RDP Library: Faculty Support at RDP Library: Instruction & Information Literacy

About Information Literacy

Information literate students understand that the world of information is complex. They think critically about information that they encounter, in any format, and are able to locate appropriate information for their context and need. They are ethical and intentional in their own creation of information. Their skills seamlessly transfer from one program and situation to another and create a foundation for lifelong learning.

Information Literacy with RDP Library includes:

curriculum development work with instructors, programs, departments, and Schools
formal instructional opportunities, including single classes, multiple connected classes, and librarians embedded into classes for an entire semester
one-on-one instruction with students in person at our Library Desk as well as virtually via email, chat, and text

Our Information Literacy Framework

Information literacy at Red Deer Polytechnic is informed by and based on the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). Outcomes of our Framework include:

Authority & Evaluation of Information: Differentiate between different kinds of authority and choose the appropriate authority for the context.
Information Creation: Demonstrate that information creation, by both oneself and others, is a dynamic process made up of a series of intentional decisions.
Power & Value of Information: Identify and examine the underlying power and value structures of information.
Information Ethics: Exemplify ethical choices in the use of information.
Research Process: Conduct research as a dynamic process of asking questions, synthesizing information, and asking further questions.
Scholarship as a Conversation: Recognize that scholarship is a conversation, and judge where, when, and how to enter that conversation.
Information Searching: Seek information using an exploratory process, intentionally and continually revising search strategies.

Below is an overview of our Information Literacy Framework:
Authority & Evaluation of Information	Information Creation	Power & Value of Information	Information Ethics	Research Process	Scholarship as a Conversation	Information Searching
Evaluating Basics	Format Choice	Value of Personal Information	Plagiarism	Identify Information Need	Types of Sources	Choosing Search Tools
Scholarly vs. Popular Information	Creation Tools	Privacy and Security	Citation Basics	Create and Revise Question	Information Cycle	Keywords
Peer-Review Basics	Communication Style	Information has Value	Citation Advanced	Synthesize Information	Disciplinary Communication Conventions	Search Basics
Evaluating Advanced	Publishing	Open Access	Copyright Basics	Identify Gaps in Research	Enter the Disciplinary Conversation	Analyze Results and Revise Search
Peer-Review Advanced		Missing Voices	Creative Commons			Search Advanced
Publishing Industry			Copyright Advanced

Note: Outcomes and supporting material informed by and based on the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education.

Authority & Evaluation of Information

**Outcome:** Differentiate between different kinds of authority and choose the appropriate authority for the context.
Topics	Examples
Evaluating Basics	appropriate resource type for assignment purpose; evaluation models (e.g. CRAAP test); indicators of authority and credibility
Scholarly vs. Popular Information	scholarly vs. popular information; key indicators of scholarly works
Peer-Review Basics	peer-reviewed search limiters; general purpose processes of peer-review; indicators of peer-reviewed works
Evaluating Advanced	self-bias and confirmation bias, questioning authority, limitations of checklist approaches to evaluation (e.g. CRAAP test), fact-checking or lateral searching, discipline-specific indicators of authority
Peer-Review Advanced	indicators of poor peer-review practices, limitations of peer-review, retracted articles
The Publishing Industry	authority of published information, limitations of formal publishing, self-publishing, informal publishing

Note: Outcomes and supporting material informed by and based on the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education.

Information Creation

**Outcome:** Demonstrate that information creation, by both oneself and others, is a dynamic process made up of a series of intentional decisions.
Information Creation	Topics Include
Format Choice	mediums for presenting information; discipline standards (e.g. published paper, blog post, eportfolio, live performance)
Creation Tools	use, and evaluation of tools, technology, and applications.
Communication Style	discipline specific communication; audience and context appropriate content
Publishing	discipline specific standards and expectations; impact of information dissemination format; informal publishing

Note: Outcomes and supporting material informed by and based on the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education.

Power & Value of Information

**Outcome**: Identify and examine the underlying power and value structures of information.
The Power and Value of Information	Topics Include
The Value of Personal Information	social media; search engine algorithms and ads; collection and use of personal data; big data
Privacy and Security	personal privacy; information protection (e.g. FOIP); digital locks; implications of sharing information online; passwords; anonymous browsing
Information has Value	cost of information (e.g. monetary, labour, privacy); institutional or organizational access; privilege of access; perceived status or value of dissemination formats
Open Access	definition of OA; cost to produce OA works; benefits and limitations of publishing OA
Missing Voices	global and societal discrepancies in access, participation, and representation in scholarly conversations; systematic exclusion of voices

Note: Outcomes and supporting material informed by and based on the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education.

Information Ethics

**Outcome:** Exemplify ethical choices in the use of information.
Information Ethics	Topics Include
Plagiarism	definition of plagiarism; indicators of plagiarism; consequences of plagiarism; academic integrity
Citation Basics	citation elements; discipline specific expectations (e.g. paraphrasing vs quoting); citations for common types of works; in-text citations
Citation Advanced	“franken-references” by combining rules (from different sources and interpretations); citations for more complex types of works; identify types of sources from citations; citation generators and managers
Copyright Basics	purpose of copyright; fair-dealing; indicators of copyrighted works; attribution and attribution builders
Creative Commons	purpose of creative commons; indicators of creative commons works; creative commons sources; creative commons licensing
Copyright Advanced	copyright holder vs creator; permission seeking; copyright legislation; creator rights

Note: Outcomes and supporting material informed by and based on the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education.

Research Process

**Outcome:** Conduct research as a dynamic process of asking questions, synthesizing information, and asking further questions.
Developing Questions & The Research Process	Topics Include
Identify Information Need	scope of inquiry; background information (encyclopedias, general reference materials)
Create and Revise Question	topic development; topic limitations; mind mapping; broaden/narrow topic
Synthesize Information	evidence for your position or answer; gaps in information; incorporate ideas from multiple sources; draw reasonable conclusions; when to stop
Identify Gaps in Research	unanswered questions; “limitations” and “further study” sections of scholarly work; interdisciplinary research (other disciplines’ knowledge to inform own area of study); limitations of own work

Note: Outcomes and supporting material informed by and based on the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education.

Scholarship as a Conversation

**Outcome:** Recognize that scholarship is a conversation, and judge where, when, and how to enter that conversation.
Scholarship as Conversation	Topics Include
Types of Sources	source types and purpose (informal, professional, scholarly); primary and secondary sources
The Information Cycle	publishing timelines; depth of conversation based on source type
Disciplinary Communication Conventions	read sources in a discipline (e.g. anatomy of a scholarly article); language use in different environments (scholarly vs popular vs social media, etc.)
Enter the Disciplinary Conversation	how, when, and where to contribute ideas to an ongoing conversation

Note: Outcomes and supporting material informed by and based on the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education.

Information Searching

**Outcome:** Seek information using an exploratory process, intentionally and continually revising search strategies.
Information Searching	Topics Include
Choosing Search Tools	search tools (databases, search engines, directories, etc.); discipline specific tools
Keywords	key concepts within your research question; discipline specific language; subject headings; synonyms; scientific vs common name; spelling variants
Search Basics	broaden and narrow searches; limiters; phrases vs keywords
Analyze Results and Revise Search	search result relevance; search strategy modification
Search Advanced	mining sources (searching reference lists); search alerts; interlibrary loan; search history; research log; complex search strings

Note: Outcomes and supporting material informed by and based on the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education.

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