Teach Information Literacy & Critical Thinking!  Tags: research researching library_instruction information_literacy critical_thinking plagiarism citation topic_selection topic_narrowing topic_broadening ge_clusters librarians  

Are you spending a lot of time helping your students do information research? Do they know the differences between scholary and popular materials? Are they...

• using the web indiscriminately for research papers?
• not thinking critically?
• copying and pasting without citing?

These are symptoms of "information illiteracy." What is "information literacy"? Basically, it is the ability to identify, locate, evaluate, and use information effectively and ethically (American Library Assocation. Presidential Committee on Information Literacy. Final Report, 1989;  University of California. Academic Council. University Committee on Library. 2003. “Resolution on Information Literacy").

You can save time and get better research papers by helping your students improve their information literacy skills.  Click the tabs above for sample information literacy exercises and teaching tips, as well as help for your own research. Scroll down below for basic help.

NOTE: Check the "Exercises & Handouts" tab above for an outline of the TA workshop on teaching information researching and critical thinking skills, as well as a copy of the PowerPoint slide show. The side show is also available on slideshare.net: http://www.slideshare.net/estherg/ta-info-lit-workshop-7-22-09. Check the Notes pages in the slide show for full content.

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