Information Literacy and Writing Courses

Faculty Resources - English:

Information Literacy: a general definition of information literacy comes from the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL)

The definition reads: "[the ability to] recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information"
Information Literacy is a targeted outcome of the Associated Arts of Oregon Transfer degree (the AAOT) in the following areas:
Information Literacy is already part of LCC's core abilities:
"demonstrate general information literacy: critically analyze, synthesize and evaluate various forms of information including written texts and other media"
Our writing courses address information literacy in the following ways:
WR 115
1. Use reading and writing for college-level inquiry, learning, thinking, and communicating;
2. Objectively summarize source material;
3. Select appropriate methods for developing ideas in paragraphs and essays, such as analysis, facts, explanations, examples, descriptions, quotations, and/or narratives;
4. Weave a relevant quotation from source material into an essay;
5. Use MLA quoting conventions.
WR 121
1. Read actively and rhetorically: engage with complex ideas in order to evaluate and interpret texts;
2. Evaluate, use, and synthesize sources in support of the thesis, which may include primary and secondary, and found in media-captured, electronic, live and printed forms;
3. Develop and organize essays using logic, examples, and illustration, and research to support his/her ideas;
4. Engage in the research process as part of an inquiry process;
5. Develop support using methods that may include: adequate explanatory details, sensory and narrative detail, dialogue, examples, illustrations, reasons, analogies, and forms of evidence such as summary and synthesis of outside sources;
6. Use a database and the Internet to locate information and evidence;
7. Demonstrate an ability to summarize, paraphrase, and quote sources in a manner that distinguishes the writer's voice from that of his/her sources;
8. Type and format final drafts with appropriate headings, titles, spacing, margins, demonstrating an understanding of either MLA or APA citation style.
WR 122
1. Practice active reading of challenging collegelevel texts, including: annotation, cultivation/development of vocabulary, objective summary, identification and analysis of the thesis and main ideas of source material;
2. Evaluate sources for adequacy, sound reasoning, and validity;
3. Select the appropriate documentation style (MLA, APA, or Chicago, for example) for the topics chosen;
4. Support conclusions with evidence by using appropriate outside sources;
5. Develop an original thesis or claim based on the evaluation and synthesis of sources, including summary, paraphrase, and integrated quotation;
6. Thoroughly develop and support the thesis with a balanced and insightful presentation of evidence;
7. Use a library, online databases and the Internet to locate information and evidence;
8. Write argumentative essays that incorporate external research and present a clear thesis;
9. Integrate ideas and source material, being careful to differentiate between the source materials and the students' ideas and carefully credit sources and ideas.
WR 227
1. Interpret, analyze, evaluate, and use various types of information, including visual and statistical information;
2. Interpret, analyze, evaluate, and use discipline-specific sources of information;
3. Understand potential ethical issues involved in technical and professional communication;
4. Effectively identify information needs and methods of gathering the information that meets those needs (including discipline specific resources);
5. Use library resources, online databases, and the internet to locate information;
6. Evaluate information for relevance, accuracy, and reliability;
7. Integrate and discuss information effectively, accurately, and ethically.
Information literacy is not a skill and habit of mind that students master after one exposure to the concept, so it's important that students are exposed to these skills repeatedly.

Last updated, K. Sullivan, 9/12/2010