BRINGING INFORMATION & TECHNOLOGICAL LITERACY TO GEOSCIENCE STUDENTS USING THE ACRL STANDARDS

Information literacy (IL) is the set of skills that enable a person to find, evaluate, and use information. IL is related to, but differs from Technological Literacy (TL) in that TL is the set of skills required to understand and use technology rather than information. In the present information environment both skills go hand in hand, are critical to the geosciences, and are challenging to teach. Factors such as diversity of information types, variable student background, financial restrictions, and time constraints all must be addressed. Most geoscience courses include work that implicitly addresses some IL & TL issues. However, it is worthwhile to explicitly include these as part of the curriculum. We introduce a method to help instructors incorporate IL into the classroom experience, along with TL. The Association of College and Research Libraries has developed Information Literacy Standards for Higher Education, which can be used to assess an individual’s level of information literacy. According to these standards, an information literate student is one who: 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 access and uses information ethically and legally.

An example assignment mapped to the ACRL standards shows the way this can be carried out. Implementation of IL & TL into the classroom can be done relatively easily by the instructor, and provides both immediate and long-term benefits to the student.