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Phoenix College Assessment Committees
 

 

Introduction

Minutes

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Information Literacy Competencies
at Phoenix College

Standard 1
(NEED)

Standard 2
(ACCESS)

Standard 3
(EVALUATE)

Standard 4
(USE)

Standard 5
(ETHICS)

 



Standard One: The information literate student determines the nature and extent of the information needed.

Learning Outcome: Recognizes the need for information, and defines the information need or research topic.

Objectives:

  • Defines a focused information need or research topic (e.g., narrows topic if too broad, broadens topic is too narrow).
  • Develops appropriate research questions based on the information need or research topic.
  • Identifies key concepts and terms that describe the information need or research topic.

Learning Outcome: Considers the costs and benefits of acquiring the needed information.

Objectives:

  • Determines the availability of sources for the needed information, and considers resources beyond what is locally available (e.g., intra-district loans, interlibrary loans, and other local libraries).
  • Develops a methodical plan for the information search (e.g., identifies logical steps to search for the information).

Standard Two: The information literate student accesses needed information effectively and efficiently.

Learning Outcome: Understands resources for retrieving information.

Objectives:

  • Identifies the purpose and audience of various information resources.
  • Identifies what types of information and sources are contained in a particular resource (e.g. all of the MCCCD Libraries holdings are included in the Library Catalog, not all databases are full-text, newspaper versus popular versus scholarly databases, print/online reference resources contain background information).
  • Understands how library catalogs, databases, and/or the Internet are organized.
  • Selects and prioritizes appropriate tools (e.g., reference sources, periodical databases, Library Catalog, search engines, subject directories) for research on a particular topic.
  • Identifies the differences between freely available Internet search tools and subscription or fee-based databases.

Learning Outcome: Develops and applies effective search strategies.

Objectives:

  • Brainstorms a list of terms and phrases, including synonyms, which may be useful for locating information on a topic.
  • Identifies when and where controlled vocabulary is used in a bibliographic record, and then successfully searches for additional information using that vocabulary.
  • Demonstrates when it is appropriate to search a particular field (e.g., title, author, subject).
  • Constructs a search statement using the Boolean operator AND.
  • Demonstrates an understanding of Boolean operators OR and NOT.
  • Demonstrates an understanding of the concept of keyword searching and uses it appropriately and effectively.
  • Demonstrates an understanding of the concept of truncation (e.g., wildcards) and uses it appropriately and effectively.
  • Demonstrates an awareness of help screens in online resources.
  • Demonstrates an understanding of the concept of browsing and uses an index or Table of Contents to browse.
  • Demonstrates how searches may be limited or expanded by modifying search terminology or logic.

Learning Outcome: Locates and retrieves information sources.
Objectives:

  • Distinguishes between the types of information presented in a bibliography or search results (e.g., book citation versus a magazine article).
  • Uses call number systems effectively to locate an item in the library.
  • Determines whether or not a cited item is available locally.
  • Extracts online information using various techniques such as copy/paste, email, save to disk, and print.

Standard Three: The information literate student evaluates information and its sources critically and incorporates selected information into his or her knowledge base and value system.

Learning Outcome: Examines and compares information based on standard criteria.

Objectives:

  • Recognizes standard criteria, including accuracy, authority, currency, objectivity, coverage, and purpose, for evaluating information.
  • Investigates the qualifications of the author, issuing agency, or publisher of the information.
  • Determines when the information was published.
  • Distinguishes among facts, points of view, and opinions.
  • Demonstrates an understanding that some information may present a one-sided view and may express opinions rather than facts.

Learning Outcome: Assesses search results in order to revise the search strategy or the selection of resources for retrieving information.

Objectives:

  • Determines if the quantity of citations retrieved is adequate, too extensive, or insufficient for the information need.
  • Assesses the relevance of information found by examining elements of the citation such as title, abstract, subject headings, source, and date of publication.
  • Evaluates the quality of the information retrieved using criteria such as authority and point of view/bias.
  • Determines the relevance of the information in terms of its depth of coverage and time frame.

Standard Four: The information literate student, individually or as a member of a group, uses information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose.

Learning Outcome: Uses information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose.

Objectives:

  • Selects and organizes information for the intended audience and purpose.
  • Chooses a communication medium and presentation format that best support the purpose of the project and the intended audience (e.g., effectively uses aids, such as slideshows, video clips, charts, or pictures, in an oral presentation).
  • Incorporates the information into a finished product.

Standard Five: The information literate student understands many of the economic, legal and social issues surrounding the use of information and accesses and uses information ethically and legally.

Learning Outcomes:

Demonstrates an awareness and understanding of basic copyright and intellectual property laws.

For individual and group assignments, accurately represents the work of others.

Objectives:

  • Distinguishes between common knowledge and that which requires citing.
  • Demonstrates an ability to paraphrase the works of others.
  • Cites information sources correctly.
  • Recognizes that citation styles vary by discipline.
  • Defines and identifies examples of plagiarism.
  • Demonstrates an understanding of Phoenix College's plagiarism policy.
  • Understands the need to use a password and to keep the information private for fee-based resources.
  • Understands the limitations of copying information or images (print and electronic) under the "fair use" copyright principle.


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Based on the ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards of Higher Education and Objectives for Information Literacy Instruction: A Model Statement for Academic Librarians, and Weber State University's Information Literacy Competencies.

 

 

 


6/3/04   -  webmanager   -  Disclaimer  -  Phoenix College is one of the Maricopa Community Colleges