The development of effective skills in
using libraries and information resources in the broadest sense is an
essential component of liberal arts education. Recent trends make the
attainment of such information literacy skills both more difficult
and more of an imperative. The continuing explosion in recorded
knowledge and the rapid implementation of electronic information
technologies in libraries are creating increasingly complex
information environments.
Given these trends, it is important that Oberlin
develop a more coordinated institutional approach to addressing
issues related to information literacy. The goal and five
competencies outlined below provide a framework for initiating
discussion about how Oberlin might more effectively incorporate
information literacy skills into the curriculum.
GOALS:
- To make students confident and comfortable
using libraries and information resources of all kinds
- To develop effective life-long users of
libraries who understand the importance of information and the
ways in which it is produced, disseminated, critically evaluated,
and used.
Oberlin students should be able to:
COMPETENCIES:
Understand the
structure of knowledge and information
- gain basic understanding of how information is
produced, disseminated, and organized
- be able to distinguish between and know when
to use primary, secondary, and tertiary literature
- understand the types and formats of
information available: books, articles, conference proceedings,
dissertations, scores, sound recordings, cd-rom, multi-media,
Internet, etc.
- understand the difference between information
and knowledge
Define information
needs/formulate questions
- understand the process through which questions
are formulated and refined in the process of research
Access
information
- understand the structure of literature in
general and in a particular field
- be able to distinguish between and know when
to use:
- catalogs (print and electronic)
- indexes (print and electronic)
- abstracts (print and
electronic)
- bibliographies (print and
electronic)
- basic reference sources
- Internet resources
- understand content and structure of databases,
including OPACs, citation databases, full-text
databases
- understand basic information retrieval
concepts, including record content and structure; controlled
vocabulary vs. free text searching; Boolean operations [and,
or, not]
- be able to decipher bibliographic
citations
- be able to read call numbers/have a basic
understanding of classification systems
- understand uses of other standard numbers
(ISBN, ISSN, music publisher, scientific nomenclature)
- be aware of inter-library cooperation and
resource sharing (e.g. interlibrary loan and OhioLINK) and other
ways in which information not owned locally can be
accessed
Evaluate
information
- develop and apply critical thinking skills to
the process of identifying relevant information
- understand the difference between popular and
scholarly literature
- understand the way criticism is
formulated/used in research
Utilize
information
- be aware of intellectual property
issues
- understand basic copyright issues (educational
fair use, etc.)
- understand conventions of scholarly research
(creating citations, footnotes, endnotes, annotations,
etc.)
This document was crafted in consultation with the Director of
Libraries by the Reference Work Group, whose members are public
service librarians in the main and branch libraries. We submitted the
document to the General Faculty Library Committee in order to raise
faculty awareness of information literacy issues and generate
discussion.
4/29/96
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Session Introduction
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Literacy Initiatives page
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