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Information Literacy In the Academic Environment

This is a bibliography of Information Literacy resources compiled by students enrolled in the University of South Carolina's Library and Information Science program. The members in the group are Tony Ard, Maureen Cahill, Chris Colthorpe, Thom Longino, Ruth McCutcheon, Fran Norton, Janey Oliphint, Tracey Pearson, Jennifer Peko, Carol Schenk, Michael Shell, Michael Wilson, and Sylvia Woodall. Thank you to all of the members for your contributions. This bibliography contains Definitions of IL (Information Literacy), links to IL on the Internet, Articles about IL, and Examples of IL from other libraries.

Information Literacy Defined

A variety of different definitions of information literacy from various papers and organizations can be found at http://www.ucalgary.ca/library/ILG/litdef.html.

The ACRL (Association of College & Research Libraries )has developed a set of Guidelines for Instruction Programs in Academic Libraries. This document is available online at http://proxy-mail.mailcity.lycos.com/bin/redirector.cgi?http://www.ala.org/acrl/guides/guiis.html

For some general information on BI from University of Baltimore http://www.medhelp.org/. This is a virtual medical library that has a handy link for help if the user needs it.

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Information Literacy on the Web

The American Association of Law Libraries, http://www.aallnet.org organizes continuing education programs and discussion forums, many of which deal with BI.

Bibliographic Instruction Resources on the Internet, UC Berkeley Library http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/BIResources.html. Has links to BI articles available on the Web, collections of instructional material for library research, library research tutorials, and listservs related to BI.

Collaborative Information Literacy Project from Ulster County Community College Patricia Carroll-Matthes, Developer, http://www.umuc.edu/~kelley/webb/syll10.html. Describes a credit-bearing information literacy course developed jointly by faculty and librarians at a 2-year college.

CTILAC(Critical Thinking and Information Literacy Across the Curriculum) at Bellevue Community College http://ir.bcc.ctc.edu/library/ilac/default.htm. From the Web site: "CTILAC infuses critical thinking and information literacy across the BCC curricula as competencies, utilizing scientific concepts and science-related issues. The project helps BCC faculty integrate critical thinking, information literacy, science literacy and information technology into their courses."

Designing Effective Library Assignments, http://staff.philacol.edu/bells/sjbweb/libassign/index.htm, is a Workshop on Collaboration between Faculty and Librarians for Teaching Library Research Skills developed by the Gutman Library at Philadelphia University. "The goal of this workshop is to encourage a dialogue between faculty and library staff to improve our methods for teaching students how to effectively use information resources. "

Directory of Online Resources for Information Literacy, http://www.cas.usf.edu/lis/il/. DORIL is for librarians and Educators. This has a very thorough outline-style presentation of hyperlinks for defining the info need, locating and accessing info, evaluating info, using and communicating info, citation and speaking.

This is an Ebsconet website that has some good information literacy topics including a link to The Big Six Skills, Evaluating Internet Resources, a thinking skills tutorial as they relate to internet resources and a project on Information Competence (a selection of tutorials): http://www.ebscosrn.com/educators/lrc/infolit.html.

FIU Information Literacy Home Page, http://www.fiu.edu/~library/ili/, describes Florida International University Library's initiative to integrate IL across the curriculum.

IFLANET (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions) located at http://www.lifla.org/VII/rt12/rtued.htm features the User Education Round Table. "The primary purpose of the User Education Round Table is to foster international cooperation in the development of user education in all types of libraries. The Round Table focuses on all aspects of user education including information literacy, learning styles, the use of computers, networked resources, and media in the development of instructional programs, distance education, and the training of librarians in user education."

Information Literacy (U of Maryland), http://www.inform.umd.edu/LibInfo/literacy/. Has hyperlinks to articles, bibliographies, guides, instruction, references and standards.

Learning: The Critical Technology is a web site that may be used as a motivational link between professors and the achievement of library literacy. This site can be found at http://www.wavetech.com/whtpaper/abttmwp.html

Library Instruction Round Table (LIRT) http://diogenes.baylor.edu/Library/LIRT/. This site provides a list of the top 20 library instruction articles for each year from 1995 to 1998, access to the LIRT News from June 1995, and a link to outstanding library instruction tutorials on the Web.

The National Literacy Trust -check out the Post-16 and adult literacy and who applies to university. http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/Database/index.html

The Teaching Library: Information Literacy Survey is from the USC-Berkeley Library. http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Survey.html

Some libraries do advertise their programs for library instruction. The University of Oregon is a good example of this at http://libweb.uoregon.edu/instruct/index.html. The page is well laid out, and provides many links to useful information. There is also a section for faculty, advising them that the library staff is there to help them design useful lesson plans.

The Wisconsin Association of Academic Librarians (WAAL) Ad Hoc Information Literacy Committee sponsors a great web site called Information Literacy and Academic Libraries at http://www.wla.lib.wi.us/waal/infolit/links.html. Directories, Terminology Competencies, Programs, Organizations/Conferences, and Bibliographies and Recent Articles/Papers about information literacy are all included on this web site.

Washington and Lee University held a conference on Information Literacy and compiled the following list of college related information literacy websites. It can be found at http://www.wlu.edu/~joverhol/newchalk/nov98/more.html

Here are some additional sites on Info LIT and Distance Ed and Higher Ed.

http://ww2.csusm.edu/library/ILP/ This site has information on ILP (Information Literacy Program), GE requirements, and has links to research tutorials and guides. The MISSION of the Information Literacy Program is to infuse throughout the curriculum the teaching of information theory, concepts, skills and use of the library to the CSUSM community and formal CSUSM outreach programs, focusing on those skills necessary for accessing, retrieving, evaluating and using information.
http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/de/firstliteracy.html INFORMATION LITERACY MODULES. This series of modules on information literacy has two basic purposes, both of which combine content with the understanding of the World Wide Web (WWW) as a communications system and information delivery tool. To increase understanding of various components of information literacy while developing competence in navigating the WWW. To increase knowledge of the range of resources available on the WWW while evaluating the quality, authority, and authenticity of those resources.
http://www.dinf.org/csun_99/session0151.html DELIVERING ACCESSIBLE LIBRARY SERVICES IN A DISTANCE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT a paper by Steve Noble Manager, Product Development Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic.
http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~tep/technology/resources.html Vital Instructional Technology Resources, hundreds of organizations exist to explore the uses of and increase the quality of instructional technology in higher education.
http://staff.philacol.edu/bells/sjbweb/libassign/index.htm, materials from a workshop at the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science to encourage dialogue between faculty and library staff in order to improve methods for teaching students how to effectively use information resources. Materials from this workshop are available at the site, as well as links to "Tips for Effective Library Assignments" from University of Connecticut, Queen's University - Ontario, Cal State - Long Beach, and others.
A nice list of BI resources for academic libraries, http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/BIResources.html can be found here.

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Articles on Information Literacy

Being Fluent with Information Technology (an online book), http://books.nap.edu/books/030906399X/html/, from the Committee on Information Technology Literacy.

"Bibliographic instruction and postmodern pedagogy", Hubbard, Taylor E Library Trends | v44n2 | p439-452 | Fall 1995 ABSTRACT: Postmodernist debates in academic circles provide expanded opportunities for making information studies an integrated part of the academic program. Postmodern concepts provided by textual criticism and the sociology of knowledge can turn libraries into learning laboratories for studying information in the context of the academic discourses that create it.

Brandt, D. Scott. 1998. "Compartmentalizing computer training." Computers in libraries, vol. 18, no. 1, p.41 (4). [Available through InfoTrac Extended Academic ASAP, Article A20166537.] Proposes that teaching library computer use instruction would work better if we teach separate units for the three components of technology (basic function skills), information technology (how information is manipulated electronically) and information literacy (the traditional, though electronic resource oriented, topic).

Prestamo, Anne M. "Development of Web-based tutorials for online databases." Issues in science and technology librarianship, Winter 1998. Available at http://www.library.ucsb.edu/istl/98-winter/article3.html. A bit different focus than the others, but describes step by step the development of on tutorial: needs analysis, audience/environment analysis, strategy analysis, unit configuration, unit detailing, implementation, evaluation. Links to this tutorial and other examples. Extensive references, mostly hotlinked.

Wisconsin Assoc. of Academic Librarians (WAAL): Info Literacy &Academic Libraries, http://facstaff.uww.edu/waal/infolit/links.html, links to Web articles on directories, terminology, competencies, programs, organizations, conferences, bibliographies and other recent articles and papers.

