Introduction:

The 1998 American Library Association President's Report on Information Literacy states that students "must be able to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate and use information effectively . "...Information literate people are those who have learned to learn." Educators at Phillips Academy appreciate the importance of this statement. Librarians and teachers collaborate to provide this aspect of education through the existing curriculum and through curriculum development endeavors of the future.

Mission:

The Phillips Academy graduate will be prepared for life-long learning. The Information Literacy Program emphasizes and reiterates the four research processes of reading, research, evaluation, and writing. Students should graduate with a thorough understanding of the critical analysis and problem-solving that is inherent throughout these processes. Activities include use of basic print reference materials, online databases, Internet and the World Wide Web, microform usage, InterLibrary loan, document delivery, and copyright issues. Following is an overview of the IL Program, with goals and objectives.

I. A Multi-year Approach to Information Literacy

Information literacy is transferable from one discipline to another. A recursive experience creates an information literate person. Successive learning experiences introduce and reinforce the research process and information literacy to students. Phillips Academy encourages students to learn complex information processes across many disciplines, sometimes at the same time. This systematic approach focuses on the following goals:

• Formation of the focus question
• Establish a need for information
• Growth of language and identification of potential sources of information access
• How to use indexes for subject disciplines
• Development of successful search strategies
• Locate and retrieve relevant information
• Synthesis of data from primary and secondary sources
• Evaluation of information for quality, accuracy and relevancy
• Documentation

II. Collaborations and Partnerships

Information Literacy is a collaborative effort among faculty and reference librarians that students have access to required resources and the ability and knowledge to use them. By working together, faculty and reference librarians develop course work that reinforces Information Literacy.

III. Curriculum Development

The faculty is proactive in the incorporation of Information Literacy into curriculum. The students at Phillips Academy practice this across many disciplines.

Formal instruction occurs in, but is not limited to, English, science and history courses. Faculty practices Information Literacy and integrates it through course work. Reference librarians, working with teachers, adapt the IL Program to the needs of the students. The IL Program ensures that all Phillips Academy graduates become information literate citizens.

IV. Planning, Critical Thinking and Research Process

Planning Process: The student recognizes the necessity of time management, where information is needed, formulates a focus of inquiry, and strategize methods of locating information. The tasks necessary to complete the assignment are identified.

Critical Thinking: The student assesses existing knowledge and incorporates new material through broad initial reading. The student learns to design a research plan and timeline, to locate information, to select and retrieve information, to evaluate the information, to demonstrate the value of the information to the focal question, and to apply and incorporate that information. After the evaluation process, the gathered information is synthesized and filtered into a cohesive whole through writing or an alternative process and fully documented.

Research Process: Effective research strategies and implementation of information retrieval tools are emphasized. Information is retrieved and assessed using subject searches, keyword searches, truncation, Boolean operators, nesting ideas, Venn diagrams, and tree-structuring as necessary

Goals & Objectives

Goal I: To form a driving question

Objective: The student learns the importance of broad preliminary reading to the refinement of the research focus. The student learns to adjust search strategies to the question.

Goal II: To establish information need

Objective: The student learns to choose a topic appropriate to the assignment in terms of time and reasonable resources.

Objective: The student learns to plan in advance and to manage the time available for maximum productivity.

Goal III: To develop language of discourse

Objective: The student learns to locate and use a variety of in-house reference materials for overview.

Objective: Through the overview reading, the student begins to acquire and develop a vocabulary of discourse for the discipline.

Objective: The student learns the difference between "keywords" and "subject headings."

Goal IV: To identify potential sources of information

Objective: The student learns to use the catalog, and other lists related to the specific research.

Objective: The student learns to finger relevant materials in-house and from remote sites, regardless of format.

Goal V. To understand the organization of information/knowledge

Objective: The student begins to understand how information is organized by gaining facility in with subject-specific reference materials.

Objective: The student applies the developing language of discourse to a variety of indexes and database queries.

Goal VI: To develop successful search strategies

Objective: The student begins to apply tree-structuring and Venn mapping of thoughts to design a research methodology: broadening, narrowing, and relating concepts.

Objective: The student learns selective use of search engines on the World Wide Web and on-line databases such as Dialog @ CARL and InfoTrac.

Objective: The student learns the subtleties of advanced searching techniques such as truncation, limitation, nesting, and Boolean operators to refine the research.

Goal VII: To locate and retrieve relevant information

Objective: The student learns how to determine where the information is and, if necessary, how to use the Interlibrary Loan Service and associated document delivery Services, including self e-mail.

Goal VIII: To evaluate information

Objective: The student learns to evaluate the authority, accuracy, relevance, & currency of the information and its sources.

Objective: The student learns why and how to assess the background and viewpoint of authors as well as how to recognize the rhetoric of argument and persuasion.

Objective: The student learns to distinguish between biased, unbiased and authoritative words.

Objective: The student is able to distinguish between fact and opinion.

Objective: The student is able to distinguish between primary and secondary sources.

Objective: The student is able to identify, locate, apply, and assess these sources.

Goal VIII: To synthesize existing knowledge and acquired information

Objective: The student learns to sift and cull from existing knowledge and newly retrieved information, applying what is applicable to the driving question.

Goal IX: To create a product

Objective: The student presents the culmination of planning, research, and critical thinking.

Goal X. To document

Objective: The student is able to document the words and ideas of others, whether using a direct quotation or an idea, in a standard citation format.

Objective: The student fully understands what constitutes plagiarism.

Objective: Issues of intellectual property rights, privacy & copyright are discussed.

Objective: The student is able to create a bibliography in correct format using a standard source: Modern Language Association Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, or Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, or Chicago Manual of Style.

For more information contact:
OWHL WebTeam - Information Literacy Coordinator
(978) 749-4210
Oliver Wendell Holmes Library
Phillips Academy Andover, MA 01810

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Last Update September 2001