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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
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 Gardner, Information Literacy Coordinator, or your subject librarian. 

Alternative Research Assignments Writing Across the Curriculum
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 Tessa Withorn, Online Learning Librarian, or your subject librarian, for questions and ideas for integrating online learning into your course. 

Research Guides & Tutorials

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 teaching information literacy core competencies.

What We Teach

 

General Education Icon

Pyramid filled 1/4.Orientation

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

  • Describe library services available through the University Library and in what contexts they are useful
  • Articulate ways to receive library assistance
  • 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. 

  • Formulate a research question of an appropriate scope for an assignment
  • Describe research as an iterative, nonlinear, and interrogative process
  • Describe different types of authority, such as subject expertise, experience, societal position, etc.
  • Identify authoritative information sources based on a specific information need
  • Articulate the capabilities and constraints of various processes of information creation
  • Acknowledge that they themselves may be seen as an authority in particular contexts
  • Demonstrate that skepticism of traditional/standard authoritative sources as a healthy part of the scholarly ecosystem
  • Design searches strategically using different types of searching language effectively
  • Give credit to the original ideas of others through attribution and/or formal citation conventions
  • Manage personal and academic information online with an understanding of the commodification of that information
  • Distinguish between format and method of access, understanding that these are separate entities
  • Select a source that best meets an information need based on audience, context, and purpose
  • Identify the contribution that particular information sources make within an ongoing conversation

 

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.

  • Formulate a research question that addresses a perceived gap in disciplinary knowledge
  • Seek a variety of perspectives in order to shape their own knowledge base
  • Demonstrate persistence, adaptability, and reflection as components of inquiry
  • Identify how information systems are organized in order to access relevant information
  • Discuss that intellectual property is a legal concept that is socially constructed according to different professions and communities
  • Describe the way that systems privilege some perspectives and present barriers to others
  • Describe the creation and dissemination process of information in a discipline
  • Identify scholarly publication practices and their related implications for access to scholarly information
  • Contribute to the scholarly conversation as creator or critic
  • Track a scholarly conversation within a discipline

 

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 Gardner, Information Literacy Coordinator.

Requesting Library Instruction

  • We require at least two weeks' notice for information literacy sessions in order to design an appropriate lesson plan and for scheduling purposes.
  • 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: Availability on the instruction request form is generated based on the schedules of Library Labs 2021 A & B. If you need instruction outside of this time range, please contact your librarian directly for accommodation.
  • In-person only: Information literacy instruction sessions in the library may be scheduled during any of the library's normal operating hours.

Instructor Attendance

Instructors must attend library sessions with their classes. Contact your librarian for alternative arrangements in the case of extenuating circumstances. 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: