Information Literacy

Initiate a research assignment

Recognize that scholarly research is a dynamic, ongoing conversation.

Recognize that using a variety of resources in your research provides necessary breadth of knowledge and perspective on a topic.

Use appropriate research tools and strategies to find multiple related sources.

Use research to develop the vocabulary necessary to contribute to scholarship in your field.

Contribute to scholarly conversation by presenting well supported arguments during class discussions, exams essays and other class writing assignments.

Use multiple sources to understand the research methods used in a given field.

Use multiple sources to identify controversies or gaps in research that might lead to valuable research questions.

Use multiple sources to summarize the changes in scholarly perspective over time on a particular topic.

Contribute to scholarly conversation by presenting well supported research projects for senior research symposium/capstone classes.

Identify seminal authors in the scholarly conversation.

Use multiple sources to identify controversies or gaps in research that might lead to original research questions.

Contribute to scholarly conversation by presenting well supported papers at conferences or by publishing in scholarly journals.

Determine the extent of information needed

Confer with instructors and librarians to identify appropriate research topics.

Formulate research topics based on assignment requirements.

Determine an appropriate scope of investigation for a research project.

Analyze research results to refine a topic.

Formulate original research questions based on information gaps or by examining existing, possibly conflicting, information.

Evaluate the research question to determine if it is too narrow or broad.

Deal with complex research by breaking complex questions into simple ones, limiting the scope of investigations.

Create a research plan.

Identify gaps in research.

Recognize research is an open‐ended process and, therefore, constantly re-evaluate the research question/thesis.

Formulate a highly specific research question, reevaluating when necessary.

Create a research plan appropriate to the investigative method.

Learning Outcome

Lower Division Students will:

Upper Division Students will:

Graduate Students will:

Access information effectively and efficiently

Translate topics or research questions into keywords for searching.

Utilize divergent (e.g., brainstorming) and convergent (e.g., selecting the best source) thinking when searching.

Manage keyword and subject searches to broaden or narrow a search.

Identify key stakeholders that might produce useful information.

Navigate the library website to locate books and other materials owned by the library.

Find a book on the shelf using its call number.

Find full text journal articles.

Identify important discipline specific associations, journals and databases as sources of information.

Search subject specific databases to identify journal articles on a topic.

Employ advanced search strategies (e.g. controlled vocabularies, Boolean operators)

Find useful information by tracing citations to original sources (bibliography mining).

Use Interlibrary Loan to request materials not owned by the library.

Persist in information searches despite challenges.

Employ a wide variety of discipline specific databases and WorldCat searches to locate and request materials in his or her field.

Conduct a comprehensive literature review, according to discipline standards.

Learning Outcome

Lower Division Students will:

Upper Division Students will:

Graduate Students will:

Evaluate information and sources critically

Define different types of authority and information mediums.

Understand that scholarly information is created and validated through the peer-review process and how this differs from popular sources.

Evaluate sources based on given criteria (currency, relevance, authority, accuracy and purpose).

Understand the differences between and value of distinct information sources (e.g. popular sources, trade journals, academic journals, peer reviewed journals).

Acknowledge biases that may make some sources of authority more credible than others.

Pause for reflection, allowing for the possibility that information encountered may change one’s mind and alter the course of further research.

Critically evaluate sources based on disciplinary standards.

Distinguish between primary and secondary sources.

Understand the differences between and value of distinct information sources (books, journal articles, dissertations, white papers, etc.).

Understand the style, structure, and components of a scholarly article.

Evaluate sources in the context of methodology used in his or her field.

Identify seminal sources.

Learning Outcome

Lower Division Students will:

Upper Division Students will:

Graduate Students will:

Incorporate information into one’s knowledge base and use information to accomplish a specific purpose

Use reference sources to locate background information on a topic.

Use books and/or journal articles to support an argument in short research paper. 

Organize information in meaningful ways.

Understand when to use direct quotations, summaries and paraphrasing.

Use a variety of sources types to support arguments in a long research paper or other assignment.

Synthesize ideas gathered from multiple sources.

Draw reasonable conclusions based on analysis of information.

Write an annotated bibliography or conduct a comprehensive literature review.

Write a thesis or complete another original research project.

Learning Outcome

Lower Division Students will:

Upper Division Students will:

Graduate Students will:

Understand the economic, legal and social issues surrounding the use of information and use information ethically and legally

Construct in-text and bibliographic references using an established citation style.

Articulate the basic difference between fair use/open access and plagiarism.

Locate and understand the University’s policy on Academic Integrity.

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Recognize different disciplines have different citation styles.

Explain the economic, legal, political, and socio-economic impacts on information access and use (e.g., censorship, freedom of speech, privacy, intellectual property, copyright, fair use, funded research, human subject policies)

Understand his/her rights as a member of the academic community to freedom of intellectual inquiry and privacy.

Understand his/her responsibility as a member of the academic community to respect the intellectual property, inquiry and privacy of other academics.

Develop organizational strategies to manage the vast number of citations used in a thesis.

Consider issues of intellectual property and copyright in the context of his or her published work.

Understand research integrity in the context of his or her discipline.