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UNDERGRADUATE LIBRARY

217.333.3477 | 1402 West Gregory | Urbana, IL 61801

What Library Instruction Can Do For You

Library instruction is provided for first-year students in Composition I classes through the Instruction Department of the Undergraduate Library. With the ever changing faces of information access and retrieval the development of research skills continues to become more and more important. Competent research skills allow students to become independent critical thinkers and more successful in their academic pursuits.

The Library Instruction sessions your students participate in help them ...

  • reduce library anxiety,
  • understand the research process,
  • focus and narrow a topic,
  • locate a variety of materials on specific subjects,
  • distinguish primary from secondary sources,
  • recognize scholarly vs. popular articles,
  • find statistics and government documents,
  • explore electronic information resources, and
  • prepare for future research needs.

What is information literacy?

The Undergraduate Library is committed to teaching students information literacy skills. Information literacy, the ability to locate, evaluate, and use information effectively, is fundamental to academic excellence and life long learning. This principle serves as a foundation to all library instruction efforts.

The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) provides extensive information on information literacy along with a set of Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. Below is the definition provided by ACRL:

Information Literacy Defined

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." Information literacy also is increasingly important in the contemporary environment of rapid technological change and proliferating information resources. Because of the escalating complexity of this environment, individuals are faced with diverse, abundant information choices--in their academic studies, in the workplace, and in their personal lives. Information is available through libraries, community resources, special interest organizations, media, and the Internet--and increasingly, information comes to individuals in unfiltered formats, raising questions about its authenticity, validity, and reliability. In addition, information is available through multiple media, including graphical, aural, and textual, and these pose new challenges for individuals in evaluating and understanding it. The uncertain quality and expanding quantity of information pose large challenges for society. The sheer abundance of information will not in itself create a more informed citizenry without a complementary cluster of abilities necessary to use information effectively.

Information literacy forms the basis for lifelong learning. It is common to all disciplines, to all learning environments, and to all levels of education. It enables learners to master content and extend their investigations, become more self-directed, and assume greater control over their own learning. An information literate individual is able to:

  • Determine the extent of information needed
  • Access the needed information effectively and efficiently
  • Evaluate information and its sources critically
  • Incorporate selected information into one’s knowledge base
  • Use information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose
  • Understand the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information, and access and use information ethically and legally

To schedule a library session for a Composition I course, fill out the Class Request Form.

If you have any questions about library instruction in the Undergraduate Library contact Susan Avery, Coordinator of Instructional Services at skavery@uiuc.edu.