Skip to Main Content

Literacies

University Libraries have a range of initiatives to help faculty design and embed literacy curriculum in their courses, to prepare students for careers as thoughtful, effective communicators and content creators.

What is Information Literacy?


The ACRL's Framework for Information Literacy provides an extended definition of information literacy:

"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."

ACRL Framework for Information Literacy

The libraries play an integral role in cultivating a culture of effective and influential research through our literacy initiatives. Illuminate's transformational education and research and scholarship initiatives directly relate to the work that the libraries are doing; not just to provide access to a wealth of resources but to promote critical thinking and engagement with those resources.

Our literacy initiatives are driven by the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) Framework for Information Literacy. The Framework is based on a cluster of interconnected core concepts, with flexible options for implementation. The Framework is organized into six frames, each consisting of a concept central to information literacy, a set of knowledge practices, and a set of dispositions. Knowledge practices are demonstrations of ways in which learners can increase their understanding of these information literacy concepts. Dispositions describe ways in which to address the affective, attitudinal, or valuing dimension of learning.

This information comes from ACRL's Framework for Information Literacy.

The six concepts that anchor the frames are:

  • Authority is Constructed and Contextual
  • Information Creation as a Process
  • Information has Value
  • Research as Inquiry
  • Scholarship as Conversation
  • Searching as Strategic Exploration

"In addition, this Framework draws significantly upon the concept of metaliteracy, which offers a renewed vision of information literacy as an overarching set of abilities in which students are consumers and creators of information who can participate successfully in collaborative spaces. Metaliteracy demands behavioral, affective, cognitive, and metacognitive engagement with the information ecosystem. This Framework depends on these core ideas of metaliteracy, with special focus on metacognition, or critical self-reflection, as crucial to becoming more self-directed in that rapidly changing ecosystem."

-Association of College and Research Libraries (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework

Information Literacy Instructional Content

Getting Started With Information Literacy

 

If you're looking to get your students basic, introductory information literacy instruction, our microcourses are a great place to start! Begin with the microcourse on information literacy and students will be introduced to the Baylor Libraries, the types of resources that are available to them through the Libraries, and they will get an introduction on how to use the library's website.

  • Students receive a new badge for each completed micro course. There are microcourses focused on the other literacies that we support (data, media, and making). Complete all four and students receive the "Baylor University Libraries' Literacies" badge.
  • Expected time commitment for the information literacy module is 10 minutes. 
  • Faculty will find instructions and prepared assignments in Canvas Commons (just search "literacies").
  • Learners may self-enroll at: baylor.instructure.com/enroll/WWXKDL

Beyond the Microcourse

Videos:
Some of the videos listed are included in the microcourse described above, but can be shared separately using the links below.

On-demand Modules:

The items below are part of our first and second tiers in our information literacy instruction approach (library basics and research basics). They can be used and shared with students as needed!

Some of these modules are also available on the Canvas Commons (just search "library") and can be embedded as modules directly into your Canvas course. Otherwise, you are free to share the links above with your students as you see fit.

University Libraries

One Bear Place #97148
Waco, TX 76798-7148

(254) 710-6702