If you are a faculty member or instructor that is looking to include Information Literacy as part of your curriculum, we have a collection of resources here that can help you ingratiate the topic into your class effectively and with minimal disruption.
Identifying the Need: It is important to consider what you are hoping your students get out of an instruction session on Information Literacy, so that it can be tailored to fulfill that need. For most introductory level classes, we are seeking to give a high-level overview to familiarize students with the critical concepts found in Information Literacy, that they may have not encountered before.
For more advanced classes we may seek to tailor the instruction to the specific field that they will be conducting research, and how it fits within the broader information network of higher education.
The Earl S. Richardson library offers two main types for information literacy lessons:
The first is an introductory lesson covering a broad array of information literacy topics, with a focus on establishing a strong sense of the basics of information navigation and the 6 frames of information literacy. Students are exposed to database navigation, as well as resource analysis and critical thinking. While this lesson can be paired with a student assignment to give context to the concepts, it is not strictly neccessary. This lesson is recommended for lower level, general education courses.
The second lesson is more specialized, and focuses on how information literacy is immediately relevant to the course of field of study in question. This lesson is best when partnered with a specific assignment, such as a research paper, that the students will already be completing as a part of their regular studies. Information given is more context driven based on the class and assignment in question, and the librarian may be called upon multiple times for reference between the start of the assignment and its due date.
In both cases, the instructing librarian will coordinate with the professor to tailor the lesson to the needs of the instructor and students.
Information Literacy is an important topic for any student to master in order to be successful both academically as well as after graduation. The ability to locate, analyze, and evaluate information is of critical importance. By requesting an instruction session from our librarians, you can help your students be better prepared for the world that awaits them.
Introductory information literacy workshops can be introduced in the early stages of an undergraduate education in order to prepare students for the facets of research and analysis that will be a critical part of their degree seeking. Later, more specialized workshops attached to specific research assignments can help students apply those skills in a practical way.
