Using Sources with Integrity - New Tutorial Progress

The Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education (casually called The Framework) is a document produced by the Association of College and Research Libraries. It uses a series of threshold concepts, knowledge practices, and dispositions that aim to provide a complete picture of information literacy instruction at a post-secondary level.

From the Framework:

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.

The full framework can be accessed here:

• Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education

In this tutorial, we will focus on a few distinct frames, knowledge practices, and dispositions:

• Information Creation as a Process
• Information has Value
• Scholarship as Conversation

Information Creation as a Process

From the Framework:

Information in any format is produced to convey a message and is shared via a selected delivery method. The iterative processes of researching, creating, revising, and disseminating information vary, and the resulting product reflects these differences.

In particular, this tutorial hopes to speak to the knowledge practice of:

• Learners who are developing their information literate abilities develop, in their own creation processes, an understanding that their choices impact the purposes for the the information product will be used and the message it conveys

and the disposition of:

• Learners who are developing their information literate abilities are inclined to seek out characteristics of information products that indicate the underlying creation process.

The main messages that will be conveyed with this information are:

• Students should know that creation of information sources, including the students' own, takes time and resources;
• Students should be able to describe the purpose of using sources for their assignments.

Information has Value

From the Framework:

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. Legal and socioeconomic interests influence information production and dissemination.

In particular, this tutorial hopes to speak to the knowledge practices of:

• Learners who are developing their information literate abilities:
  • give credit to the original ideas of others through proper attribution and citation;
  • understand that intellectual property is a legal and social construct that varies by culture.

and the dispositions of:

• Learners who are developing their information literate abilities:
  • respect the original ideas of others;
  • see themselves as contributors to the information marketplace rather than only consumers of it.

The main messages that should be conveyed with this information are:

• Students should recognize that there is a specific cultural practice around attribution that may be unfamiliar to them.
• Students will see citation as an integral part of scholarly communication.
• Will provide some detailed information about citation in the particular styles.

Scholarship as Conversation

From the Framework:

Communities of scholars, researchers, or professionals engage in sustained discourse with new insights and discoveries occurring over time as a result of varied perspectives and interpretations.

In particular, this tutorial hopes to speak to the knowledge practice of:

• Learners who are developing their information literate abilities cite the contributing work of others in their own information production.

and the dispositions of:

• Learners who are developing their information literate abilities:
  • recognize they are often entering into an ongoing scholarly conversation and not a finished conversations;
  • see themselves as contributors to scholarship rather than only consumers of it.

The main messages that should be conveyed with this information are:

• Students should be able to see that using sources appropriately and ethically is how scholarly communication and conversation takes place. To fail to do so undermines not just the goals of an assignment, but the goals of research and scholarship writ large.