Information Literacy: Northern Kentucky University, Greater Cincinnati Region

An Information Literate Student is one capable of negotiating the research process with relative ease and confidence.

According to the Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education, an information literate student can do the following:

Determine information needs to start research
Effectively find information
Evaluate information for relevancy
Synthesize information
Ethically use information

The purpose of these pages is to provide means and ways to integrate information literacy activities in the classroom. See Creative Thinking Lessons for additional background to introduce information literacy skills such as synthesizing information for research.

The pages are divided into specific areas:

Explanation of the standard and what it means for the student
Explanations of the concepts that encompass that particular research step
Examples of each concept for you, the faculty member, to teach it more efficiently in class
An example of how the research process looks at each stage at the student level
Activities and worksheets that can be incorporated into the classroom
Links to library tutorials that address that step

Contents of this Information Literacy for the Classroom section were created by Ellie Jones on behalf of NKU Steely Library. Please feel free to utilize and copy the handouts for your educational purposes.

Important Note

Many educators have requested that we introduce instructional plans for information literacy and synthesizing information in student research. Our college level information literacy for classroom applications is presented here to provide high school instructors the tools to prepare students for both college and career research and writing.

Information literacy supports student originality and respect for others intellectual works. See Creative Thinking Lessons for additional background to introduce information literacy skills such as synthesizing information for research.