gardner11e

Employing Information Literacy Skills

By the time you graduate, you should have a level of information literacy that will carry you through your professional life. The Association of College and Research Libraries has developed the following best practices for the information-literate student. If you learn how to apply them, you’ll do well no matter where your educational and career paths take you.

206

Determine the nature and extent of the information needed. In general, this step involves first defining and articulating what information you need and then identifying a variety of potential sources.
Access information effectively and efficiently. Select the most appropriate research methods, use well-designed search strategies, refine those strategies along the way, and keep organized notes on what you find and where you find it.
Evaluate information and its sources critically. As an information-literate person, you’ll be able to apply criteria for judging the usefulness and reliability of both information and its sources. You’ll also become skilled at summarizing the main ideas presented by others and comparing new information with what you already know.
Incorporate information into what you already know and believe. To do this, you’ll determine what information is new, unique, or contradictory and consider whether it has an impact on what’s important to you. You’ll also validate, understand, or interpret the information through talking with other people. Finally, you’ll combine elements of different ideas to construct new concepts of your own making.
Use information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose. You’ll apply information to planning and creating a particular product or performance, revising the development process as necessary, and communicating the results to others.
Access and use information ethically and legally. There are economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the retrieval and use of information. You’ll need to understand and follow laws, regulations, institutional policies, and etiquette related to copyright and intellectual property. Most important, you should acknowledge the use of information from sources in everything you write, record, or broadcast.¹