Information Literacy Resources

How can teaching faculty and library faculty work together to help students make sense of the complex information landscape that surrounds them? The first step is having a shared definition of what an information literate Marymount University (MU) student is.  By the time they complete their undergraduate studies, an information literate student at MU will be competent in:

  • Ethical and effective use of information, including its discovery, evaluation, management, and application
  • Understanding the dimensions that affect information creation and dissemination including social, political, cultural, and economic factors

In recent years the American College and Research Library Association (ACRL) created the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education and MU librarians adapted this Framework to fit the information needs of MU students. The Framework is a set of six interconnected core information literacy concepts that, when combined,  equip students with the skills they need to be engaged and effective in today’s information world. The six concepts are:

  • Authority Is Constructed and Contextual
  • Information Creation as a Process
  • Information Has Value
  • Research as Inquiry
  • Scholarship as Conversation
  • Searching as Strategic Exploration

The following resources are provided to help you and your students navigate the increasingly complex and ever-changing information landscape:

Curriculum Mapping and Scheduling Library Instruction 

Please contact your library liaison for your program’s information literacy curriculum map.  The curriculum map will identify the courses where an information literacy instruction session provided by a faculty librarian will have the greatest impact on your students.  In addition, these sessions include assessment measures to ensure that students in your program are growing their information literacy skills throughout their careers at MU.  Click here to learn more about your library liaison and how to schedule information literacy instruction. 

Locating Information

Research Guides help locate relevant resources from our collections, while our Help Guides provide detailed information about citation styles, specific databases, and library resources. Research Guides are automatically embedded in every Canvas course under the ‘Library Resources’ link in the navigation panel.  Work with your library liaison to create a custom Research Guide to best meet your students’ information needs. 

Evaluating Information

All students are taught the ACCORD model of source evaluation in the EN 101 composition course and this model is reinforced throughout their career at MU. The library provides a tutorial for you to upload into your Canvas course on information evaluation. Library liaisons are available to discuss using information effectively with your students in information literacy instruction sessions.

Using Information Ethically

Teaching students when and how to cite sources is a key component of the ethical use of information. The library maintains custom style guides for all of the citation styles used in MU’s academic programs. Your library liaison has embedded the relevant style guide in your Canvas course in ‘Library Resources’. – Direct your students to our Citing Sources page for tips on using MLA, APA, and other formatting and style guides.