The ACRL Framework for Information Literacy Sandbox, a place to discover ways to use the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education in instructional settings, as well as share your own activities and teaching resources related to the Framework.
Browse Resources by type (activity, assessment, worksheet, rubric, etc.), ACRL frame being addressed, subject discipline, and student level to find resources to support your library instruction session lesson plan development.
The Framework will help librarians contextualize and integrate information literacy concepts and will encourage a deeper understanding of what knowledge practices and dispositions students should develop.
ACRL realizes that many information literacy librarians currently meet with students via one-shot classes, especially in introductory level classes. Over the course of a student’s academic program, one-shot sessions that address a particular need at a particular time, systematically integrated into the curriculum, can play a significant role in an information literacy program.
It is important for librarians and teaching faculty to understand that the Framework is not designed to be implemented in a single information literacy session in a student’s academic career; it is intended to be developmentally and systematically integrated into the student’s academic program at a variety of levels. This may take considerable time to implement fully in many institutions. ACRL encourages information literacy librarians to be imaginative and innovative in implementing the Framework in their institution. The Framework is not intended to be prescriptive but to be used as a guidance document in shaping an institutional program. ACRL recommends piloting the implementation of the Framework in a context that is useful to a specific institution, assessing the results and sharing experiences with colleagues.
Read and reflect on the entire Framework document.
Convene or join a group of librarians to discuss the implications of this approach to information literacy for your institution.
Reach out to potential partners in your institution, such as departmental curriculum committees, centers for teaching and learning, or offices of undergraduate or graduate studies, to discuss how to implement the Framework in your institutional context.
Using the Framework, pilot the development of information literacy sessions within a particular academic program in your institution, and assess and share the results with your colleagues.
Share instructional materials with other information literacy librarians in the online repository developed by ACRL.
A vital benefit in using threshold concepts as one of the underpinnings for the Framework is the potential for collaboration among disciplinary faculty, librarians, teaching and learning center staff, and others. Creating a community of conversations about this enlarged understanding should engender more collaboration, more innovative course designs, and a more inclusive consideration of learning within and beyond the classroom.
Threshold concepts originated as faculty pedagogical research within disciplines. Because information literacy is both a disciplinary and a transdisciplinary learning agenda, using a conceptual framework for information literacy program planning, librarian-faculty collaboration, and student co-curricular projects can offer great potential for curricular enrichment and transformation. As a faculty member, you can take the following approaches:
Investigate threshold concepts in your discipline and gain an understanding of the approach used in the Framework as it applies to the discipline you know.
What are the specialized information skills in your discipline that students should develop, such as using primary sources (history) or accessing and managing large data sets (science)?
Look for workshops at your campus teaching and learning center on the flipped classroom and consider how such practices could be incorporated into your courses.
What information and research assignments can students do outside of class to arrive prepared to apply concepts and conduct collaborative projects?
Partner with your IT department and librarians to develop new kinds of multimedia assignments for courses.
What kinds of workshops and other services should be available for students involved in multimedia design and production? Help students view themselves as information producers, individually and collaboratively.
In your program, how do students interact with, evaluate, produce, and share information in various formats and modes?
Consider the knowledge practices and dispositions in each information literacy frame for possible integration into your own courses and academic program.
How might you and a librarian design learning experiences and assignments that will encourage students to assess their own attitudes, strengths/weaknesses, and knowledge gaps related to information?
"Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education", American Library Association, February 9, 2015. http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework
Teaching Information Literacy Threshold Concepts by