Research and Course Guides: Library Instruction & Information Literacy @ St. Thomas: Information Literacy in Context

ACRL's Information Literacy Framework: Background

ACRL's Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education grew out of a belief that information literacy as an educational reform movement will realize its potential only through a richer, more complex set of core ideas. Intentionally called a framework, it is based on a cluster of flexible interconnected core concepts. Six threshold concepts comprise the framework.

At the heart of this Framework are conceptual understandings that organize many other concepts and ideas about information, research, and scholarship into a coherent whole. The Framework opens the way for librarians, faculty, and other institutional partners to redesign instruction sessions, assignments, courses, and even curricula; to connect information literacy with student success initiatives; to collaborate on pedagogical research and involve students themselves in that research; and to create wider conversations about student learning, the scholarship of teaching and learning, and the assessment of learning on local campuses and beyond.

IL Defined

The Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) expanded its definition of information literacy to emphasize dynamism, flexibility, individual growth, and community learning. It defines it as follows:

Information literacy is the set of integrated abilities encompassing the reflective discovery of information, the understanding of how information is produced and valued, and the use of information in creating new knowledge and participating ethically in communities of learning.

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ACRL's Framework

Authority Is Constructed and Contextual

This frame refers to the recognition that information resources are drawn from their creators’ expertise and credibility based on the information need and the context in which the information will be used. Experts view authority with an attitude of informed skepticism and an openness to new perspectives, additional voices, and changes in schools of thought.

Information Creation as a Process

This frame refers to the understanding that the purpose, message, and delivery of information are intentional acts of creation. Recognizing the nature of information creation, experts look to the underlying processes of creation as well as the final product to critically evaluate the usefulness of the information.

Information Has Value

This frame refers to the understanding that information possesses several dimensions of value, including as a commodity, as a means of education, as a means to influence, and as a means of negotiating and understanding the world. The flow of information through systems of production and dissemination is impacted by legal, sociopolitical, and economic interests.

Research as Inquiry

This frame refers to an understanding that research is iterative and depends upon asking increasingly complex or new questions whose answers develop additional questions or lines of inquiry in any field.

Scholarship as Conversation

This frame refers to the idea of sustained discourse within a community of scholars, researchers, or professionals, with new insights and discoveries occurring over time as a result of competing perspectives and interpretations.

Searching as Strategic Exploration

This frame refers to the understanding that information searching is often nonlinear and iterative, requiring the evaluation of a broad range of information sources and the mental flexibility to pursue alternate avenues as new understanding is developed.

IL Standards (2000)

Standard One
The information literate student determines the nature and extent of the information needed.

Standard Two
The information literate student accesses needed information effectively and efficiently.

Standard Three
The information literate student evaluates information and its sources critically and incorporates selected information into his or her knowledge base and value system.

Standard Four
The information literate student, individually or as a member of a group, uses information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose.

Standard Five
The information literate student understands many of the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information and accesses and uses information ethically and legally.