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Strategies for Success: Information Literacy

A research guide for STRT 1000, designed to be delivered during a synchronous Zoom instruction session with a librarian

Introduction to Information Literacy

Information literacy includes the skills a person needs to determine what information is needed, where to find it, how much of it is needed for a specific topic, how to analyze and organize it to create the "product," and finally, how to properly cite it. (Sherfield and Moody, p 97)

Sherfield, Robert M, and Patricia G. Moody. Cornerstones for Community College Success. Boston: Pearson Education, 2014.

Information Literacy

Facts

How do you define "facts"?

  • Something that is generally not disputed
  • By people in a position to know
  • By those who can be relied on to accurately tell the truth

From https://webliteracy.pressbooks.com/back-matter/how-digipo-defines-a-fact/Graphic of magnifying glass over "facts"

Image from https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2016/08/20/09/46/magnifying-glass-1607160_960_720.jpg

Steps in Information Literacy

5 Steps to Information Literacy

  1. Define your information need (your discovery goal)
    • List possible keywords
  2. Access the information needed
    • Use keywords when searching a database or search engine
  3. Evaluate the information resources critically
    • Accuracy
    • Currency
    • Reliability
    • Point of view / bias
  4. Apply the information to support your needs
  5. Cite your sources