This was a presentation give at the May 2016 faculty workshops at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg.

1. Information Literacy
@ Pitt-Greensburg:
What Do We Know and Where Should We Go?
Amanda Folk, Library Director
Kelly Bradish, Reference/Public Services Librarian
Renee Kiner, Public Services Librarian
Anna Mary Williford, Instruction/Public Services Librarian

2. Snapshot of A Team’s Teaching Activities
Formal Classroom Instruction, AY15-16
 Total instruction sessions: 89
 Sessions by division
 BS: 10
 HUM: 33
 NS: 2
 Sessions by course level
 00xx: 65
 01xx-09xx: 9
 1xxx: 15
Research Consultations, AY15-16
 Total consultations: 82
 Consultations by division
 BS: 5
 HUM: 69
 NS: 8
 Consultations by course level
 00xx: 12
 01xx-09xx: 33
 1xxx: 37

3. We want to hear from you.
Let’s do a quick poll!

5. What is information literacy?
ACRL’s Information Literacy Standards for
Higher Education (2000)
Information literacy is a set of abilities
requiring individuals to ‘recognize when
information is needed and have the ability to
locate, evaluate, and use effectively the
needed information.
ACRL’s Framework for Information Literacy
for Higher Education (2015)
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.

6. Standards vs. Framework
Five Information Literacy Standards
 The information literate student determines the
nature and extent of the information needed.
 The information literate student accesses needed
information effectively and efficiently.
 The information literate student evaluates
information and its sources critically and
incorporates selected information into his or her
knowledge base and value system.
 The information literate student, individually or as a
member of a group, uses information effectively
to accomplish a specific purpose.
 The information literate student understands many
of the economic, legal, and social issues
surrounding the use of information and accesses
and uses information ethically and legally.
Six Information Literacy Threshold Concepts
 Authority Is Constructed and Contextual
 Information Creation as a Process
 Information Has Value
 Research as Inquiry
 Scholarship as Conversation
 Searching as Strategic Exploration

7. What does information literacy at Pitt-
Greensburg look like?
Information literacy is a combination of discrete skills and habits of mind, both of which are vital for
the lifelong process of learning and intellectual development. At Pitt-Greensburg, the information
literate individual:
 recognizes a research need and actively initiates a process of inquiry;
 values intellectual curiosity in developing questions and learning new investigative methods;
 strategically and reflectively discovers information;
 critically evaluates and selects information based on context;
 processes information effectively to learn, to create and communicate new knowledge, to solve
problems, and to make decisions;
 demonstrates ethical and responsible behavior when using information.
Information literacy encompasses but is not limited to the following concepts: critical thinking;
problem solving; digital, visual and media literacies; digital citizenship; information technology skills;
written and oral communication skills; academic literacy; disciplinary and interdisciplinary thinking.

8. This is a collaborative endeavor.
Millstein Library’s Statement of Philosophy and Practice
Every individual has the right to be information literate. The Millstein Library strives to
collaboratively develop the skills and habits of mind related to information literacy, with the
goal of contributing to a culture of inquiry that includes critical reflection and leads to
academic success. To this end, the Millstein Library will offer services, expertise, and physical
space in which students feel comfortable interacting with information, as well as creating
and communicating new knowledge, so they may actively develop their information literacy
skills throughout their tenure at Pitt-Greensburg as a foundation for the lifelong processes of
learning and intellectual development.

9. What do we know about the
information literacy skills of Pitt-
Greensburg students?
Let’s talk about assessment.

10. How do we assess information literacy?
HEDS Research Practices Survey
 Proprietary instrument
 2 components—questions related to
students’ research practices and an
information literacy skills assessment
portion.
 Administered to freshmen (fall 2014 +
2015), sophomores (fall 2015), and seniors
(spring 2015 + 2016)
 Bradford and Titusville also participate
MAP-Works Fall Transition and Check-Up
 Locally developed questions added to
the proprietary instrument
 Only captures basic information literacy
skills
 Administer to all cohorts of students in the
fall 2015 semester

11. HEDS Sample Sizes
Fall 2014 freshmen 381
Fall 2015 freshmen 259
Fall 2015 sophomores 31
Spring 2015 seniors 21
MAP-Works 2015 Sample Sizes
Freshmen 377
Sophomores 54
Juniors/Seniors 131

12. Strengths of the incoming freshmen
MAP-Works Fall 2015
(70% or more answered correctly)
 Describing a peer-reviewed/scholarly
article
 Using encyclopedia for background
information
 Identifying appropriate questions to
evaluate a source
 Citing something that you use but don’t
quote directly
 Understanding the definition of
paraphrasing
HEDS RSP Fall 2014 & Fall 2105
(75% or more answered correctly)
 Boolean searching using AND
 Knowing to cite graphs, tables, etc. if
used
 Knowing an autobiography is a primary
source and a book review is a secondary
source
 Knowing that a family member cannot
write your paper, even if the ideas are
yours
 Knowing that you can’t copy and paste
from a source, even if you cite it

13. Weaknesses of the incoming freshmen
MAP-Works Fall 2015
(50% or less answered correctly)
 Identifying a characteristic of a scholarly
article
 Determining appropriate topic scope for
a paper based on page length
 Boolean searching using OR
HEDS RSP Fall 2014 & Fall 2105
(50% or less answered correctly)
 Identifying an incorrect statement about
journals and magazines
 Identifying the least appropriate source to
cite in a paper
 Boolean searching using OR
 Using a reference list to generate more
sources
 Determining if a citation is for a book, book
chapter, or article
 Correctly identifying if a biography, fictional
novel, or painting of a self-portrait are
primary or secondary sources

14. Weaknesses of incoming freshmen
HEDS RSP Fall 2014 & Fall 2105
(50% or less answered correctly)
 Identifying best search tool for
comprehensive searching
 Describing a peer-reviewed/refereed
journal
 Understanding role of citations in scholarly
articles
 Understanding fair use of copyright
material

15. Discrepancies in perceived vs. actual skill
 These students felt confident about their ability to determine the credibility of sources, with
over 65% of them reporting that this task is either very easy or somewhat easy. However,
only 20% (2014) and 23% (2015) of the students were able to correctly identify the source
that would be least appropriate to cite in a paper.
 Over 60% of these students felt confident about documenting sources, including when
and how to cite sources, but they struggled with matching sample citations with different
kinds of information sources (book, article, book chapter) and understanding when a
citation was not needed.

16. What are the next steps?
Where do we go from here?

17. The A Team
The A Team plans to use the results of the HEDS and MAP-Works in order to…
 start developing tiered information literacy learning outcomes (i.e. beginning,
intermediate, advanced)
 continue refining our approach to information literacy instruction, both in the
classroom and out of the classroom (i.e. research consultations, reference
interactions)
 begin preliminary conversations about how to best tier or scaffold information
literacy instruction in particular disciplines

18. Teaching Faculty (You!)
For teaching faculty who are interested in becoming more involved in this process,
you can…
 indicate your interest on the sign-up sheet that is going around.
 read through the detailed HEDS and MAP-Works reports.
 think about what information literacy means in your discipline and how a
collaboration with the librarians could benefit your students (and potentially your
sanity).

19. Thank you!
http://pitt.libguides.com/ateam