I sometimes feel that the concept of “information literacy” is thrown around or referred to a lot in conversation, but sometimes people don’t REALLY know what it means or how relevant it is. I have observed that even academics don’t have a firm grasp on it’s definition or even recognize that MANY students struggle with information literacy issues on a daily basis. This can make the college experience a lot more challenging.
So what IS information literacy? As it is defined by the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL), information literacy is the “set of skills needed to find, retrieve, analyze, and use information” (source). Alright, let’s look at the first element: finding information. I am astounded that in this day and age, a college student can step foot into a library (which can be a rare occurrence in and of itself) and NOT know how to look up a book, let alone find it on the shelf. This is the first stumbling block for many students in higher education. I have noticed that many faculty out in the world actually ASSUME that a student coming to college should already possess these skills. Well, I have news. Many of them DON’T. Never presume to think that a student coming straight out of high school had to ever visit their school’s library or media center, and if they did, that it was a place that taught them the skills needed to succeed when it comes to information gathering and analysis. Now, there is the rare exception of the student who was fortunate enough to attend a school system that actually equipped them with the much-needed skills needed to navigate a complex world of information and resources, but it IS rare. Okay people, this aspect of information literacy should not be news to anyone. We KNOW that students are often loathe to darken the doorstep of a library, let alone know how to access the plethora of information that is contained within.
On to the next element, retrieving information. As I mentioned before, students often do not know how to utilize a library’s system of organization in order to retrieve the information that is sitting somewhere on a shelf. Okay, now I’m not expecting them to memorize or understand the classifications or what a Cutter number is, but they SHOULD know how to read a call number and find it on the shelf OR look up an item in the online catalog for that matter. Moving on, a BIG aspect of finding and retrieving information today is very dependent upon DIGITAL LITERACY. Information literacy and digital literacy go hand-in-hand. Today, many resources (books, journals, reports, images, maps, charts, and more) are indexed and housed in online research databases. Thus, a student must not only know how to confidently use the computer, but they MUST know how to effectively use these databases to their full potential. Here’s some more news, many of them DON’T. That is a HUGE problem. Many types and forms of information are either being published online or digitized for preservation and placed online. Many of the databases contain this information in full-text, meaning that the article, book, etc. is online and accessible in its entirety. Many students don’t know how to formulate the right keywords to search these databases effectively, or to select only full-text and/or scholarly, peer-reviewed sources. Some students don’t really understand what “peer review” means or why they should search for information that has undergone this process.
Next, the element of analyzing information becomes yet another stumbling block. While many students understand the concepts behind scholarly versus popular sources of information, again, there are many who don’t. Not long ago, I witnessed a student who had an article analysis handed back to him during the first weeks of classes because he had not properly selected and analyzed a SCHOLARLY article. Instead, he went for the easy route and chose a short, 2-paged “article”. Unfortunately, the student found out after coming into the library asking for help, that the article was really a short editorial found in a journal online. It was not a solid, scholarly research article based on previous studies that contained citations and a references page. It was an editorial. BIG difference. And NOT what the professor was looking for. The thing of it is, situations such as that one are avoidable. Academic libraries and academic librarians exist to not only support faculty and the curriculum of a school, college, or university, but they are also here to show students how to easily maneuver these roadblocks that I’m referring to. We have skills, experience, tips, suggestions, patience, and more! Quite frankly, we are often a largely untapped resource. We can show students how to find information, retrieve it, analyze it, cite it, and more.
When it comes to using information, this involves skills that are taught in an English class, where students learn how to synthesize information effectively. However, librarians can guide students when it comes to avoiding plagiarism, accessing and using citation guidelines, creating works cited or reference pages, and more.
Now, all of this is not my way of saying that ALL students are clueless about finding and using information effectively. That’s not true at all. Instead, I am talking about what I have observed and the role that faculty play in all of that. It is the RESPONSIBILITY of faculty (professors and librarians alike) to assess whether or not students are struggling in any of these areas. Though many may not show the signs outwardly, you would be surprised how many students struggle silently. Furthermore, A LOT of students hesitate to ask their professor or a librarian for help. They are either too shy, don’t want to look stupid for asking what is really a legitimate question, or some other reason. So they don’t ask for help. Or maybe they don’t realize that they can and that we’re here to help.
A research paper or project can look like Mt. Everest if you’re not fully equipped with the skills needed to conduct research. Faculty have the responsibility to never assume that their students know all that they need to know in order to write papers and do projects effectively. We also need to keep in mind that graduate school or doctoral work may be in the future of many of these students and that they should be prepared. NONE of our students should be leaving the doors of our institution without possessing the skills listed in the definition of information literacy: ” the set of skills needed to find, retrieve, analyze, and use information”. At the end of the day, we want students to SUCCEED. Are we doing all that we can to help them?