Accreditation Agencies, Discipline Associations, and University Governance

What they have to say about Information Literacy

WASC Standards for Information Literacy
Western Association of Schools and Colleges

Handbook of Accreditation, Standard 2, January 2001

Standard 2: Achieving Educational Objectives through Core Functions-Teaching and Learning, p. 20

"Baccalaureate programs engage students in an integrated course of study of sufficient depth and breadth to prepare them for work, citizenship, and a fulfilling life. These programs also ensure the development of core learning abilities and competencies including, but not limited to college-level written and oral communication; college level quantitative skills; information literacy; and the habit of critical analysis of data and argument."

Discipline-Specific Accreditation Standards

Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)
Standards for Business Accreditation, 2003.

"Provide advanced research skills to support scholarship in

American Chemical Society (ACS)
Chemical Information Supplement: ACS Division of Chemical Information, 2005.

"A student who intends to become a practicing chemist, or who will use chemistry in allied fields of science and medicine, should know how to use the chemical literature effectively and efficiently."

American Psychological Association (APA). Board of Educational Affairs Undergraduate Psychology Major Learning Goals and Outcomes:

A Report, 2000

"Students will demonstrate information competence and the ability to use computers and other technology for many purposes"

National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE)
Professional Standards for the Accreditation of Schools, Colleges, and Departments of Education, 2001, p. 19.

"They (teacher education candidates) are able to appropriately and effectively integrate technology and information literacy in instruction to support student learning."

National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
International Reading Association (IRA)
Standards for the English Language Arts, 2002, p.7

"Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and non-print texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience."

California State University Information Competencies
Academic Senate of the CSU, 1998
"The meaning of 'information competence' has evolved to go beyond 'library literacy' or 'bibliographic instruction' or 'computer literacy'. Through discussions in systemwide CSU workshops on information competence and within the professional literature, there is general consensus that information competence is the ability to find, evaluate, use, and communicate information in all of its various formats, including the plethora of electronic communications. In other words, information competence is the fusion or integration of library literacy, ethics, critical thinking, and communication skills.

• What are the specific skills of information competence?
  
  "In order to be able to find, evaluate, use, and communicate information, students must be able to demonstrate these skills in an integrated process:
  1. State a research question, problem, or issue
  2. Determine the information requirements for the research question, problem, or issue
  3. Locate and retrieve relevant information
  4. Organize information
  5. Analyze and evaluate information
  6. Synthesize information
  7. Communicate using a variety of information technologies
  8. Use the technological tools for accessing information
  9. Understand the ethical, legal, and socio-political issues surrounding information and information technology
  10. Use, evaluate, and treat critically information received from the mass media
  11. Appreciate that the skills gained in information competence enable lifelong learning
  
  
• How is information competence implemented?
  
  "Programs to develop the information competence of students have long been undertaken by academic libraries and academic disciplines utilizing library resources as their main source of research information. These programs teach students the value of how to locate, evaluate and use information effectively, and the critical thinking skills to assess the information in the context of their scholarly work. As made evident in the CSU workshops in 1995 and 1997, many faculty members do indeed foster the students' ability to attain and use information resources and encourage students to develop the skills necessary to be independent, self-directed learners.
  
  "In general, however, it is uncertain whether the skills of information competence are slowly being compromised as new information advances rapidly, or whether there is a lag in developing university programs that firmly embedded these skills in the academic curriculum at a rate that keeps pace with new electronic information resources. The research undertaken by the Work Group suggests that isolated, hit-or-miss, ad hoc attempts cannot ensure that students are well equipped for the Information Age. It also indicates that the best programs that teach students information competence are those that are integrating these skills within the curriculum throughout the students' education tenure. In addition, most of these same programs have strong alliances between the academic teaching faculty and the library faculty. The CSU Work Group's report assumes that the information competence of students is a responsibility to be shared by academic teaching faculty and library faculty and should be an integral element of the curriculum…
  "There is a great deal of interest in achieving this goal through a three-stage process, in which: (1) the fundamentals of information competence are introduced in a freshman-orientation/transitions course; (2) the skills are further developed by being embedded in general education courses; and, (3) the skills are reinforced and amplified in the major area."
  
  
• CSULA Faculty Handbook
  Information Competence
  (Senate: 4/4/2000; President: 5/1/2000)
  
  "Prior to graduation from California State University, Los Angeles, students must develop the ability to: (1) formulate a research question or problem, (2) determine its information requirements, (3) locate and retrieve that information effectively, (4) organize, analyze, evaluate, and synthesize that information critically, and (5) be able to communicate and present that information in a coherent fashion. In addition, students must develop an understanding of the ethical, legal, and socio-political issues in the retrieval, use and presentation of information.
  
  The process of acquiring information competence should occur progressively, since the sources of information and methods by which information is gathered and communicated can vary greatly across disciplines in the University. Therefore, instruction in necessary skills must begin in lower division courses and subsequently be refined and directed so as to reflect a specific discipline's information needs as its students progress toward completion of its program. The extent to which programs assist students in developing information competence will be assessed at the time of program review."