This article by Dupuis, Elizabeth A. called "The Information Literacy Challenge: Addressing the Changing Needs of Our Students through Our Programs" Internet Reference Services Quarterly vol. 2 (1997)
The article addresses the fact that students are entering colleges with many different perceptions of computers and technology. It provides many hyperlinked sites to information learning on the Internet for students in primary and secondary schools. Initiatives that future students will be exposed to before entering higher institutions of learning. Make sure you check out Teaching and Learning on the Web if you are interested in the integration of technology into k-12 education. This site contains some excellent ways to integrate the Internet into the classroom. The article suggests some basic skills that the information literate should know. Such as..."

understanding of the complexities of the information environment and technologies involved
ability to articulate when and what information is needed
ability to select appropriate tools or sources and search them effectively
ability to evaluate materials across mediums and formats
ability to manipulate and organize the information retrieved
ability to communicate to others the location and content of the information found"

The article provides some suggestions implemented at the University of Texas such as "basic Internet instruction classes, a wide array of electronic library services, hands-on training rooms" and something called EICs (electronic information centers) where librarians are on-hand to provide help with research using a variety of electronic resources.

"Information Literacy for Lifelong Learning" from the ERIC Digest- ED358870, May 93. Hancock, Vicki E. This article is available Online at http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed358870.html

Some librarians advocate working closely with faculty as a way to improve student's bibliographic instruction. By educating teachers as to what is and is not possible in the library, the teachers can design course that make better use of library resources. "Innovation and Collaboration Brings Forth a New Approach to Bibliographic Instruction-Teach the Teachers", Journal of Interlibrary Loan, Document Delivery & Information Supply, Vol. 8(2) 1997.

Law Librarians Resource Exchange, http://www.llrx.com, provides a collection of articles and discussions about all aspects of law librarianship, including instruction.

A helpful article from the ALA's Learning Through the Library site at http://www.ala.org/aasl/learning/nutshell/harada_yoshina_1997.html, suggests that librarians help students improve their information searching and critical thinking skills through one-on-one help. Although one-on-one help is desirable, It is not always realistic in a classroom environment. I think that breaking students into groups as the previous article suggested would help in allowing the teacher to give more individual attention to some students. Through collaborative problem solving, some groups may be able to answer their own question. Other small groups could be more easily helped. > Both of these websites included some things we are already doing at the community college library; however, they also have some great new ideas. Often, librarians do have to provide one-on-one assistance because that is how the students trickle in. I think it is a ood idea to help the students narrow their questions and guide them rather than actively do the searching for them. After their formal bibliographic instruction, given in all freshman English classes and most others at the beginning of the semester, they should be able to do their own basic searching.

"Library instruction: What is our classroom?", Feinman, Valerie Jackson Computers in Libraries | v14n2 | p33-36 | Feb 1994 ABSTRACT: Bibliographic instruction (BI) classes used to be held in the reference area of libraries, but times are changing. Many libraries now teach BI in teaching labs with computer stations and printers.

Smith, Rise L. 1997. "Philosophical shift: Teach the faculty to teach information literacy." ACRL online article. Available at http://www.ala.org/acrl/paperhtm/d38.html. Talks about integrating information literacy across the curriculum, and about what is involved in "teaching the teachers" to embrace and carry out BI. A process I'm already recognizing as essential for academic librarians.

The roles of digital libraries in teaching and learning, http://www.glue.umd.edu/~dlrg/cacm/main.html, this "paper describes how digital libraries are evolving to meet the needs of teaching and learning and identifies issues for continued development." The whole site is great, especially the article on how libraries support teaching and learning.

Kamhi-Stein, Lia D. and Alan Paul Stein, 1998. "Teaching information competency as a third language: A new model for library instruction." Reference & user services quarterly, vol. 38, no. 2, pp.173-79. [Available through InfoTrac Extended Academic ASAP, Article A54467379.] Defines six principles for library instruction, based on TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). Describes how these principles were applied in collaboration between library staff and university faculty. The model works powerfully for "mainstream" students as well.

Souchek, Russell and Marjorie Meier. 1997. "Teaching information literacy and scientific process skills: An integrated approach." College teaching, vol. 45, no. 4, p. 128 (4). [Available through InfoTrac Extended Academic ASAP, Article A20189223.] A specific example of what is proposed in the previous article. In this case, a biology professor and a librarian jointly developed a program to provide students in an introductory zoology class with integrated instruction in information literacy and the scientific process.

