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Information Literacy Competencies Expanded

Information Literacy Competencies Expanded -- DRAFT 4/25/01

Information Literacy Competencies Expanded

-- DRAFT 4/25/01

Introduction

Information Literacy refers to a set of competencies for acquiring, understanding, manipulating, deriving, generating, storing, and presenting information for the purpose of problem analysis and decision-making. The purpose of gaining these competencies is for students to understand the importance of information and information technology to their studies, career, and personal lives, and to empower students to be proficient in an information society. Information Literacy competencies allow students to be better scholars, to understand the quality and usefulness of scholarship, to understand the nature of an information-rich society, and to use a variety of information sources and technologies for common information processing in scholarship and life.

Each new class at the University of Dayton brings more experience and sophisticated skills in the use of information technology. Many faculty now expect students to be able to use a word processing program, use the Internet and e-mail, and log on to a server and download information. Those students who do not have these skills must be taught to develop them as soon as possible in their university experience. All students at the University of Dayton should continue to develop their information technology skills within the framework of the Information Literacy competencies.

General Information Literacy Competencies

There are five Information Literacy competencies. Each general competency is followed by a brief statement of the goal and examples of specific skills which illustrate the competency.

Because Information Literacy is not situated in a specific academic department, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Schools of Business Administration, Education, and Engineering should work in collaboration with their academic departments and programs to identify the specific skills needed to support each of the general competencies and then develop appropriate instructional activities and measurement instruments.

  1. Students will develop effective strategies for using information technologies when seeking knowledge.

    This set of competencies relates to a student's ability to articulate and focus his or her information needs in his or her quest for knowledge. This set of competencies gives students the ability to learn and to be able to acquire information on their own.

    • Identify and explore general information sources (print and electronic) and extract appropriate details.
      • Concept of general books, reference works, periodicals (popular magazines, substantive news, scholarly journals, newspapers), media (video, TV, radio, etc), statistical sources, conferences, oral communication, CD-ROMS, Internet (WWW, listservs, chat and user groups), archives ex. http://www.libraries.psu.edu/crsweb/infolit/andyou/mod2/summary.htm
    • Use a graphical user computer interface to navigate electronic information sources.
      • Computer interfaces (Windows, MacIntosh), Internet browser.
    • Break an information need into parts and prioritize these parts for investigation.
      • State, clarify, focus a topic; identify major concepts; list and prioritize synonyms
    • Use a variety of appropriate information-gathering strategies and technologies.
      • Standard research strategy (topic overview, books, periodicals, WWW)
      Use of bibliographies, encyclopedias, online catalogs, indexes/abstracts, Internet
      Interviewing, surveying
      Searching electronically
      Web enhanced data collecting (forms, Excel spreadsheets, Access, Lotus Notes)
  2. Students will understand the structure, form, and access methods of recorded information.

    This set of competencies allows students to understand the structure of information sources and different tools for gathering information.

    • Use the classification schemes to locate information and knowledge (e.g., library collection classifications, indexes, abstracts, bibliographies, databases).
      • Call numbers (Library of Congress, Dewey Decimal, Universal Decimal)
      Bibliographic, numeric and fulltext databases
      Elements of bibliographies, elements of bibliographic record for books and
      periodical articles
    • Accurately use controlled vocabulary / keyword indexing schemes with Boolean expressions to refine information-gathering strategies.
      • Subject vs keyword searching in a database
      Boolean operators - - - AND, OR, NOT
      Nesting and search strings
      Composing queries (Access, Lotus Notes)
    • Use tables and figures to understand and communicate information.
      • Spreadsheets, graphs, charts, maps
    • Use computer-based structured information sources such as spreadsheets, databases, collaboration tools, and other sources relevant to one's discipline.
      • Multidisciplinary and subject specific databases
      (Academic Search Premier, Humanities Abstracts, Religion Index, Philosopher's Index)
      Excel
      Lotus Notes, QuickPlace, LearningSpace
  3. Students will demonstrate the ability to evaluate and analyze the information gathered from a variety of sources.

    This set of competencies permits students to evaluate the appropriateness, timeliness, completeness, and accuracy of information they gather from both print and electronic sources.

