Information Fluency in the Classroom
“Critical Thinking is a habit of mind characterized by the comprehensive exploration of issues, ideas and artifacts before accepting or formulating an opinion or conclusion” (American Association of Colleges & Universities, 2017)
As a student your classes with a research requirement are asking you to practice several fundamental skills:
- Writing for different audiences and purposes.
- Knowing what information you need and where to find it to satisfy your purposes.
- Comparing and contrasting different sources of information to create new materials.
- Demonstrating an awareness of how information is created and respecting the rights of creators.
"Fake News"
Knowing what is real and accurate can be challenging. The skills you develop as a student researcher can help you learn how to avoid misinformation. Ideally after some experience with working on research projects you'll be able to appreciate what sort of effort goes into responsible information creation and sharing as well as how to spot the signs of responsible, good faith effort in the information you consume.
If you are trying to be a savvier media consumer, we have some tips for you.
Librarian Kevin Arms (not affiliated with SCF) talks about what information literacy is and why it matters. Spoiler: fake news can cause real harm.
What IS Fake News? How do I recognize it? What does good or real news look like? Watch for tips on how to do your research and avoid getting scammed by manipulative misinformation. Watch in YouTube for quick links to specific topics.
- Fake News Tutorial (as a PDF)The same presentation but as a PDF you can browse.
- Information DisorderMany researchers are encouraging a shift away from the term "fake news" towards more specific and descriptive terms for specific types of problematic media and a new umbrella term: information disorder.
Tools for Evaluating Information Sources
As you may have become aware, there are many tips and tricks for spotting fake news or being information fluent. The reason for this is two fold.
First is that the information landscape we are living in is complicated. It can be hard to trace back something that is being presented as a fact to its origin point, especially if the content creator does not provide any references or those references are ambiguously worded or very technical.
A big part of spotting misinformation is becoming better at knowing when to question what is being presented to you, asking better questions when you do question, and ultimately having a good working knowledge of where and how to find reputable information to answer your questions.
The second reason there are so many different ways of thinking about information fluency is that we are all different in our background knowledge and how we think about things. Therefore this next section will offer many different approaches to thinking about the quality of the information we consume.
Further reading and resources:
- How to identify a scholarly articleYou are often asked to "find a scholarly source." What does that mean? How do you determine if something is "scholarly?"
- The Research Process [Videos]These videos will walk you through the basics of a research assignment from picking a topic to deciding whether your sources are high quality and appropriate.
- Retraction WatchIs that scientific study you want to use current and reliable? Is there reason to believe that a source may have been contaminated by conflicting interests or poor practice? Retraction Watch is a tool that tracks the retraction of scholarly research as well as concerning changes in editorial policies and ownership of specific platforms/journals.
- Semantic ScholarSemantic Scholar allows users to see how a research paper fits into an overall field of study by making it easier to see how its contents have been utilized by other scholars and to examine the references used by the original authors. It is also more generally a very user friendly search tool for scholarly information.
- Information Literacy SandboxAre you an independent learner who wants to educate yourself more about information literacy/fluency and "fake news"? You can browse the Association of College and Research Libraries sandbox for presentations and lesson plans.
- Critical Thinking in Academic ResearchWant to ask better questions? Critical Thinking isn't about adopting the right set of opinions, its a set of skills and habits for thinking about the world. This online book gives you practical advice for questioning your assumptions and finding answers in plain English.
- The CRAAP TestA memorable checklist that asks you to think about 5 different aspects of a source: currency, relevance, accuracy, authority, and purpose. This guide goes into greater detail about what to look for.
Information Fluency Books
Are you more print oriented? Prefer the extra context of books?
Here are some of the most recent books in this field we've acquired.
See what else we have by using the Quick Search Tool on the library home page.
1. Type in "Information Literacy" and hit "Go"
2. On the next page, click "Held by Library"
3. Sort by new if desired.
Information and News Literacy Pedagogy by
Living in a post-truth world during an era of information wars, making sense of events is increasingly challenging for everyone. The fact that today's politics has found many retreating to ideologically "safe" spaces online where their world view is not contested makes the need for news and information literacy more significant. A contemporary world where disinformation and propaganda lead to a distrust of news sources calls for a new way to approach information and news literacy. Digital technology has seemingly made information and news easier to access, but it has also made sorting quality from nonsense a challenge. This book presents a different approach to news and information literacy which uses a flipped classroom method to create a student-centered learning experience. The course is guided by the educational philosophy of Paulo Freire and draws on theory and research from psychology, education and news and information literacy. The course begins with an exercise which reveals the role confirmation bias plays in how students judge the adequacy of news and information they retrieve through online search. The course engenders greater confidence in mastering the pitfalls of the Internet as students emerge empowered with self-knowledge as well as a better understanding of the Internet. The book is relevant for news, information and media literacy teachers, especially at the secondary and collegiate levels, curriculum specialists, continuing and adult education specialists and anyone who wants to better understand how we process news and information in the digital age.
Call Number: P96.M42 U594 2023ISBN: 9781433196768Publication Date: 2023-01-26
Foundations of Information Literacy by
It's not hyperbole to conclude that in today's world, information literacy is essential for survival and success; and also that, if left unchecked, the social consequences of widespread misinformation and information illiteracy will only continue to grow more dire. Thus its study must be at the core of every education. But while many books have been written on information literacy, this text is the first to examine information literacy from a cross-national, cross-cultural, and cross-institutional perspective. From this book, readers will learn about information literacy in a wide variety of contexts, including academic and school libraries, public libraries, special libraries, and archives, through research and literature that has previously been siloed in specialized publications; come to understand why information literacy is not just an issue of information and technology, but also a broader community and societal issue; get an historical overview of advertising, propaganda, disinformation, misinformation, and illiteracy; gain knowledge of both applied strategies for working with individuals and for addressing the issues in community contexts; find methods for combating urgent societal ills caused and exacerbated by misinformation; and get tools and techniques for advocacy, activism, and self-reflection throughout one's career.
Call Number: ZA3088 .T39 2022ISBN: 9780838949702Publication Date: 2021-11-15
Detecting Deception by
Teaching fact checking and verification is an essential part of journalism education. Detecting Deception applies the concepts of logical argumentation to supplement standard verification techniques. This text is essential for training future journalists to build impeccable stories.
Call Number: P96.M4 S78 2021ISBN: 9781538141021Publication Date: 2020-08-19