"Teaching Research Skills: Innovative Strategies for Library Use Instructions", http://iti.acns.nwu.edu/slatran/teach.html is a series of articles from the 87th Special Libraries Assoc. Conference on 6/10/96. Two in particular look valuable to our group: "Toolkit for Training the Trainer," by Jo Cates, which links to her online booklet, "Training and Developing the Trainer: A Selected Resource Guide.""Overview of New Instruction Strategies," by Ren McHenry, which includes her presentation slides.

Seiden, Peggy, Kris Szymborski, and Barbara Norelli. 1997. "Undergraduate students in the digital library: Information seeking behavior in an heterogeneous environment." ACRL online article. Available at http://www.ala.org/acrl/paperhtm/c26.html. A broad-ranging research paper which looks broadly at 1) students' general information-seeking behavior, 2) their search strategies, and 3) how they acquired their knowledge of online searching and the level of their expertise. A long, thorough study.

"Way beyond BI: A look to the future", Herrington, Verlene J Journal of Academic Librarianship | v24n5 | p381-386 | Sep 1998 ABSTRACT: Herrington discusses how technology is defining the future role of library instruction and proposes a new model of bibliographic instruction based on a positive belief system.

Some additional articles may be found at the following web sites

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/is/publications/eli/bibliography.html is a BI bibliography of Information Literacy documents. Most of the resources listed are ancient; but what a treasure trove of thinking about BI. Just from the annotations you can piece together a history of thinking about BI, primarily in academic settings.
"Teaching a Megacourse: Adventures in Environmental Policy, Team Teaching, and Group Grading" 47 Journal of Legal Education 224 (1997). This article describes a two semester course on environmental problems which departs in every respect from traditional law school training. Students participated in role playing and simulation, worked co-operatively, and learned to use specialized resources from law librarians!
http://www.llrx.com/columns/guide4.htm, "A Structure for Designing Instruction in Five Easy Pieces" outlines a content architecture for instruction: facts, concepts, procedures, processes, and principles.
http://diogenes.baylor.edu/Library/LIRT/learning.html, a learning styles and BI bibliography prepared for the 1997 Library Instruction Round Table (LIRT) Conference.
The Assistant Director for Research, Instruction, and Access at the University of North Carolina published an article in the AALL newsletter promoting instruction through her library's online tutorial. http://aall.wuacc.edu/sis/allsis/1998/bibliographic.html
Check out the bibliography that the University of Texas put up for IL. It is by the SUNY Council of Library Directors Information Literacy Initiative and can be found at http://olis.sysadm.suny.edu/ili/bibliography.htm.
An interesting short article on IL from Ann Smith, a librarian at Augustana College, Sioux Falls, SD. You'll find it at http://inst.augie.edu/~asmith/infolit.html. Ann suggests some trends that she has observed and provides hyperlinked suggestions for solving the problems. One of the most important thing that she mentioned was that students are usually searching for quantity rather than quality. They come to the reference desk with the idea that they need 5 sources. The thought that 3 really great sources would be more useful. They want to beef up their bibliography. Ann suggests showing students the differences between great sources and so-so ones, the differences between fact and opinion.
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~kschwart/ed601/bi.htm#infolitThis site features an excellent discussion of BI and IL; the history of bibliographic instruction, why and why not to use the WWW, and more.

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Some examples of Information Literacy in use.

Lesson Plans

Evaluating Web Resources, http://www2.widener.edu/Wolfgram-Memorial-Library/webeval.htm. This is a great lesson plan on evaluating information found on the Web. It includes a Power Point presentation and bibliography.
Here's what the folks at Shorter have done so far to push IL: http://www.shorter.edu/academ/library/lessons/Default.htm. There's an exercise after every lesson that is graded by a librarian and which figures into students' course grades.

