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Information Literacy Program

Collaborations

The library's information literacy program supports the teaching and learning mission of CSUDH. We focus on integrating information literacy throughout the academic curriculum and contributing to students' life long learning through teaching and instruction. 

Classroom Instruction

Collaborate with one of our librarians to teach information literacy concepts and research skills. We’ll design a customized class session for your class and/or assignment(s) online or for an in-person session.

Request an Instruction Session Read about our virtual approach
Online Learning

We offer a self-paced mobile tour, interactive tutorials, and research guides to build information literacy skills and support your teaching outside of a face-to-face classroom environment. Please contact Instruction & Assessment Coordinator, Carolyn Caffrey, or your subject librarian, for questions and ideas for integrating online learning into your course. 

Research Guides & Tutorials
Assignment Design

Librarians can consult with you on building information literacy concepts throughout your curriculum, the design of research assignments, and recommend additional instructional materials. Please contact Carolyn Caffrey, Instruction & Assessment Coordinator, for consultation.

Alternative Research Assignments Writing Across the Curriculum
Orientation & Outreach

Do you have an event where you'd like the library to provide an overview of library services and resources? For tabling, workshops, and other orientation events not associated with a CSUDH course please fill out our outreach form. 

Request an Orientation Session

About the Program

Our Vision

The CSUDH Library’s Information Literacy Program will empower all CSUDH students to engage critically with information throughout its lifecycle in their academic, personal, and professional lives. Our program will inspire inquiry and promote social justice through a proactive approach to teaching information literacy skills. While the library views itself as an integral part of information literacy curriculum on campus, we believe that meaningful partnerships with faculty to integrate information literacy - and robust assessment vertically throughout the curriculum are vital for effectively teaching information literacy.

What We Teach

Pyramid filled 1/4.Orientation

We introduce students to physical and virtual library spaces and services as they enter CSUDH.

  1. Describe library services available through the University Library and in what contexts they are useful
  2. Articulate ways to receive library assistance
  3. Identify library spaces available for different kinds of learning environments

 

Pyramid filled 1/2.General Education 

We build a student's foundation by focusing on strategic searching, evaluating sources, identifying multiple perspectives in sources, describing markers of authority, and citation practices. 

  1. Describe research as an iterative, nonlinear, and interrogative process
  2. Describe different types of authority, such as subject expertise, experience, societal position, etc. in order to select an authoritative source for a specific information need
  3. Articulate the capabilities and constraints of various processes of information creation
  4. Demonstrate that skepticism of traditional/standard authoritative sources as a healthy part of the scholarly ecosystem
  5. Design searches strategically using different types of searching language effectively
  6. Give credit to the original ideas of others through attribution and/or formal citation conventions
  7. Select a source that best meets an information need based on audience, context, and purpose

 

Pyramid filled 3/4.In the Major

We build on students' prior knowledge by focusing on discipline-specific information literacy skills such as understanding primary/secondary/tertiary literature in a discipline, tracking a scholarly conversation, finding specialized sources of information, and information ethics.

  1. Formulate a research question that addresses a perceived gap in disciplinary knowledge
  2. Demonstrate persistence, adaptability, and reflection as components of inquiry
  3. Describe the way that search, discovery, and publishing systems privilege some perspectives and present barriers to others
  4. Identify scholarly publication practices and their related implications for access to scholarly information
  5. Identify the contribution that particular information sources make within an ongoing scholarly conversation

 

Pyramid filled 4/4. Graduate

We focus on discipline-specific information literacy concepts at the graduate-level such as selecting a publication to publish scholarly work, contributing to a scholarly conversation, developing a professional information network, and citation practices.

Assessment

We assess student learning and the efficacy of our program in a variety of ways. After each customized library instruction session students receive a survey measuring their attitudes and perceptions on the effectiveness of the library session. We periodically survey faculty on their perceptions too. For student learning outcomes we have built-in assessment for our tutorials and regularly partner with other instructional faculty to analyze student work. Recently we've partnered with Biology and Psychology reviewing senior-level research papers for key information literacy outcomes and developing instructional interventions as needed. If you're interested in partnering with us on an assessment project please contact Carolyn Caffrey, Information Literacy Coordinator.

Requesting Library Instruction Policies

  • We require at least two weeks' notice for information literacy sessions in order to design an appropriate lesson plan and for scheduling purposes. While we do our best to accommodate evening and weekend availability, we may not have a librarian available for these timeslots given other library responsibilities during typical business hours.
  • Instructors may request instruction in the Gerth Archives & Special Collections or curator tours of specific exhibitions at any time.
  • Librarians reserve the right to cancel information literacy sessions with advanced notice if they determine that the session does not align with the information literacy program’s student learning outcomes.
  • In-person only: Information literacy instruction sessions taking place in the library's instruction labs may only be scheduled during the library's normal operating hours.
  • In-person only: Instructors must attend library sessions with their classes. Instructor attendance is required because students benefit from the combined knowledge of the librarian and the professor and see the value of the information literacy session.

Additional Resources

Interested in learning more about information literacy and how to integrate it into the curriculum? Check out these resources: