): Articulate the purpose and distinguishing characteristics of copyright, open access, and public domain.

– Dispositions:See themselves as contributors to the information marketplace rather than only consumers of it.

Implications

• Collaboration and Creativity

• Pedagogy

• Transdisciplinary applications

• Skills in service of concepts

• Assessmenthttps://www.flickr.com/photos/slimjim/6988324783/

Clarifying “Format”

Integrated pedagogy

...Your ideas

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Intersection

s with DH

Citations

• 1Association of College and Research Libraries. Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. 2000. http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/informationliteracycompetency

• 2Association of College and Research Libraries. Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education, Draft 2. 2014: http://acrl.ala.org/ilstandards/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Framework-for-IL-for-HE-Draft-2.pdf

Further Reading• Townsend, Lori, Korey Brunetti, and Amy R.

Hofer. “Threshold Concepts and Information Literacy.” portal: Libraries and the Academy 11.3 (2011): 853–869.

• Mackey, Thomas P., and Trudi E. Jacobson. “Reframing Information Literacy as a Metaliteracy.” College & Research Libraries 72.1 (2011): 62–78.

• Oakleaf, Megan. “A Roadmap for Assessing Student Learning Using the New Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education.” The Journal of Academic Librarianship 40.5 (2014): 510–514.