FIU Libraries

Information Literacy Curriculum

The following curriculum is from the American Library Association-AASL Position Paper on Information Literacy. It was developed by the Wisconsin Educational Media Association and adopted by AASL. Many of the member organizations of the National Forum on Information Literacy (over 60 education associations) have incorporated objectives for teaching information literacy skills. Representative member organizations of NFIL are from K-12, such as the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development; from post secondary education, such as the American Association of Higher Education; and from accreditation organizations, such as the Commission on Higher Education, Middle States Association of Schools and Colleges. Information literacy curricula have been developed at schools, colleges, and universities nationwide, with many efforts coordinated statewide. The seven components of the curriculum are:

  1. Defining the need for information
  2. Initiating the search strategy
  3. Locating the resources
  4. Assessing and comprehending the information
  5. Interpreting the information
  6. Communicating the information
  7. Evaluating the product and process
Details for each of the seven areas of the curriculum are as follows:

I. DEFINING THE NEED FOR INFORMATION

The first step in the information problem solving process is to recognize that an information need exists and to define that need. The student will be able to:
  1. Recognize different uses of information (i.e. occupational, intellectual, recreational)
  2. Place the information needed within a frame of reference (who, what, when, where, how, why)
  3. Relate the information needed to prior knowledge
  4. Formulate the information problem using a variety of questioning skills (i.e. yes/no, open ended)

II. INITIATING THE SEARCH STRATEGY

Once the information problem has been formulated, the student must understand that a plan for searching has to be developed. The student will be able to:
  1. Determine what information is needed, often through a series of sub-questions
  2. Brainstorm ideas and recognize a variety of visual ways of organize ideas to visualize relationships among them
  3. Select and use a visual organizer appropriate to subject
  4. List key words, concepts, subject headings, descriptors
  5. Explain the importance of using more than one source of information
  6. Identify potential sources of information
  7. Identify the criteria for evaluating possible sources

III. LOCATING THE RESOURCES

At the onset of a search a student will recognize the importance of locating information from a variety of sources and accessing specific information found within an individual resource. The student will be able to:
  1. Locate print, audiovisual, and computerized resources in the school library media center using catalogs and other bibliographic tools
  2. Locate information outside of the school library media center through online databases, interlibrary loan, telephone and facsimile technology
  3. Identify and use community information agencies (i.e. public and academic libraries, government offices) to locate additional resources
  4. Use people as sources of information through interviews, surveys and letters of inquiry
  5. Consult with library media specialists and teachers to assist in identifying sources of information
  6. Access specific information within resources by using internal organizers (i.e. indexes, tables of contents, cross references) and electronic search strategies (i.e. keywords, boolean logic)
Library media specialists help students build positive attitudes toward the use and communication of ideas.

IV. ASSESSING AND COMPREHENDING THE INFORMATION

Once potentially useful information has been located, the student uses a screening process to determine the usefulness of the information. The student will be able to:
  1. Skim and scan for major ideas and keywords to identify relevant information
  2. Differentiate between primary and secondary sources
  3. Determine the authoritativeness, currentness and reliability of the information
  4. Differentiate among fact, opinion, propaganda, point of view, and bias
  5. Recognize errors in logic
  6. Recognize omissions, if any, in information
  7. Classify, group or label the information
  8. Recognize interrelationships among concepts
  9. Differentiate between cause and effect
  10. Select information in formats most appropriate to the students individual learning style
  11. Revise and redefine the information problem if necessary

V. INTERPRETING THE INFORMATION

Following an assessment of the information, the student must use the information to solve the particular information problem. The student will be able to:
  1. Summarize the information in the students own words; paraphrase or quote important facts and details when necessary for accuracy and clarity
  2. Synthesize newly gathered information with previous information
  3. Organize and analyze information in a new way
  4. Compare information gathered with the original problem and adjust strategies, locate additional information or re-examine information when necessary
  5. Draw conclusions based on the information gathered and the students interpretation of it

VI. COMMUNICATING THE INFORMATION

The student must be able to organize and communicate the results of the information problem-solving effort. The student will be able to:
  1. Use the search information to identify the important conclusions or resolutions to the problem to be shared with others
  2. Decide on a purpose (i.e. to inform, persuade, entertain) for communicating the information and identify the intended audience
  3. Choose a format (i.e. written, oral, visual) appropriate for the audience and purpose
  4. Create an original product (i.e. speech, research paper, videotape, drama)
  5. Provide appropriate documentation (i.e. bibliography) and comply with copyright law

VII. EVALUATING THE PRODUCT AND PROCESS

Evaluation is the ability to determine how well the final product resolved the information problem and if the steps taken to reach the desired outcome were appropriate and efficient. Students may evaluate their own work and/or be evaluated by others (i.e. classmates, teachers, library media staff, parents). The student will be able to:
  1. Determine the extent to which the conclusions and project met the defined information need and/or satisfied the assignment. (i.e. how well did I do?)
  2. Consider if the research question/problem, search strategy, resources, or interpretation should have been expanded, revised or otherwise modified.(i.e. what could/should I have done differently?)
  3. Re-assess his/her understanding of the process and identify steps which need further understanding, skill development, or practice (i.e. how can I do better in the future?)

This page is maintained by:
Stephanie Brenenson
Last Updated: February 6, 2000
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