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Faculty Guide to Information Literacy – Core

Why is Information Literacy Important?

 

Information Literacy (IL) refers to the ability to recognize a need for information and to find, analyze, and synthesize related material from books, articles, websites and more.
 

How Can IL Benefit Students?
A 2017 survey of 42,000 students in more than 1,700 courses at 12 major research universities showed that:

  • Retention rates were higher for students whose courses included IL instruction.
  • Students whose courses included IL instruction reported higher average first-year GPAs than those whose courses did not.
  • Students who took IL instruction successfully completed 1.8 more credit hours per year than students who did not.

How Can IL Benefit Faculty?

Students who are information literate are better able to come up with workable topics for their papers, research those topics iindependently, and write papers that conform to rigorous academic standards.

Starter Kit

InfoLit – Core Starter Kit

To hit the ground running, try the following material with students. It will give them a solid start on IL basics without being overwhelming.