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Information Literacy For All!
Information literacy is quickly becoming one of the hot skills of the 21st century. It has been featured prominently the Middle States Commission on Higher Education’s Characteristics of Excellence in Higher Education, recent New York Times articles, campus workshops, and a new standardized test from the Educational Testing Service. It is also at the heart of Langsdale Library’s new Information Literacy Initiative.
How is information literacy different than traditional research skills? The answer, like so many other answers, lies in the Internet.
Before the explosion of the Internet, information was much harder to find. Librarians concentrated on helping students master the tools needed just to locate information—specialized encyclopedias, print indexes and the old card catalog.
Now, advanced tools like electronic databases, the library’s online catalog and Google have made it easier than ever to locate some information on nearly any topic. Unfortunately, some information doesn’t always mean the right information. Information literacy takes a broader look at research skills, focusing not just on searching, but on the concepts and critical thinking involved in research. It helps students overcome information overload, identify the best information for their needs and use it wisely.
The librarians at Langsdale want to make sure that every University of Baltimore student learns the following key information literacy skills:
• understanding their information needs
• locating information efficiently
• evaluating their sources
• using information effectively
• using information ethically
Librarians can’t do this alone. Close collaboration between librarians and teaching faculty is one of the key components of the Information Literacy Initiative. Information literacy skills aren’t learned in a vacuum; they should be woven into the fabric of the course as a whole. We’re here to help faculty do that with advice on integrating information literacy concepts into a course syllabus, assignments, library instruction sessions and online components (such as WebTycho).
Librarians also cannot do this in a scattershot, piecemeal fashion. We will work with faculty to identify one or two key courses in each program in which to incorporate information literacy skills. These should be courses that most or all students in the program take - courses with a strong research component. This will allow us to reach many students, and reach them when they can immediately apply their new information literacy skills.
Expanded information literacy instruction won’t necessarily replace library instruction in other classes, of course. Many courses have unique information needs. Information literacy instruction will provide a foundation and library instruction in later courses can then build upon that foundation, focusing on their specific needs.
What will information literacy instruction look like? Recently completed pilot projects with the criminal justice, management, and history departments show one formula for success: a combination of early communication between the professor and librarian, multiple library instruction sessions throughout the semester, and follow-up and support for individual students. The result? Students were more confident in their research abilities and produced better research assignments.
Don’t think that this formula would work best for your classes? Not a problem - we’re willing to work with professors to find the information literacy solution that is right for you. We want to try out new things and would love to hear your ideas.
For more information, faculty members contact Thomas Arendall-Salvetti, Langsdale Library’s library instruction coordinator, at 410.837.4275 or tarendall-salvetti@ubalt.edu. Then, talk to your colleagues, to your department chair and, most importantly, to your students. Together, we can help tomorrow's professionals learn the information literacy skills they need for 21st century research excellence.