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Information Literacy Rubric for Integrative Studies General Education at Keene State College (program level rubric)

Information Literacy Rubric for Integrative Studies General Education Program (ISP)
at Keene State College

Information Literacy is the set of abilities allowing individuals to identify the need for information and to search for, access, evaluate, and ethically use information in a variety of formats.  The information literate individual understands how information is socially situated and produced, and the social, cultural, and ethical impact of information. (See http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/informationliteracycompetency  and http://www.ala.org/acrl/issues/infolit/overview/faculty/faculty)
 
The information literate student is able to:
1.      Identify & refine the information need
2.      Develop appropriate methods and effective strategies to search for and access information.
3.      Critically evaluate information sources in order to identify the appropriate use of information.
4.      Use information effectively to create and communicate their projects or performances.  
5.      Use information ethically and legally and accurately document their use of information sources.  
 
About the Rubric
Information literacy is the ability to think critically about information. However, the Information Literacy rubric is different, and in some ways more comprehensive, than the critical thinking rubric because evaluating the quality of information is an essential habit of mind at the core of information literacy.  Information literacy also includes the ethical use of information, an essential concept to maintaining academic integrity.
 
In courses, the Information Literacy rubric should be utilized in conjunction with other ISP rubrics -- for example writing or communication or media fluency.  Because information literacy contains a set of skills applied during the process of creating a work, this rubric can be applied in part or in whole, depending upon the type of assignment being assessed. 
 
Any time a rubric is made without the direction of specific assignment, language within the rubric will need to be operationalized by those using the rubric.
 
Lower level expectation: At the lower level, an information literate student incompletely/partially defines the scope/extent of their information need;  uses a simple strategy to search for information;  access information from limited and similar sources;  identifies basic evaluative criteria; inconsistently or incompletely cites sources due to misunderstanding of a single concept (e.g. misunderstanding citing, summarizing, paraphrasing, quoting, etc.,).  (Level of achievement 2)
 
Upper level expectation:  At the upper level, an information literate student defines the full scope/extent of their information need; revises strategies to search for information and accesses a variety of types of information; identifies advanced evaluative criteria including viewpoint/bias of information; cites sources correctly, following citation style guide conventions with no errors so that no plagiarism/misuse of works of others occurs showing understanding of academic integrity and intellectual property rights. (Level of achievement 4)
 
Information Literacy Rubric
Student will be able to… LL1 LL2 LL3/UL1 UL4 UL5
1. Identify and refine the information need.
 
Does not define or incorrectly defines  the scope/extent of the information needed
Incompletely/ partially  defines the scope/extent of the information needed (e.g., parts missing, too broad, too narrow)
 
Defines the scope/extent of the information needed Defines the full scope/extent of the information needed and makes connections between/among concepts Refines the scope/extent of information needed as their knowledge develops
 
 
  LL1 LL2 LL3/UL1 UL4 UL5
2. Develop appropriate methods and effective strategies to search for and access information.
(NOTE: this outcome is likely only assessable on assignments that reflect a student’s process e.g., benchmark essays, reflective process essays, a research log, database search history, etc.)



Uses no clearly defined strategy to search for information;
 
accesses information randomly and by chance
(e.g.,  doesn’t consider types of information available, Identifies no keywords  to use for searching e.g., searches using a full sentence)
 
Uses a simple  strategy to search for information ( e.g., Identifies keywords to use for searching but some may be inappropriate or unrelated);
 
accesses information from limited and similar sources
Uses  a strategy/strategies to search for information (e.g., Identifies keywords and synonyms/ related concepts to use for searching, Boolean, uses database or search functions);
 
accesses appropriate and adequate information sources for their needs
Revises  strategies to search for information(e.g., reflects persistence in research) ;
 
accesses a variety of types of information sources (e.g., considers the variety of types of information available,  books, articles, primary, secondary, in-person, audio, discipline specific, etc.,)
Uses  sophisticated  strategies to search for information(e.g., uses controlled vocabulary/subject terms, follows citations, networks with others, etc.,);
 
accesses a variety of types of information sources (e.g., considers the variety of types of information available,  books, articles, primary, secondary, in-person, audio,  discipline specific, etc.,)
  LL1 LL2 LL3/UL1 UL4 UL5
3. Critically evaluate information sources in order to identify the appropriate use of information. Evaluative criteria should be appropriate for the project.  Example criteria include currency/timeliness, reliability, authority, purpose, relevance. Does not differentiate between types of sources
 

Differentiates between types of sources (e.g., book, article, transcript, etc.,) but may not be able to identify the appropriate use for the type of information (e.g., encyclopedias provide background info.)
 
Differentiates between types of sources (e.g., book, article, transcript, etc.,); Uses the appropriate type of information for their purposes (e.g., encyclopedias for background information /definitions, research articles, scholarly publications, interviews, etc.)
Identifies  no evaluative criteria; Uses information wholesale; Identifies basic criteria (e.g., currency, author) to evaluate information and its source; Does not identify the  viewpoint/bias/assumptions of the information Identifies advanced criteria (e.g., authority, purpose) to evaluate information and its source; Identifies  viewpoint/bias/assumptions  of some sources inaccurately or incompletely Identifies  advanced  criteria (e.g., authority, purpose) to evaluate information and its source; Identifies viewpoint/bias/assumptions  of sources accurately
 
Provides a limited/unclear/faulty rationale for using the information and may use some  information out of context

Identifies advanced criteria (e.g., authority, purpose) to evaluate information and its source; Identifies viewpoint/bias/assumptions  of sources accurately AND own viewpoints/bias/assumptions related to the information and its sources
 
Provides a reasoned, topic appropriate rationale for using the information  and 
uses information in context
 
  LL1 LL2 LL3/UL1 UL4 UL5
4. Use information effectively to create and communicate their projects or performances.  

See other ISP outcomes & rubrics such as writing, media fluency, communication, creative thinking.  
 
  LL1 LL2 LL3/UL1 UL4 UL5
5. Use information ethically and legally and accurately document their use of information sources.  
*NOTE: Currently this rubric is best used for written products. However a rubric for other forms of work is under development.
Does not cite sources.
 
 
Inconsistently or incompletely cites sources.  Does not use the correct style. Includes end of text and in text citations. Follows citation style guide conventions with some errors. Cites sources correctly. Includes end of text and in text citations.  Follows citation style guide conventions with no errors.

Consistent incidents of unintentional plagiarism/ misuse of works of others showing little understanding of academic integrity and intellectual property rights.
 Repeated incidents of unintentional plagiarism/ misuse of works of others due to misunderstanding of a single concept (e.g. misunderstanding citing, summarizing, paraphrasing, quoting, etc.,)
 
 
Isolated incident of unintentional plagiarism/  misuse of works of others due to misunderstanding of a single concept (e.g. misunderstanding  citing, summarizing, paraphrasing, quoting, etc.,)
 
 
 
 
No plagiarism/misuse of works of others occurs showing understanding of academic integrity and intellectual property rights  
 
 
No plagiarism/misuse of works of others  occurs
and creates new work  (e.g. synthesizes or summarizes and creates new knowledge) without compromising intellectual property rights/maintaining academic integrity in their own work and the works of others
 
 
 
*If there is evidence of a student knowingly plagiarizing then this rubric does not apply and the Keene State College policy on Academic Honesty should be referred to. http://www.keene.edu/policy/academichonesty.cfm