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Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education

Approved by the Board of Directors of the Association of College and Research Libraries on January 18, 2000.

Information literacy forms the basis for lifelong learning.  It is common to all disciplines, to all learning environments, and to all levels of education.  It enables learners to master content and extend their investigations, become more self-directed, and assume greater control over their own learning.  An information literate individual is able to:
 

• Determine the extent and nature of the information needed
• Access the needed information effectively and efficiently
• Evaluate information and its sources critically
• Incorporate selected information into one's knowledge base and value system
• Use information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose, individually or as a member of a group
• Understand the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information, and access and use information ethically and legally

Information literacy is increasingly important in the contemporary environment of rapid technological change and proliferating information resources. Because of the escalating complexity of this environment, individuals are faced with diverse, abundant information choices in every arena of life.  Increasingly, information comes to individuals in unfiltered formats, raising questions about its authenticity, validity, and reliability.  Multiple media formats for information, including graphical, aural, and textual, pose new challenges for individuals in evaluating and understanding it. The sheer abundance of information will not in itself create a more informed citizenry without a complementary cluster of abilities necessary to use information effectively.

ACRL. Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. Chicago, IL: American Library Assoc., [2000].

Final Report of the American Library Association Presidential Committee on Information Literacy, 1989.

National Forum on Information Literacy, founded in 1990.

Progress Report on Information Literacy: An Update on the ALA Presidential Committee on Information Literacy: Final Report, March 1998.