Information Literacy - for academic staff

Information literacy is the set of integrated abilities encompassing the reflective discovery of information, the understanding of how information is produced and valued, and the use of information in creating new knowledge and participating ethically in communities of learning.

(Association of College and Research Libraries, 2015)

At Unitec our information literacy classes are based on the Australian and New Zealand Institute for Information Literacy (ANZIIL) standards. Ongoing research and strategy also informs our approach.

Students learn to:

• Recognise the need for information and determine the nature and extent of the information needed.
• Find needed information effectively and efficiently.
• Critically evaluate information and the information seeking process.
• Manage information collected or generated.
• Apply prior and new information to construct new concepts or create new understandings.
• Use information with understanding and acknowledge cultural, ethical, economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information

The Tertiary Education Strategy 2014-2019, emphasises the crucial importance of learning transferable skills in tertiary education. Information literacy skills are highly transferable skills that help students succeed in the workplace and beyond.

We help students filter through the masses of information by teaching them methods to select correct key terms, relevant resources and strategies for determining the value of the information they find.

What learning services can Knowledge Specialists offer?  

Advanced searching techniques - searching library databases

Citation management software - Zotero, Mendeley, Endnote

Critical evaluation of resources

Embedding a librarian in your physical class

Ethical use of information

Google  and Google Scholar tips

Government sources - research and use

Help you (staff) create assignments with information literacy components

How to find and use images

How to understand a topic

Information issues in the 21st century

Information literacy skills asessment

Introduction to Unitec Library resources

Literature reviews

Locating New Zealand resources

Organising and managing research resources

Postgraduate workshops

Primary sources - research and use

Referencing (with Te Puna Ako)

Scavenger hunt

Teaching information skills via Moodle

Training on a specific information resource or subject area

What is meant by "scholarly sources"