Literacy Broadly Defined

Information literacy is about the personal and social uses of informative sources

Information literacy is an integrated view of abilities in reading, writing, thinking and information seeking. It has no content independent of other disciplines.

Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education (ACRL 2000. Emphasis added)

1. The information literate student determines the nature and extent of the information needed.

2. The information literate student accesses needed information effectively and efficiently.

3. The information literate student evaluates information and its sources critically and incorporates selected information into his or her knowledge base and value system.

4. The information literate student, individually or as a member of a group, uses information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose.

5. The information literate student understands many of the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information and accesses and uses information ethically and legally.

See Penfield Library's statement of information literacy learning outcomes for a guide to what the standards might mean for our students.

For further discussion about information literacy and how we and our students become information literate please visit Nichols's 3 Directions blog and take a look at the article, "The 3 Directions: Situated Information Literacy" College and Research Libraries 70, no. 6 (November 2009): 515-530.