Information Literacy Standards for Soka University
The Ikeda Library’s Information Literacy Program works with Soka University’s Institutional Learning Outcomes. Specifically it supports students’ efforts in “…developing a sense of history and understanding of the nature of reality, “to think and investigate critically and creatively” and “to become, through integrative learning, active and informed global citizens.”
The following are the Information Literacy Standards of the Association of College and Research Libraries, accepted in 2000. These standards were also endorsed by the American Association for Higher Education in October 1999 and the Council of Independent Colleges in February 2004.
These are the Goals that we have for our students in our Information Literacy program:
- Standard 1:
The information literate student is able to determine the nature and extent of information needed.
- Standard 2:
The information literate student is able to access the needed information effectively and efficiently.
- Standard 3:
The information literate student is able to evaluate information and its sources critically and incorporate selected information into his or her knowledge base and value system.
- Standard 4:
The information literate student is able to, individually or as a member of a group, use information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose.
- Standard 5:
The information literate student is able to understand many of the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information and access and use information ethically and legally.
- Adopted from Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education
The library’s Information Literacy program is intended to work together with the efforts of the faculty to bring our students to the fulfillment of these goals. The more widespread these concepts are in the university culture, the more successful the students will be in their critical thinking in the information arena. Faculty can participate in this effort by keeping these goals in mind while creating assignments, suggesting research methods, and by working actively with the instruction librarian to team-teach research workshops for their classes.
The learning outcomes that we use in the in the IL sessions for particular classes are as follows:
University Bridge Program:
- Student identifies keywords, synonyms and related terms for the information needed.
- Student explores general information sources to increase familiarity with the topic.
- Student identifies key concepts and terms that describe the information need.
- Student elects efficient and effective approaches for accessing the information needed from the investigative method or information retrieval system.
Writing 101:
- Student decides the nature and extent of the information needed.
- Student knows how to identify key concepts and terms that describe the information need.
- Student knows where to find reliable reference information to begin a research project.
- Student knows the difference between edited and non-edited content on the internet and where to find edited articles.
- Student knows how to analyze web pages for relevancy, credibility, timeliness, authority and point of view.
- Student knows how information is arranged in subject categories and hierarchies to facilitate retrieval of high quality material.
- Student knows the logic behind Boolean logic and how to use advanced search techniques.
- Student knows how to physically find the information available in the university library.
Writing 301:
- Student demonstrates basic knowledge of how information is formally and informally produced, organized, and disseminated.
- Student reviews the initial information need to clarify, revise, or refine the question.
- Student knows the difference between Scholarly peer reviewed items and popular magazine articles and know how to track an article back to its source to analyze it.
- Student uses, evaluates and treats critically information received from the mass media.
- Student differentiates between primary and secondary sources, recognizing how their use and importance vary with each discipline.
- Student recognizes that knowledge can be organized into disciplines that influence the way information is accessed.
- Student knows how to use information ethically. Use citations rigorously.
IL classes for individual classes across the curriculum (i.e. Intro Sociology, Nature in Literature, Learning Cluster projects)
- Student recognizes that knowledge can be organized into disciplines that influence the way information is accessed.
- Student knows where to find information in discipline being investigated and the norms of research methods in the discipline.
- Student constructs and implements effectively designed search strategies.
- Student refines search strategy if necessary.
- Student extracts, records and manages the information and its sources
Capstone Research:
- Student identifies a variety of types and formats of potential sources for information.
- Student knows how to mine bibliographies in various sources for relevant information.
- Student determines the availability of needed information and makes decisions on broadening the information seeking process beyond local resources (e.g., interlibrary loan; using resources at other locations; obtaining images, videos, text, or sound).
- Student realizes that information may need to be constructed with raw data from primary sources.
- Student defines a realistic overall plan and timeline to acquire the needed information.
- Student knows how to use information ethically. Use citations rigorously. Articulates reasons for proper documentation, including copyright laws, academic integrity and the ability of readers to find the sources used.
The library is interested in working with faculty to refine these learning outcomes in conjunction with individual classes and disciplines at Soka.
Please contact Lisa Polfer to collaborate on this program.
For the complete Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education report, go to: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/standards/informationliteracycompetency.cfm
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