Using Information Literacy Standards To Improve Geoscience Courses

ABSTRACT

Information literacy (IL) is the set of skills that enables a person to find, evaluate, and use information. Although IL is important in the geosciences, it is hard to teach because the information comes in so many forms. Most geoscience courses include work that implicitly addresses some IL issues. However, because of the importance of IL, it is worthwhile to explicitly include it as part of the curriculum. The Association of College and Research Libraries has developed Information Literacy Standards for Higher Education that may be used to assess an individual's level of information literacy. We introduce a method for incorporating IL into the classroom experience by mapping an assignment to the ACRL standards. By using our method, an instructor, with or without the aid of a librarian, can easily implement IL in the classroom, providing both immediate and long-term benefits to the student.

Keywords: Education - Graduate, Education, Science

INTRODUCTION

Information literacy (IL), sometimes called information competency, is a set of skills that enables a person to recognize a need for information, locate and use resources to fulfill the information need, effectively evaluate and synthesize the information found, and apply it in an ethical and responsible manner. IL is particularly important in the geosciences because information is the commodity of the discipline. However, it is also particularly challenging to develop IL competency in the discipline. Bichtelor (1985), paraphrasing Wheeler's 1974 testimony before the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, concludes that difficulties encountered in the access and use of geoscience information may be caused by: "(a) the broad scope of the fields within the feosciences; (b) the great variety of formats which must e used; (c) the multitude of relevant information sources; and (d) the value of older literature which must continue to be accessed and retrieved."

Figure 1 displays a comprehensive view of the realm of geoscience information. Information seekers take a variety of paths (based on background, expertise, and available resources) to obtain the material they need. The staggering breadth of search methods, information products, and information types underscores the importance of developing IL skills early in a career.

In this paper we introduce a method to help instructors incorporate IL into the classroom experience by mapping an assignment to the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) standards. IL skills that the students acquire in one class provide a direct benefit to them in other classes and prepare them to gather, critically evaluate, and incorporate information from a wide range of sources.

These skills provide a solid basis for people to become lifelong learners. The American Library Association's 1989 Presidential Committee on Information Literacy report indicates that people who are information literate are people who have learned how to learn. Moreover, they know how to learn because they are familiar with the organization and location of information and can retrieve and apply it in such a way that others can learn from them. The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL, 2000) has developed Information Literacy Standards for Higher Education which may be used to assess an individual's level of information literacy. The five ACRL Information Literacy Standards are reproduced below.

An information literate student:

1) Determines the nature and extent of the information needed.

2) Accesses needed information effectively and efficiently.

3) Evaluates information and its sources critically and incorporates selected information into his or her knowledge base and value system.

4) Individually, or as a member of a group, uses information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose.

5) Understands many of the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information and accesses and uses information ethically and legally.

Each of the ACRL Standards is accompanied by performance indicators and associated outcomes. Outcomes in the ACRL standards include both lower and higher order thinking skills, as per Bloom's taxonomy (ACRL, 2000). For example, a performance indicator for Standard 1 states that the information literate student defines and articulates the need for information; an associated outcome is that the student develops a thesis statement and formulates questions based on the information need. In this paper we introduce an easy method for integrating information literacy skills into the classroom experience by mapping an assignment to the ACRL standards.

METHODS TO DEVELOP COMPETENCY

Many programs of library instruction, particularly for lower level undergraduates, have followed the pattern of tours, treasure hunts, and occasionally a single class period bibliographic instruction (BI) session. This is admirable, but library tours only show students where items are located physically, and out-of-context BI sessions are of very limited use in teaching students the actual skills they will need. Learning should be based on real-world information resources and, rather than being fragmented and passive, it should be active and integrated (ALA, 1989). Anecdotal evidence, from discussions at professional meetings and seminars, suggests that many instruction librarians prefer to move away from traditional 50-minute lectures and toward integration with course curricula. In fact, Stoan (1984) states this best by saying:" [instruction in bibliographic resources is useless unless wedded to a course project in which students are simultaneously acquiring subject knowledge and direction from the professor and bibliographic skills from the librarian."