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Information Literacy at Norwich University: IL at Norwich

Resources about information literacy, assessment, and methods for faculty to incorporate these concepts into their courses.

Standards: ACRL, NEASC, UNESCO

 
The old standards*:
   Standard 1:
   Determine the nature and extent of the information needed.

 

   Standard 2:
   Accesses information effectively and efficiently.

 

   Standard 3:
   Critically evaluates and incorporates new information into current knowledge base and values system.

 

   Standard 4:
   Uses information effectively, as an individual or as a team member, to accomplish a specific purpose.

 

   Standard 5:
   Understands the economic, social, and legal issues surrounding information access and uses information ethically and legally.

*Note: old standards are expected to be replaced in 2014. Stay tuned for updates. 

ACRL Performance Indicators: Revised Standards for Libraries in Higher Education (October 2011)

NEASC Standards 7.1 to 7.11, 4.19, 4.20, 4.53

UNESCO: Towards Information Literacy Indicators (2008)

 

UNESCO: Information Literacy Basics, Standards, Models, and Case Studies (2009)

Credits

Many thanks to Randy Hensley at Baruch College for inspiring some of the content that appears on this guide.

What Is Information Literacy?

The information literate student is fluent in the manner of integrating critical thinking skills in both print and digital environments. Students are expected to graduate with fluencies that allow them to effectively communicate and perform competitively in environments that are information-rich and technologically intensive.

In order to thrive in a fast-moving global workplace and as an informed citizen of their community, graduates are increasingly expected to employ research skills acquired at the university level.

In the Classroom

Research indicates that a correlation exists between student library usage and grade point average:
 
"The Hong Kong Baptist University Library established a mathematical correlation between student library material usage and their cumulative grade point average. Taking 2007 to 2009 graduates as samples, with 8,701 pairs of data, the Library was able to demonstrate its impact on student learning outcomes." (Abstract)

High School to College Transition

How do first year college students conduct college-level research for the first time? Project Information Literacy conducted interviews with 35 freshmen from 6 U.S. colleges and universities. Click here to read the full report or watch the preview below. 

On the Job

In 2000, the U.S. Department of Labor found that key Workplace Essential Skills include the ability to "acquire and evaluate information". A majority of the twenty-one national and international sources surveyed also cite "locating, interpreting, converting, utilizing, and analyzing information in all formats and from all media" as essential to competing in the modern workplace (34).

Reach Higher, America: Overcoming Crisis in the U.S. Workforce, a June 2008 Report of the National Commission on Adult Literacy, states that the U.S. ranks poor among 30 OECD free-market countries when comparing education levels of the current and previous generations (v). In order to improve workplace skills by 2020, the Commission is urging greater emphasis on the ability "to communicate, acquire information, think critically, solve problems, use technology, and work in teams" (vii).

In a Global Society

The need for information literate graduates is echoed on the global scale in a 2009 World Bank report entitled, The Role of Media Literacy in the Governance Reform Agenda. Defined as "21st century survival literacies" by F.W. Horton, Jr., an active citizen has mastered "basic literacy skills, computer literacy, media literacy, distance education and e-learning, culturaly literacy, and information literacy" (4).