Standards

I've been working on identifying standards to build measurable objectives around but haven't had access to Internet to post things. One of the joys of being on sabbatical is being able to do your work anywhere and the beauty of Yosemite National Parks makes a wonderful backdrop for reading in! Notes from the past couple of days follow.

Today I reviewed the ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. I identified several general standards, performance indicators, and outcomes which may end up being useful to build outcomes for the tutorials around. The standards themselves, of which there are only five, are fairly broad. The performance indicators break these standards down into smaller chunks and the outcomes are the most useful.

There are several performance indicators and outcomes under standard one, “The information literate student determines the nature and extent of the information needed.” Performance indicator 1 (1.1) gets to the base of research, stating “The information literate student defines and articulates the need for information.” The specific outcomes for this indicator which will be useful are 1.1.d., “Defines or modifies the information need to achieve a manageable focus" and 1.1.e., "Identifies key concepts and terms that describe the information need". These are core since students must be able to do this to proceed with any research.

I've also identified the following performance indicators and outcomes under standard one:

• 1.2. "The information literate student identifies a variety of types and formats of potential sources for information."
• 1.2.c. "Identifies the value and differences of potential resources in a variety of formats (e.g. multimedia, database, website, data set, audio/visual, book.)

Standard Two states "The information literate student accesses needed information effectively and efficiently", which again is at the core of teaching successful research skills. Of particular value are the following performance indicators and outcomes under standard two:

• 2.2. "The information literate student constructs and implements effectively-designed search strategies."
• 2.2.b. "Identifies keywords, synonyms and related terms for the information needed."
• 2.2.c. "Selects controlled vocabulary specific to the discipline or information retrieval source."
• 2.2.d. "Constructs a search strategy using appropriate commands for the information retrieval system selected (e.g. Boolean operators, truncation, and proximity for search engines; internal organizers such as indexes for books."
• 2.2.e. "Implements the search strategy in various information retrievalsystems using different user interfaces and search engines, with different command languages, protocols, and search parameters."
• 2.3. "The information literate student retrieves information online or in person using a variety of methods."
• 2.3.b. "Uses various classification schemes and other systems (e.g. call number systems or indexes) to locate information resources within the library or to identify specific sitesfor physical exploration."
• 2.5. "The information literate student extracts, records, andmanages the information and its sources."
• 2.5.c. "Differentiates between the types of sources cited and understands the elements and correct syntax of a citation for a wide range of resources."

Standard Three states, "The information literate student evaluates information and itssources critically and incorporates selected information into his or her knowledge base and value system." The relevant points under this standard are as follows:

• 3.2. "The information literate student articulates and applies initial criteria for evaluating both the information and its sources."
• 3.2.a. "Examines and compares information from various sources in order to evaluate reliability, validity, accuracy, authority, timeliness, and point of view or bias."

I also read the following article, which I found rather disappointing. They dealt a lot with their methodology while I was hoping for a lot more on their conclusions and ideas for what to make sure to include in tutorials.

Lindsay, Elizabeth Blakesley, et al. "If You Build It, Will They Learn? Assessing Online Information Literacy." College & Research Libraries 67.5 (2006): 429-45.