Information Literacy Toolbox for Faculty

Are you interested in having a librarian come to your classroom for an Information Literacy session?We work with all disciplines and all levels and would be happy to cater the session to your students' needs.

Please contact Michael Pace, Coordinator of Information Literacy, at pacem@neumann.edu or ext. 5543 to schedule a session.

What is Information Literacy?

Information literacy is a set of abilities enabling individuals to recognize when information is needed and then locate, evaluate, and effectively use said information.

Why is Information Literacy Important?

Due to the rise of the internet and social media, it is important now more than ever to have information literacy skills to help you determine what information is accurate and trustworthy. Any Google search can bring up hundreds of results, but most of them are  NOT  useful and some might even contain "fake news." Information Literacy will allow you to think critically and evaluate sources so your research is accurate and trustworthy. 

Information Literacy is supported at a national professional level by a framework developed by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL).

We often make assumptions about our own information literacy skills and students' information literacy and technology skills that are not true. The fact that many people who work or attend University are 'digital natives' does not mean that they are adept at every part of the online research process. The following are assumptions that many people make about themselves or those around them:

• They understand what research is, and have successfully searched for supporting materials before
• They understand citing, and what the different 'parts' of a citation are (volume, issue, access date, etc)
• They know that published. peer-reviewed sources are of a higher quality than internet publications
• They know how to turn a topicinto a thesis
• They have taken a book out of a library, or searched an online library catalog before

We can address all this and more in an information literacy session with your class.