Information Literacy | The Teaching & Learning Centre | Seneca Polytechnic

Definition
The ability to know when there is a need for information, to be able to identify, locate, evaluate, organize and effectively and responsibly use and share information to inform and solve problems.

Benchmark for Achievement
The graduate accesses information using relevant search strategies, selects relevant information and organizes and communicates the information in the correct and required format.

The graduate:

• Identifies the type(s) and scope of information needed for a specific purpose
• Uses a variety of search strategies to locate information
• Uses information, in all forms, legally and ethically
• Accesses information from credible sources

At the Program Level
There are opportunities across the program that require students to recognise not only when information is needed, but also the types and sources of the required information. Students are called on to locate and evaluate the sources and the resources, and to present the information in a manner that addresses the challenge or question. The use of citations and references, paraphrasing, summarizing and quoting information for a range of contexts are discussed.

Questions to Guide Mapping

• Do students practice identifying what information is needed to complete a task or solve a problem?
• Are effective information search strategies taught?
• Is discrimination between reliable and unreliable sources taught, practiced and assessed?
• Is the effective use of information for a specific purpose practiced?

Resources

• AAC&U Information Literacy VALUE Rubric
  The Information Literacy VALUE Rubric explains AAC&U’s definition of information literacy, lists the essential criteria and describes four levels of performance for each criterion of information literacy.
• Handbook for Teaching Information Literacy from Cardiff University
  This handbook was design by Cardiff University Librarians to help Faculty when teaching information literacy. It includes information on lesson planning, technologies, assessment, classroom management, examples and case studies.
• Information Literacy for Faculty from Seneca Libraries
  This Seneca Library LibGuide is designed to introduce faculty to information literacy. It explains the objectives of information literacy and contains tutorials, resources, and sample assessments and rubrics.
• Information Literacy Toolkit from Griffith University
  This toolkit from Griffith University offers teaching tips to help develop your students’ information literacy skills, options for assessing information literacy and some resources.
• Project Information Literacy from the University of Washington
  The goal of Project Information Literacy is to understand the research habits of young adults.
• Research Skills Toolkit from Griffith University
  Griffith University’s research skills toolkit explains how you can prepare students for research, the stages of the research project, strategies to help you incorporate research skills development into your course(s) and assessing students’ research skills. It also contains some resources.
• Teach Information Literacy and Critical Thinking
  Esther Grassian, a former UCLA College Librarian, originally created this site as a LibGuide. It contains teaching tips and sample slide shows and exercises to help teach information literacy.
• Tutorials from Seneca Libraries
  Seneca Libraries has compiled a collection of tutorials, guides and videos on research skills, academic integrity, and citations.