Standard I: The information literate student determines the nature and extent of the information needed.
- Identify and use appropriate general or subject-specific sources to discover relevant information for their research needs.
- Distinguish between primary and secondary research in order to identify useful resources.
Standard II: The information literate student accesses needed information effectively and efficiently.
- Select appropriate information sources and determine their relevance for their current information needs.
- Use background sources such as encyclopedias and thesauri to identify discipline-specific terminology that describes a given topic.
Standard III: The information literate student evaluates information and its sources critically and incorporates selected information into his or her knowledge base and value system.
- Investigate different viewpoints in the literature in order to recognize the impact of bias and opinion in a piece of writing.
- Interpret data, figures, and graphs accurately in order to understand and incorporate statistical data into their work.
Standard IV: The information literate student, individually or as a member of a group, uses information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose.
- Conduct a literature review that critically evaluates the research on a particular topic in order to understand the past scholarship on that topic.
- Use information gathered to construct, assess, and evaluate arguments based on theory and empirical data in order to support the purpose of their research products.
Standard V: The information literate student understands many of the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information and accesses and uses information ethically and legally.
- Construct correct citations for their assignments in order to properly document sources.
- Understand when and how to properly attribute prior scholarship in order to give credit where due and avoid plagiarism.
