Library Liaison Toolkit

MU's Core Learning Objectives

The Libraries are well positioned to support Goal 1 of MU's Core Learning Objectives for baccalaureate students.

Language in this goal was drawn from the old ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards. It states:

Graduates of MU will be able to perform systematic inquiry and identify and evaluate new information in light of previous knowledge.

MU graduates should be able to:

• Identify issues and problems important to society, define their scope, and identify information needed to address them.
• Find existing sources of information on a topic.
• Evaluate the accuracy, validity, and reliability of information presented in a wide variety of media.
• Conduct appropriately focused library, field or laboratory research.
• Analyze and synthesize information gathered, demonstrating strategic and logical reasoning skills.
• Demonstrate understanding of costs, benefits, and/or consequences of proposed resolutions of issues and problems important to society.
• Organize information, data, and ideas for further analysis and/or presentation.

ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education

Our instruction program is informed by the six core concepts addressed in ACRL's Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education (2015):

• Authority is Constructed and Contextual
  Information resources reflect their creators’ expertise and credibility, and are evaluated based on the information need and the context in which the information will be used. Authority is constructed in that various communities may recognize different types of authority. It is contextual in that the information need may help to determine the level of authority required.
• Information Creation as a Process
  Information in any format is produced to convey a message and is shared via a selected delivery method. The iterative processes of researching, creating, revising, and disseminating information vary, and the resulting product reflects these differences.
• Information Has Value
  Information possesses several dimensions of value, including as a commodity, as a means of education, as a means to influence, and as a means of negotiating and understanding the world. Legal and socioeconomic interests influence information production and dissemination.
• Research as Inquiry
  Research is iterative and depends upon asking increasingly complex or new questions whose answers in turn develop additional questions or lines of inquiry in any field.
• Scholarship as Conversation
  Communities of scholars, researchers, or professionals engage in sustained discourse with new insights and discoveries occurring over time as a result of varied perspectives and interpretations.
• Searching as Strategic Exploration
  Searching for information is often nonlinear and iterative, requiring the evaluation of a range of information sources and the mental flexibility to pursue alternate avenues as new understanding develops.