Information Literacy: Instructional 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
• Workshops

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, 210

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 F2F information literacy instruction classes, facilitate workshops in individual classroom settings and embed in Ulearn course sites.

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. The frames developed by ACRL are listed alphabetically with descriptions and outcomes below. They are interconnected and are not meant to be taught sequentially.

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

Authority is Constructed and Contextual / University Outcome: Lifelong Learning

Authority of information depends on where a source comes from, information need, and how the information will be used. It is both constructed and contextual. Authority should be viewed with an attitude of informed skepticism and openness to new perspectives, additional voices, and changes in schools of thought.

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.

Information Has Value / University Outcome: Global & Community Citizenship

Information possesses several dimensions of value, including as a commodity, as a means of education, as a means to influence, and as a means of negotiating and understanding the world. The flow of information through systems of production and dissemination is affected by legal, sociopolitical, and economic interests.

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

• 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.

Research As Inquiry / University Outcomes: Professional Competence/Lifelong Learning

Research as Inquiry refers to an understanding that research is iterative and  depends upon asking increasingly complex or new questions whose answers prompt additional questions or lines of inquiry in any field.

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

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

Scholarship As Conversation / University Outcome: Professional Competence

Scholarship As Conversation refers to the idea of sustained discourses within communities of scholars, researchers, or professionals, with new insights and discoveries occurring over time as a result of competing perspectives and interpretations.

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

• 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. 

Searching As Strategic Exploration / University Outcome: Lifelong Learning

Encompassing inquiry, discovery, and flexibility, searching identifies both possible relevant sources and how to access those sources. Searching is a contextualized, complex experience that affects, and is affected by, the cognitive, affective, and social dimensions of the searcher.

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

• 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