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Information Literacy: Instructional Services

Contact Information

Please contact Sarah Campbell, Reference & Instruction Librarian, if you would like to schedule a library instruction session for Downcity and Lisa Spicola, Interim Director, for Harborside.

scampbell@jwu.edu / 401.598.5019   

lspicola@jwu.edu / 401.598.1282    

Instruction Services

The JWU University Library uses the Association of College & Research Libraries’ Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education as well as discipline-specific standards as guiding documents for instructional services.

Information literacy is the set of integrated abilities encompassing the reflective discovery of information, the understanding of how information is produced and valued, and the use of information in creating new knowledge and participating ethically in communities of learning.

Services offered:

  • Course-integrated information literacy sessions
  • Tutorials and research guides
  • individual or group research appointments

For questions or assistance with IL integration into assignments, customized research guides, or ulearn embedding services please contact, Sarah Campbell

scampbell@jwu.edu

401-598-5019

Yena Center, 206

Mission Statement

Information literacy is the set of integrated abilities encompassing the reflective discovery of information, the understanding of how information is produced and valued, the use of information in creating new knowledge, and the ethical participation in communities of learning.

The teaching librarians cultivate in JWU students, and other users of the library, information literacy skills that will enable lifelong discovery and creation of intellectual property. Our Library Instruction Program aims to alleviate library anxiety that acts as a psychological barrier to learning, hindering many students from using the library efficiently and effectively for their course work and professional interests.

In order to meet the needs of the diverse nature of the JWU Providence learning community, librarian instructors teach in-person information literacy instruction classes, facilitate workshops in individual classroom settings and embed in Ulearn course sites.

Outcomes

These information literacy outcomes are meant to be accomplished over an undergraduate student’s career across all disciplines, through collaboration between librarians and faculty in assignments, courses, and curricula. 

JWU University Library outcomes are mapped both to the ACRL's frames as well as to university outcomes.

JWU University Library Outcomes:

By the time undergraduate students graduate, the information literate JWU student will be able to:

  • evaluate the credibility of an information source while recognizing the relevance of authority, and the value of multiple perspectives and diverse voices.

  • ethically use and attribute information sources, recognizing systemic issues of access, including the ways in which marginalized voices are often suppressed within the systems that produce and disseminate information.

  • apply multiple strategies and tools to critically evaluate information sources, while understanding the research process involves asking new and increasingly complex questions.

  • recognize scholarly conversation as sustained discourse within a community, with new insights and discoveries occurring over time, as a result of new perspectives and interpretations. 

  • demonstrate research resilience by analyzing, evaluating, and using diverse information sources, seeking guidance from experts when needed.

USC. (April 2, 2015). USC Libraries Information Literacy Outcomes for Undergraduates. Retrieved from

                https://www.usc.edu/libraries/about/instruction/instructional_services/.  

Adapted from: https://libraries.usc.edu/research/instructional-services/learning-outcomes