INCORPORATING INFORMATION LITERACY
OUTCOMES INTO YOUR COURSE
Jane Lewandoski, Faculty Information & Education Services Librarian
Kendra Lake, Dean of Library Services

"Information literacy is the set of integrated abilities encompassing the reflective discovery
of information, the understanding of how information is produced and valued, and the
use of information in creating new knowledge and participating ethically in communities
of learning."
Association of College & Research Libraries, American Library Association Framework for
Information Literacy for Higher Education
WHAT DOES INFORMATION LITERACY
MEAN TODAY?

SC4 GENERAL EDUCATION
COMPETENCY
Information Literacy (IL) is the ability to find and use information and evaluate its reliability.
Outcomes:
• 1. Demonstrate technological competence to obtain information from
data.
• 2. Demonstrate how and where to search for reliable information.
• 3. Demonstrate how to form conclusions based on reliable
information.

HOW DOES SC4 LIBRARY FIT IN?
• Information literacy resources
• Custom resource description &
instruction sessions
• One on one reference assistance
• Curated resource lists
• Interactive self assessment
tutorials
• Canvas modules
• Plagiarism and academic
honesty information

HOW DOES SC4 LIBRARY FIT IN?
ENG 101 Program
• Access the library’s e-resources 24/7 from any
device with Internet access.
• Differentiate between magazine and scholarly
journal articles.
• Use the library databases to find peer
articles.
• Evaluate sources of information.
• Create advanced database and internet
searching strategies..
• Identify elements of an MLA citation.
• Cite sources responsibly.
• Assessment

EXAMPLE
WHICH STATEMENT SOUNDS MORE AUTHORITATIVE?
1. People who participate in yoga have a 22.9% reduction in
poor mental health days.
2. According to the Wall Street Journal, people who participate
in yoga have a 22.9% reduction in poor mental health days.
3. According to Lancet Psychiatry, people who participate in
yoga have a 22.9% reduction in poor mental health days.
How do you follow through with the WSJ article?

HOW DOES SC4 LIBRARY FIT IN?
IL Instruction in the other disciplines
• Instruction tailored to the discipline/course.
• Use the library databases to find subject
appropriate peer reviewed articles.
• Evaluate sources of information.
• Create advanced database and internet
searching strategies..
• Identify elements of an MLA/APA citation.
• Cite sources responsibly.
• Nursing Biology 100 Criminal Justice

EMBEDDING INTO YOUR COURSE
Custom Library Research Guides Examples
• https://esearch.sc4.edu/guides
• https://esearch.sc4.edu/eng102bb
• https://esearch.sc4.edu/eng101sp
Custom Canvas Module
• https://sc4.instructure.com/login/canvas
Contact the library
• https://esearch.sc4.edu/contact

EXAMPLES
Outcome 1: Demonstrate technological competence to obtain information from
data.
Have students investigate an open data source to draw conclusions or support a pre-
determined argument. Be sure to examine all sites for data limitations and bias.
• Consider the uses of Data.gov as a source for open data. Consider a creative use for one of
the data sets found and describe.
• Use Data Driven Detroit as a jumping off point for exploring types of data and how it is used
in the Metro Detroit region.
• https://datadrivendetroit.org/
• On a more local level, consider using the St. Clair County EDA data center for info regarding
entrepreneurship and local business markets.
• http://www.edascc.com/data-center
• Discuss the limitations of collected data
• http://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/limitations
• Library research guide
• https://esearch.sc4.edu/datastats

EXAMPLES
Outcome 2: Demonstrate how and where to search for reliable information.
• Use some of the strategies on the SC4 Library’s Search Strategies guide and instruct
students to locate, read, evaluate, and share a scholarly article from one of the library’s
databases. https://esearch.sc4.edu/search_strategies
• “Go upstream to find the source”. Using an example from Web Literacy for Student Fact-
checkers have students investigate the original source of an image, quote, or post.
https://webliteracy.pressbooks.com/chapter/go-upstream-to-find-the-source/
• Send students to a published article on a popular news website. Have students identify
and investigate all parts of the site, including sponsored and ad content, the publisher
and owner of the site, author of content, etc.

EXAMPLES
Outcome 3: Demonstrate how to form conclusions based on reliable
information.
• Read the CQ Researcher report on College Debt and evaluate one source used in this report.
• https://esearch.sc4.edu/cqresearcher
• https://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqr_ht_college_debt_2018
• Note the following:
• What is the primary purpose or intent of this source? Why was it published?
• Who was the creator of this source? Who published it?
• Is the author qualified to write this source?
• Was this a good source for the CQ Researcher report author to include in a report on student
debt? Why or why not? What other information would you have included? Where would you
have looked for this information?
• Have students find and evaluate research to determine if it is bad science
• https://esearch.sc4.edu/fakescience
• https://esearch.sc4.edu/fakenews

USING CANVAS COMMONS
https://sc4.instructure.com/
When logged into Canvas, click on the “Commons” tab
Type SC4 in the search box
Or using the filter, select “shared with St. Clair County Community College”
Choose the module to preview content
Select Import/download to add to your selected course.

RESOURCES
Anatomy of a scholarly article
https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/tutorials/scholarly-articles/
Web Literacy for student fact checkers:
https://webliteracy.pressbooks.com/front-matter/web-strategies-for-student-fact-
checkers/
Project CORA
https://www.projectcora.org/
SC4 Library Information Literacy
http://esearch.sc4.edu/infolit
THANK YOU – SC4 LIBRARY
HTTPS://ESEARCH.SC4.EDU

THANK YOU
SC4 LIBRARY
Y O U R PA R T N E R I N I N F O R M AT I O N L I T E R A C Y