The librarians' goal is to assist students with their research and provide them with information literacy skills—skills that
contribute to the ability to think critically and that are vital for lifelong learning. In the process, we
collaborate with faculty to engage students with inquiry-based assignments that prepare students to seek and use information
wisely and effectively in their academic, professional, and personal lives. We teach and develop information literacy
through the Information Literacy Program in the following ways:
- By collaborating and partnering with our colleagues
from all departments and offices to integrate
information literacy into academic programs.
- By promoting the use of library resources in
all formats.
- By providing instruction formally or informally,
in-person, or via technology.
- By evaluating the effectiveness of our approaches
and constantly renewing our own skills.
Information literacy is a set of competencies enabling
individuals to "recognize when information is needed
and have the ability to locate, access, evaluate,
and use effectively the needed information." (Association
of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) ) ACRL, a division of the American Library Association,
is dedicated to helping information professionals to serve the information needs of the higher education community and to improve learning, teaching, and research.
The
New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC)
revised standards (4.6, 4.18, 7.4, 7.7 and 7.8) specify
that graduates successfully completing an undergraduate
program should demonstrate competencies including
the capability for continuing learning and the skills
of information literacy.
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ACRL provides a framework for assessing the information literate individual: information literacy consists of five competency standards,
intended
to apply to any information-seeking situation. The standards also list a range of outcomes for assessing student progress toward information literacy.
These competencies are:
- Outcomes Assignments
- Outcomes Assignments
- Outcomes Assignments
- Outcomes Assignments
- Outcomes Assignments
The Information Literacy Program seeks to teach
information seeking skills to our students, faculty
and staff and focuses on measuring outcomes of student
learning.
Specific Levels of Information Literacy Instruction
- New Student Orientation
- First Semester
English EN103
- Second Semester
English EN104
- Intermediate
level: Ethics/Philosophy
- Advanced level:
Critical Thinking
Support Programs
Additional Programs and
Services
Instruction takes place in many ways using a variety
of teaching methods:
Evaluation and Assessment
- Searchpath
- Faculty Classroom Assessment with Librarian
Collaboration
- Library online evaluation survey
- College evaluation
This list reflects examples of common tools
used in assessing student learning outcomes
in all subject areas. These tools also lend
themselves to assessing information literacy
skills. (Highlighted titles are PDF files.)
ACRL's bibliography on topics related to Information Literacy.
Information Literacy in the Disciplines
The following is a list of Information Literacy programs established by colleges and universities in the United States. This is not an exhaustive list.
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