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Information Competency : Research Skills - New Framework & Rubric - Text

Research skills for students successfully completing English 101 and 102

Information Literacy Rubric from AAC&U

Plagiarism

Resource Analysis

Summary of Thresholds from ARCL Information Literacy

The changes in higher education, coupled with a more complex information “ecosystem”  than the one which existedin the 1990’s, demands new engagement with the concept of information literacy.

Threshold Videos with Quizes from University of Washington http://guides.lib.washington.edu/UWresearch101

Information Literacy: A New Definition

Information literacy combines a repertoire of abilities, practices, and dispositions focused on expanding one’s understanding of information sources , with new proficiencies in finding, using and analyzing information, scholarship, and data to answer questions, develop new ones, and create new knowledge, through ethical participation in communities of learning and scholarship.

Threshold Concepts

Scholarship is a Conversation

Scholarship is a conversation refers to the idea of sustained discourse within a community of scholars or thinkers, with new insights and discoveries occurring over time as a result of competing perspectives and interpretations.

Research as Inquiry

Research as Inquiry refers to an understanding that research is iterative and depends upon asking increasingly complex questions whose answers develop new questions or lines of inquiry in any field.

Format as Process

Format as Process refers to understanding that the processes of developing information resources originate from different needs, motivations, values, conventions, and practices, and result in different formats, but the underlying questions about value of the information and its potential use are more significant than the physical packaging of the resource.

Authority is Constructed and Contextual

Authority of information resources depends upon their origins, the information need, and the context in which those information resources were created and will be used. Experienced researchers understand that the level of information quality needed for a particular purpose varies, will use various types of evaluative criteria to match that purpose, and will trust the authority of that information with an attitude of informed skepticism, remaining open to new perspectives, additional voices, and changes in schools of thought.

Searching is Strategic

Experts use an overall strategic approach in designing searches, considering and selecting a system to search, and reviewing search results. They understand that searching and locating information involves defining an information need; knowing the universe of possible tools, collections, and repositories that may be useful in locating information; using appropriate search vocabularies and protocols to design specific search strategies or questions for using systems, databases, and other organized collections of knowledge; and refining and adjusting search strategies during the process of investigating the research topic.  

Inspirion

Information Literacy for College Students adapted from ACRL Standards 2000

1. Student can articulate the need for information and define and narrow the topic.

 Indicators

  •  Student can develop a thesis statement and formulate questions based on the information needed.
  • Student understands that using general information sources increases familiarity with the topic.
  • Student recognizes the topic may need to be defined or modified to achieve a clear, narrow focus.
  • Student identifies key concepts and terms that describe the information needed.

 

2. Student can access information in a variety of formats efficiently and effectively.

 Indicators

  •  Student knows the differences between primary and secondary sources.
  • Student can find information in both books and online databases.
  • Student understands that different databases may use different protocols and vocabularies.
  • Student uses truncation and Boolean operators to improve search results.
  • Student recognizes that the use of keywords and controlled vocabulary affects the results of online research.

3. Student applies critical criteria to evaluate both the information and its sources.

Indicators

  •  Student examines and compares information from various sources in order to evaluate reliability, validity, accuracy, authority, timeliness, and point of view or bias
  • Student analyzes the structure and logic of supporting arguments or methods
  • Student recognizes the cultural, political and business context in which information is created