Anytime you find yourself searching for information, evaluating its credibility, and using the information for a particular purpose, you are flexing you information literacy skills. When you produce information, whether for a social media post or a scholarly journal, you are contributing to the information ecosystem. Auburn University expects its graduates to leave Auburn with effective information literacy skills and an understanding of their place in creating and sharing information. Librarians can share their expertise in this area to help faculty teach information literacy skills to their students. This includes most aspects of the research process. Contact us for more information.
Information literacy is a General Education Student Learning Outcome at Auburn.
The Outcome: Students will locate, evaluate, and use information effectively.
The Sub-Outcomes (modeled from the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education):
1. Identify relevant sources for specific information needs and use appropriate search tools and search strategies to access the needed information.
2. Recognize research and inquiry as iterative processes and recognize the contributions of scholarly communication and other information sharing networks to the creation of new knowledge.
3. Apply their knowledge of the capabilities and constraints of information developed through various creation processes when assessing the alignment of information products and information needs and apply knowledge of the constructed and contextual nature of authority when evaluating the credibility of claims.
4. Recognize that information possesses value and that legal, social, and economic factors influence information production, dissemination, and access and deploy this understanding to make informed and ethical decisions about how they access and use information.
Information Literacy & the Research Process
The Process
Students understand that research is not a linear process.
Locating
Students develop a strategy when determining where and how to find relevant information.
Evaluating
Students consider authority, processes of creation, and information need when evaluating information.
Using
Students recognize the legal, social, and economic factors attached to the production and use of information.
