The Library works closely with the Coordinator of General Education to target courses assessing Information Literacy at the Foundation level: First Year Experience, Writing I, and Writing II. Outlined below are the Foundation courses and the course objective best aligned with the Library’s definition of Information Literacy. The Library will work with teaching faculty to emphasize specific Information Literacy concepts and skills within each course as identified in the course objective. Recommendations for instructional models are also included but may be adjusted based on faculty requests. Building off skills introduced during the first year, the Library will partner with faculty teaching Exploration and Integration courses to refine skills and introduce more sophisticated concepts. Due to the number of courses in the General Education program and the limited number of instruction librarians, the Library will prioritize working with Foundation courses and work with Exploration and Integration courses upon request.
Given direct library instruction and opportunities to practice throughout the semester, students will locate, evaluate, and use information effectively and ethically through the use of citations, search engines, and databases, as evidenced potentially by reflective research strategy journals and assignments requiring differentiation between popular and scholarly information.
The distinctions between popular and scholarly sources.
The value of library resources in addition to freely available information online.
Understanding the organization of a scholarly article.
Evaluating Google search results by web domain.
Value of information and importance of citation.
Students should complete Library Research 101 tutorials 1 & 2
Targeted instruction session with a librarian to reinforce and supplement concepts covered in tutorials
Locate, evaluate, and select sources.
Summarize and critique materials.
Paraphrase and integrate materials.
Cite texts properly.
Locating sources through the library’s catalog and discovery layer.
Filtering search results with limiters or refinements such as peer review and/or date.
Using information ethically within academic discourse.
Students should complete Library Research 101 tutorials 3 & 4.
Targeted instruction session with a librarian to reinforce and supplement concepts covered in tutorials.
Employ a variety of research methods and genres (including, but not limited to, interview, annotated bibliography, fieldwork, archival work, multimedia, etc.)
Obtain reference materials, books, and articles through the FSU library’s search engines and databases
Become familiar with the latest information technologies pertinent to their research
Adopt either APA or MLA citation format and use properly
Locating sources in databases using Boolean operators
Identifying search terms from a research question to form a search query
Making sure sources fulfill the information need
Understanding the organization of a scholarly article
Creating an annotated bibliography
1-2 instruction sessions with a librarian to cover advanced search techniques and writing an annotated bibliography
Students will be introduced to more advanced search strategies and concepts as they consider the applications of information literacy to real world problems. Exploration courses may reinforce the acquisition of Information Literacy by tapping into aspects of critical thinking in civic engagement, diversity, consumer health research, evaluation of sources, etc. Librarians will collaborate with faculty upon request to help students meet course learning objectives that align with the Instruction program’s Undergraduate Learning Outcomes. Additionally, librarians will develop a lesson plan that can be adapted across disciplines to cover the issue of mis/disinformation and the real world implications of ethical information creation, publication, and dissemination.
Students will engage in discipline-specific research methods, applying information literacy skills to more complex research questions in upper level courses. Students are encouraged to pursue minors and courses with high-impact practices which includes natural fits for information literacy such as research and writing intensive projects. The Library will aim to reach students in these courses by collaborating with disciplinary faculty upon request.