Online Tutorials

There are some excellent Online tutorials from Welch Library of John Hopkins University http://www.ubalt.edu/langlib/instruction/train.html.
Here is another Online tutorial, from Humboldt State University Library in Virginia, Information Literacy: Achieving Basic Competency http://library.humboldt.edu/infoservices/literacy/home.html. This is a thorough and well-organized self-guided tutorial with eight modules and an extensive glossary of library and information technology terms.
You can link to a page which details the goals and objectives of each module: Information-seeking and Evaluation Skills, http://library.humboldt.edu/infoservices/literacy/infoskll.htm. The modules are 1) Orientation to HSU Library 2) Introduction to the Information World: how information is organized in libraries; how to identify a need and find an appropriate source; how to compare quality of Internet vs. library sources 3) Searching an Electronic Database: terminology; selection; search techniques 4) Finding Information Resources: guides and bibliographies for the university's OPAC and its print and online sources 5) Using Internet Sources 6) Evaluating Sources of Information 7) Information Ethics: Citing Sources and Fair Use Policy 8) Applying a Research Paper Search Strategy Each module has an step-by-step presentation, sometimes with links to specific information, examples or exercises.
Loyla University Libraries,http://www.luc.edu/libraries/instruct.html, offers an interactive, online tutorial for developing critical assessment skills.
Another online tutorial for students who are not familiar with legal research put together by the law library at UNC is at http://library.law.unc.edu/tutorial.
Cornell University also has a web tutorial on conducting library research. Their site is located at http://www.library.cornell.edu/okuref/research/tutorial.html. It contains step-by-step procedures on identifying a topic to research, finding information from a variety of sources, evaluating this information, and citing your sources. I thought that they were very thorough.
Griffith University has an interesting and experimental online research guide. It explains information and its sources in a clear, although somewhat simplistic, manner. Unfortunately, the graphics for the site are anything but simplistic. The address is: http://www4.gu.edu.au/shr/lrt/index.htm.
A very good site may be found at: http://www.mctc.mnscu.edu/acad/library/tutorials/infolit/tablesversion/home.htm. This tutorial is a self-paced instructional resource designed to assist Minneapolis Community & Technical College students master information literacy skills. It includes a Pre-Test, with true/false questions such as "The Internet is the best source for locating information on all topics." Another question asks "Library classification systems attempt to shelve books together by? (choose one) The options are: author, color, year of publication, and subject. (I think that many of our students would prefer "color.") Lessons include relevant topics like "The production of knowledge," "Citing your sources," and "Intellectual freedom & censorship." The site also a list of assignments, quizes, exercises, and handouts.

Library Programs

Library Instruction Programs, http://lib.nmsu.edu/staff/susabeck/biguide.html, - includes library instruction programs from various academic settings.
CSU Information Competency Project, http://www.lib.calpoly.edu/infocomp/index_calpoly.html. This site is a focal point for the Information Competence initiatives within the California State University system. The site describes the project, provides input by CSU librarians and faculty, demonstrates the results, and serves as a learinghouse.
This site contains numerous library workshops offered at Georgia Southern University, http://www2.gasou.edu/library/workshops.html. Or for a directory of all kinds of research guides, pathfinders, lesson plans used at the Georgia Southern Library click to http://www2.gasou.edu/library/guides.html#ToC3.
A collection of syllabi from advanced legal research classes taught by librarians at a variety of law schools can be found at http://law.utulsa.edu/zope/alr.
Tri-County Technical College has an excellent program described here www.appnet.org/infolit/. The website includes an information literacy model. Three levels of instruction include 1) learning to use the tools of research, 2) evaluating quality, error and bias and 3) using the information sources in the context of careers. Also included are results of student and instructor surveys. It provides excellent description of the information literacy curriculum in the college.
This site from Pine Technical College, www.ptc.tec.mn.us/media/tutorial.htm has an information literacy and research skills tutorial. It is worth exploring including an interactive online pretest, seven lessons, seven quizzes, ten assignments, database exercises and instructor's resources. The introduction to the tutorial describes a person who is information literate understands the context in which knowledge is produced, the context in which knowledge is organized, how to develop information seeking strategies, how to evaluate information, how to apply critical thinking skills and that "free and open communication of ideas is crucial to sustaining a democratic society".
University of Wisconsin has developed an interactive IL skills workbook at http://www.uwp.edu/library/. This workbook contains lessons on how to search the library catalog, use periodical databases to find citations, using reference sources and even the Internet.
http://www.coastal.edu/library/linstruc.htmThis is the website for Coastal Carolina's bibliographic instruction. They have a program where students visit the library every semester, required by the curriculum. This website is a good source for course related instruction. Their program allows students to gradually learn information semester by semester.
Link to IL program materials at Arizona,http://dizzy.library.arizona.edu/infolit and check out