Information Literacy at Oberlin

Faculty Guide for Incorporating Information Literacy into First Year Seminars

What is Information Literacy?

Information literacy is a set of abilities requiring individuals to "recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information." Information literacy is increasingly important in the contemporary environment of rapid technological change and proliferating information resources. (from the Association of College and Research Libraries: Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education)

Additional definitions of Information Literacy are available.

What is Oberlin College doing?

Oberlin College has been working to develop a more coordinated institutional approach to addressing issues related to information literacy. In 1996, following discussions with faculty about implementing information literacy initiatives on the Oberlin campus, the General Faculty Library Committee issued a report entitled Information Literacy and the Oberlin Education. Subsequently, the Library has sponsored numerous faculty workshops designed to further the dialogue about information literacy, and we continue to work with faculty and staff to integrate information literacy in the academic program.

Reference librarians are also working with faculty to include information literacy in First Year Seminars. The First Year Seminar Program offers excellent opportunities for incoming students to explore and become proficient in many aspects of information literacy. Interested faculty can consult the library's guide Incorporating Information Literacy into Oberlin's First Year Seminars.

What Information Literacy activities has the Library initiated?

Mellon Information Literacy Grant Oberlin College is one of the Five Colleges of Ohio who are actively seeking to incorporate information literacy into the liberal arts curriculum through this important grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Numerous Oberlin faculty have received grants to work with reference librarians to revise courses to help achieve the institution's information literacy goals. See Integrating Information Literacy into the Liberal Arts Curriculum for more information on the grant and a list of grant projects at Oberlin College.

Five Colleges of Ohio Information Literacy Tutorial
This Information Literacy tutorial is an ongoing project of the Five Colleges of Ohio, a consortium founded in 1995 with the support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Consortium members are: The College of Wooster, Denison University, Kenyon College, Oberlin College, and Ohio Wesleyan University.

Past Workshops

Finding and Using Images: Digital and Print, Tuesday, January 27, 2004
Preventing, Detecting, and Dealing with Plagiarism, January 2002
Workshop on Incorporating Information Literacy into the Curriculum, January 2001
Sociology Department Workshop, January 2000
History Department Workshop, January 1999
Religion Department Workshop, January 1999
Politics Department Workshop January 1998
Information Literacy Workshop January 1998: co-sponsored with OCTET
General Information Literacy Workshop January 1997

Integration of Information Literacy into course-related instruction.

Information literacy is a primary component of course related instruction offered by Library staff. These sessions typically focus on the use of bibliographic tools and the information research process. Well-established courses with significant information literacy components include Music History 101 (contact Kathy Abromeit, Public Services Librarian, Conservatory Library) and Chemistry Information (CHEM 396).