LibGuides: Library Toolbox for Faculty: The Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education

The Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) developed a Framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education to encourage college communities to engage with information literacy in new ways. According to the document itself: "The Framework opens the way for librarians, faculty, and other institutional partners to redesign instruction sessions, assignments, courses, and even curricula; to connect information literacy with student success initiatives; to collaborate on pedagogical research and involve students themselves in that research; and to create wider conversations about student learning, the scholarlship of teaching and learning, and the assessment of learning on local campuses and beyond."

The Framework is made up of six frames or threshold concepts. Assignments designed with the Framework concepts in mind help students become more fluent in understanding our complicated information ecosystem.

For an excellent, concise summary of the Framework, see How Information Works, by Sherri Saines at Ohio University Libraries.

And, for a quick, visual overview of each frame, click the posters below.

Posters created by Cindi Tysick, University of Buffalo.

For more information about knowledge practices and dispositions for each of the frames, click the links below.

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.