Information Literacy Competency Standards for High

InformationLiteracyCompetencyStandardsforHigherEducationApprovedbytheBoardofDirectorsoftheAssociationofCollegeandResearchLibrariesonJanuary18,2000————————————EndorsedbytheAmericanAssociationforHigherEducation(October1999)andtheCouncilofIndependentColleges(February2004)TheInformationLiteracyCompetencyStandardsforHigherEducationareavailablefordownloadingat:@ala.org©AmericanLibraryAssociation,2000InformationLiteracyCompetencyStandardsforHigherEducationTheAssociationofCollegeandResearchLibrariesAdivisionoftheAmericanLibraryAssociationChicago,Illinois2InformationLiteracyCompetencyStandardsforHigherEducation,©ALA,2000InformationLiteracyCompetencyStandardsforHigherEducationIndexInformationLiteracyDefined.....................................................................2InformationLiteracyandInformationTechnology..................................3InformationLiteracyandHigherEducation..............................................4InformationLiteracyandPedagogy...........................................................4UseoftheStandards...................................................................................5InformationLiteracyandAssessment.......................................................6Standards,PerformanceIndicatorsandOutcomes...................................8AppendixI:SelectedInformationLiteracyInitiatives............................15DevelopersoftheInformationLiteracyCompetencyStandards...........16InformationLiteracyDefinedInformationliteracyisasetofabilitiesrequiringindividualsto“recognizewheninformationisneededandhavetheabilitytolocate,evaluate,anduseeffectivelytheneededinformation.”1Informationliteracyalsoisincreasinglyimportantinthecontemporaryenvironmentofrapidtechnologicalchangeandproliferatinginformationresources.Becauseoftheescalatingcomplexityofthisenvironment,individualsarefacedwithdiverse,abundantinformationchoices—intheiracademicstudies,intheworkplace,andintheirpersonallives.Informationisavailablethroughlibraries,communityresources,specialinterestorganizations,media,andtheInternet—andincreasingly,informationcomestoindividualsinunfilteredformats,raisingquestionsaboutitsauthenticity,validity,andreliability.Inaddition,informationisavailablethroughmultiplemedia,includinggraphical,aural,andtextual,andtheseposenewchallengesforindividualsinevaluatingandunderstandingit.Theuncertainqualityandexpandingquantityofinformationposelargechallengesforsociety.Thesheerabundanceofinformationwillnotinitselfcreateamoreinformedcitizenrywithoutacomplementaryclusterofabilitiesnecessarytouseinformationeffectively.Informationliteracyformsthebasisforlifelonglearning.Itiscommontoalldisciplines,toalllearningenvironments,andtoalllevelsofeducation.Itenableslearnerstomastercontentandextendtheirinvestigations,becomemoreself-directed,andassumegreatercontrolovertheirownlearning.Aninformationliterateindividualisableto:DeterminetheextentofinformationneededAccesstheneededinformationeffectivelyandefficientlyInformationLiteracyCompetencyStandardsforHigherEducation,©ALA,20003EvaluateinformationanditssourcescriticallyIncorporateselectedinformationintoone’sknowledgebaseUseinformationeffectivelytoaccomplishaspecificpurposeUnderstandtheeconomic,legal,andsocialissuessurroundingtheuseofinformation,andaccessanduseinformationethicallyandlegallyInformationLiteracyandInformationTechnologyInformationliteracyisrelatedtoinformationtechnologyskills,buthasbroaderimplicationsfortheindividual,theeducationalsystem,andforsociety.Informationtechnologyskillsenableanindividualtousecomput-ers,softwareapplications,databases,andothertechnologiestoachieveawidevarietyofacademic,work-related,andpersonalgoals.Informationliterateindividualsnecessarilydevelopsometechnologyskills.Informationliteracy,whileshowingsignificantoverlapwithinformationtechnologyskills,isadistinctandbroaderareaofcompetence.Increasingly,informationtechnologyskillsareinterwovenwith,andsupport,informa-tionliteracy.A1999reportfromtheNationalResearchCouncilpromotestheconceptof“fluency”withinformationtechnologyanddelineatesseveraldistinctionsusefulinunderstandingrelationshipsamonginformationliteracy,computerliteracy,andbroadertechnologicalcompetence.Thereportnotesthat“computerliteracy”isconcernedwithrotelearningofspecifichardwareandsoftwareapplications,while“fluencywithtechnol-ogy”focusesonunderstandingtheunderlyingconceptsoftechnologyandapplyingproblem-solvingandcriticalthinkingtousingtechnology.ThereportalsodiscussesdifferencesbetweeninformationtechnologyfluencyandinformationliteracyasitisunderstoodinK-12andhighereducation.Amongtheseareinformationliteracy’sfocusoncontent,communication,analysis,informationsearching,andevaluation;whereasinformationtechnology“fluency”focusesonadeepunderstandingoftechnologyandgraduated,increasinglyskilleduseofit.2“Fluency”withinformationtechnologymayrequiremoreintellectualabili-tiesthantherotelearningofsoftwareandhardwareassociatedwith“com-pu