The standards and supporting student learning outcomes that are presented here are drawn from the Information Literacy Standards for Science and Engineering/Technology.
Standard 1: The information literate student determines the nature and extent of the information needed.
- Defines and articulates the need for information
- Identifies and/or paraphrases a research topic, or other information need such as that resulting from an assigned lab exercise or project
- Explores academic reference sources to increase familiarity with background knowledge of the topic
- Identifies a variety of types and formats of potential sources for information
- Identifies the purpose and audience of potential resources (e.g. popular vs. scholarly, current vs. historical, external vs. internal, primary vs. secondary vs. tertiary)
- Has a working knowledge of the literature of the field and how it is produced
- Knows how scientific, technical, and related information is formally and informally produced, organized, and disseminated
Standard 2: The information literate student accesses needed information effectively and efficiently.
- Constructs and implements effectively designed search strategies
- Executes the search strategy in multiple databases
Standard 3: The information literate student evaluates information and its sources critically and incorporates selected information into his or her knowledge base and value system.
- Summarizes the main ideas to be extracted from the information gathered
- Applies an understanding of the structure of a scientific paper and uses sections, such as the abstract or references
- Selects information by articulating and applying criteria for evaluating both the information and its sources
- Distinguishes between primary, secondary, and tertiary sources, and recognizes how location of the information source in the cycle of scientific information relates to the credibility of the information
Standard 4: The information literate student, individually or as a member of a group, uses information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose.
- Understands many of the ethical, legal and socio-economic issues surrounding information and information technology
- Demonstrates an understanding of intellectual property, copyright, and fair use of copyrighted material and research data
- Acknowledges the use of information sources in communicating the product or performance
- Selects an appropriate documentation style for each research project and uses it consistently to cite sources
- Communicates the product or performance effectively to others
- Chooses a communication medium and format that best supports the purposes of the product or performance and the intended audience
- Incorporates principles of design in the product or performance
Standard 5: 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.
- Uses a variety of methods and emerging technologies for keeping current in the field
- Establishes current awareness services and follows citation and cited references for pertinent articles
- Uses bibliometric analysis tools to update knowledge of changing technology and product life cycles (such as by analyzing a company's published papers and/or patent portfolio)
- (e.g., such as Google Scholar & Patent)
