Critical Literacy

Competence/Skill: Need for Information

The information literate educator defines and articulates the need for information and selects strategies and tools to find that information.

Target group

Educators & Librarians

Teaching methods

Interactive learning

Peer learning

Learning Objectives

1. Define and articulate the information needed.
2. Identify a variety of types and formats of information sources.
3. Consider the costs and benefits of acquiring the needed information.

Learning Outcomes

1. Identify the purpose for which information is needed. “Know what you don’t know”.
2. Explore general information sources to increase familiarity with the scope of the information need (use dictionaries, encyclopedias, or trusted and evaluated online journals, blogs, wikis, newsfeeds, and news articles).
3. Identify which types of information will best meet the need. The characteristics of the different types of information sources available and how they may be affected by the format (digital, print).
4. Know where the needed information is available and how it can be accessed (databases, Scholar, websites, etc.).
5. Identify key concepts and terms that describe the information need. Brainstorm and select synonyms and alternative words that represent the component concepts.
6. Know how information is formally and informally produced, organized, and disseminated
7. Identifies the value and differences of potential resources in a variety of formats (e.g., multimedia, database, website, data set, audio/visual, book)
8. Identifies the purpose and audience of potential resources (e.g., popular vs. scholarly, current vs. historical)
9. Differentiates between primary and secondary sources, recognizing how their use and importance vary with each discipline.
10. Determine the availability of needed information and make 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)
11. Define a realistic overall plan and timeline to acquire the needed information.