Information Literacy Services

Table of Contents

• What is Information Literacy?
• What Information Literacy Services are provided by the libraries?
• Who do I call to arrange for Information Literacy Services?
• What facilities are used for Information Literacy Services?

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What is Information Literacy?

"Information literacy is a survival skill in the Information Age. Instead of drowning in the abundance of information that floods their lives, information literate people know how to find, evaluate, and use information effectively to solve a particular problem or make a decision---whether the information they select comes from a computer, a book, a government agency, a film, or any number of other possible resources."  (Presidential Committee on Information Literacy)

The American Library Association defines information literacy as a set of abilities requiring individuals to "recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information" (Introduction to the Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education).  In addition, the information literate person is able to "understand the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information, and access and use information ethically and legally."

The ALA also distinguishes between information literacy and information technology:  

"Information literacy is related to information technology skills, but has broader implications for the individual, the educational system, and for society. Information technology skills enable an individual to use computers, software applications, databases, and other technologies to achieve a wide variety of academic, work-related, and personal goals. Information literate individuals necessarily develop some technology skills...(but) Information literacy...is a distinct and broader area of competence."

"Information literacy forms the basis for lifelong learning. It is common to all disciplines, to all learning environments, and to all levels of education. It enables learners to master content and extend their investigations, become more self-directed, and assume greater control over their own learning."

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What Information Literacy Services are provided by the libraries?

The libraries' Information Literacy program involves seven or eight public service librarians providing instruction on many levels, from first-year through graduate, generally at the request of the course instructor.  Almost all of our instruction is directly related to or integrated with a course.

The bulk of our effort goes into instruction at the first-year level for the First-Year Seminar (FYS) courses of the Core Curriculum. Required for a full year, Seminar students must write a research paper, as well as demonstrate proficiency in speaking and discussion. 

Librarians typically provide FYS students with orientation sessions in the fall semester and more in-depth, topic-related instruction in the spring semester. The fall sessions can range from a simple building tour to several sessions related to an assignment and involving orientation to the buildings, the web site, and the general online indexes and journals. 

Either semester, students may also be introduced to RefWorks, a web-based bibliography and database manager they can use to create a personal database of citations to sources, for FYS as well as for other purposes.  They can insert the citations into their papers and automatically format the paper and the bibliography using their choice of citation styles.

The spring FYS sessions are more varied and involved, and it is generally then that librarians prepare course web pages tailored to an individual class's needs. These pages typically include information on both print and electronic resources with links to resources for citing materials. These web page can be updated as needed throughout the semester, and students can use it as an active and dynamic "base" for their literature research needs. Subject web pages are also available.

Librarians also provide information literacy sessions for upper level classes and are most willing to participate in Moodle or other course activities. Please Ask a Librarian.

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Who do I call to arrange for Information Literacy Services?

Faculty, staff, current students, and members of the Benedictine communities at SJU and CSB may request Information Literacy services.  Arrangements for instruction in a particular subject area can be made by contacting the reference librarian listed for that subject on the Library Contacts page.  For more information call Tom Nichol at CSB Clemens Library (#5802), or send an e-mail to tnichol@csbsju.edu.

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What facilities are used for Information Literacy Services?

Each library is equipped with an instruction space that includes computer projection equipment for demonstration purposes (AV1 and AV2 in Alcuin Library and the Clemens Computing Center Lab in Clemens Library).

Librarians also use COWs (computers on wheels) for demonstration in regular classrooms or arrange to use one of the technology classrooms, some of which are labs and allow hands-on instruction.

Comments to Tom Nichol.
Last updated: August 14, 2007. Links checked: August 14, 2007.