Evaluating Information: Information Literacy
Definition
Information literacy is 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.”
-- From the ALA Presidential Committee on Information Literacy: Final Report, released January 10, 1989.
Standards and Guidelines
- AASL Standards for the 21st-Century LearnerFrom the American Association of School Librarians, these standards offer vision for teaching and learning to both guide and beckon our profession as education leaders. They will both shape the library program and serve as a tool for school librarians to use to shape the learning of students in the school.
- ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher EducationAdopted in 2016, the Framework offered here is called a framework intentionally because it is based on a cluster of interconnected core concepts, with flexible options for implementation, rather than on a set of standards or learning outcomes, or any prescriptive enumeration of skills.
- RUSA Information Literacy Guidelines and Competencies for Undergraduate History Students.Developed by the Instruction and Research Services Committee, History Section, Reference and User Services Association, American Library Association, 2013.
Additional standards and guidelines on information literacy for academic libraries may be found on the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) website, www.ala.org/acrl/standards.
Bibliography
Teaching Media Literacy, Second Edition
ISBN: 978-0-8389-1721-3
Publication date: 2019
Publisher: ALA Neal-Schuman
Inside, readers will find a wealth of intelligently crafted, ready-to-use lesson plans and activities designed to help promote critical thinking skills for K-12 students, making this a perfect teaching resource for school and public librarians, educators, and literacy instructors. Each group of lesson plans is prefaced by a well-informed and insightful discussion of the concept at hand along with guidance on how to best use the lesson plans, which can be freely adapted to any setting.
A Matter of Facts: The Value of Evidence in an Information Age
ISBN: 978-0-8389-1771-8
Publication date: 2019
Publisher: ALA Neal-Schuman
In this urgent manifesto, archives luminary Millar makes the case that authentic and accurate records, archives, data, and other sources of documentary proof are crucial in supporting and fostering a society that is respectful, democratic, and self-aware. An eye-opening treatise for the general public, an invaluable resource for archives students, and a provocative call-to-arms for information and records professionals.
Teaching Information Literacy Threshold Concepts: Lesson Plans for Librarians
ISBN: 978-0-8389-8771-1
Publication date: 2015
Publisher: ACRL
Teaching Information Literacy Threshold Concepts: Lesson Plans for Librarians is a collection designed by instruction librarians to promote critical thinking and engaged learning. It provides teaching librarians detailed, ready-to-use, and easily adaptable lesson ideas to help students understand and be transformed by information literacy threshold concepts.
Alternative Facts: Information Literacy in a Post-Truth Era
ISBN: 978-0-8389-1636-0
Publication date: 2018
Publisher: ALA Editions
Information literacy is a key skill for all news consumers, and this Special Report shows how librarians can make a difference by helping patrons identify misinformation.
Media Literacy for Justice: Lessons for Changing the World
ISBN: 978-0-8389-4892-7
Publication date: 2022
Publisher: ALA Neal-Schuman
Providing context, reflection points, and ready-to-use lesson plans, this powerful book illuminates the intersections of social justice and media literacy for educators, school and public librarians, teachers of history and civics, information literacy instructors, and community leaders.
Informed Societies: Why Information Literacy Matters for Citizenship, Participation and Democracy
ISBN: 978-1-78330-422-6
Publication date: 2020
Publisher: Facet Publishing, UK
This ground-breaking and uniquely multi-disciplinary book explores how information literacy can contribute to fostering attitudes, habits and practices that underpin an informed citizenry. The 13 chapters each come from a particular perspective and are authored by international experts representing a range of disciplines: information literacy itself, but also political science, pedagogy, information science, psychology.
Meeting the Challenge of Teaching Info Literacy
ISBN: 978-0-8389-4684-8
Publication date: 2020
Publisher: ALA Editions
While the profession has generated many books on information literacy, none to date have validated exactly why it is so difficult to teach. In her new book, Reale posits that examining and reflecting on the reality of those factors is what will enable practitioners to meet the challenge of their important mandate.
Foundations of Information Literacy
ISBN: 978-0-8389-4970-2
Publication date: 2021
Publisher: ALA Neal-Schuman
Provides a comprehensive introduction to information literacy—spanning institutions, cultures, and nations—through the lenses of information, technology, education, employment, engagement, society, policy, democratic governance, and human rights.