    • Distinguish point of view, claims being advanced, and forms of substantiation being used.
      • Perspective (cultural and socio-economic background, race, gender)
      Thesis identification, argument structure, evaluation of evidence
    • Develop and refine information-gathering strategies for print and electronic data media in light of purpose, level of information, and intended audiences.
      • Multidisciplinary vs subject specific databases
      Subject specific, practitioner, general interest databases
      Editorials, primary and secondary sources, magazines and scholarly journals
    • Determine the credibility of author or responsible party and the validity of data.
      • Author credentials
      Peer review of material
    • Perform simple, descriptive summaries (textual and statistical) of information from print and electronic sources.
      • Annotated bibliography
      Article summaries, argument summaries
      Table, chart, and graph interpretations
    • Understand the process of knowledge generation and publication patterns in appropriate disciplines and fields.
      • Sciences (conferences or journals) vs humanities vs WWW vs current news ex. http://www.denison.edu/ohio5/infolit/a1flow/
      Information seeking behavior within disciplines
      Documentation standards (MLA, APA, Turabian, Chicago Manual of Style)
  4. Students will use information and information technology responsibly and ethically.

    This set of competencies allows students to be responsible decision makers, to apply the principles of academic honesty, and to know both the legal and ethical bounds of the use of information and technology.

    • Understand and apply copyright laws and laws which protect computer software and electronic data.
      • Fair Use
      Copyright
    • Refuse to use technology and information to abuse, harass, or intimidate others, or to gain illegal access to technology.
      • Appropriate use of email
    • Identify and discuss ethical and responsible uses of information tools and resources.
      • Plagiarism
      UD Policy on Fair, Responsible and Acceptable Use of Electronic Resources
      UD Official World Wide Web Policy
      Awareness of consequences
  5. Students will demonstrate an interest in and ability for lifelong learning about information technology.

    This set of competencies relates to students' ability to gain a broad, integrated view of information literacy and to understand the ways in which information and technology have and will redefine many aspects of their academic, work, and personal experience.

    • Use the basic capabilities of productivity tools for word processing, storage of files, access to computer files and remote information sources, and interpersonal communication, information sharing, and research.
      • Basic PC troubleshooting
      Windows file management (local and network)
      Word, PowerPoint, HTML editors (FrontPage)
      Roesch Library home page (http://library.udayton.edu)
      Lotus Notes (email, calendar, to do)
      QuickPlace, LearningSpace, SameTime
    • Use terminology related to computers and technology appropriately in written and oral communication.
      • Data, graphics, hardware, Internet and online services, multimedia, networks, software, World Wide Web
      http://www.teachingcompany.com/chap1p1.htm (provides mini-paragraphs on over 33 computer literacy terms with many Boston Celtics references and metaphors)
      http://www.webopedia.com (online computer encyclopedia)
    • Use computer-based technologies, including telecommunications, to access information and enhance personal and professional productivity.
      • Email, listservs
      UD Career Services (http://careers.udayton.edu)
      Web Walk-Up (http://careers.udayton.edu/asi/stulogin.html)
    • Use computer software to present textual and numeric data in prose, tabular, and graphical formats
      • Word, PowerPoint, Access, FrontPage
      Excel

Graduation Information Literacy Competencies

Graduation competencies are extensions of the general competency areas and should reflect the information literacy competencies, such as deriving and generating information for research, central to the academic discipline or area of specialization. The Co llege of Arts and Sciences and the Schools of Business Administration, Education, and Engineering in close cooperation with their departments and programs must identify and define the graduation information literacy competencies they will develop through course work in their major disciplines. Development of graduation competencies should emerge from guidelines and recommendations set forth in the j Basic Skills Subcommittee Report, with guidance from the academic unit's curricular body and discussions wi thin each department and program, and, when appropriate, from external standards established by professional organizations and accrediting bodies.

Information Literacy Recommendations

Recommendation I
That all academic departments and programs at the University of Dayton adopt the five competencies for Information Literacy at both the general and graduation competency levels.

Recommendation II
That all academic departments and programs adopt curriculum management procedures to ensure that all students develop their Information Literacy general competencies through course work necessary to complete the Introduction to the University, Humanities Base, Thematic Cluster, General Education, and other first and second-year courses required by a student's academic unit. When possible, students should master some or all of the Information Literacy general competencies before assuming sophomore status.

Recommendation III
That all academic departments and programs develop curriculum and other educational opportunities to help students master the Information Literacy graduation competencies central to their profession or area of specialization.

Recommendation IV
That all academic departments and programs define and establish in their assessment programs specific, measurable outcomes to assess whether students are receiving appropriate development of Information Literacy general and graduation competencies.

Recommendation V
That academic departments and programs provide the resources and incentives needed to develop Information Literacy general and graduation competencies in all their faculty, and that the departments and programs provide information technology support services to facilitate the development of Information Literacy general and graduation competencies among their faculty and students.

Recommendation VI
That academic departments and programs work with the Learning Village, university libraries, and other campus units to develop faculty, design curriculum and other learning experiences, and provide the educational computing environment in which students a nd faculty can develop the Information Literacy general and graduation competencies. (The Learning Village is eager to be a facilitator for developing Information Literacy on the campus.)

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