ACRLs New

Information Literacy
Framework
Why Now and What Did ACRL Discover?

AN INTERVIEW WITH SHARON MADER

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By Robert Berkman
Co-Editor-in-Chief, Information Advisors Guide to Internet Research

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Can you say a bit about your background as a librarian

and your involvement in information literacy?
Over the course of my library career over the last 39 years,
my passion and focus have always been instruction and
information literacy. My background includes serving as
chair of ACRLs Instruction Section, being a founding faculty member of the ACRL Immersion Program for instruction
librarians, and serving as the current chair of the IFLA [International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions] Information Literacy Section. I retired as the Dean of
Libraries at the University of New Orleans in February 2015
and started a new position the next day at ACRL as Visiting
Program Officer for Information Literacy with responsibility
for the launch and implementation of the new Information
Literacy Framework for Higher Education.

What were the driving forces behind creating the

new Framework? And who is it designed for?

Its been more than a year now since the

ACRL (Association of College and Research
Libraries) launched its Information Literacy
Framework for Higher Education (ala.org/
acrl/standards/ilframework). The document
is the result of a complete reexamination
of what it means to be information-literate
in todays digital age. The reports analyses
and recommendations are being closely
examined, and its implementation is
starting at colleges and universities
around the country.
We recently had the chance to have an
in-depth telephone discussion with Sharon
Mader, one of the leaders behind the creation
of the new Framework. The following is an
edited transcript of our conversation.

What would you say is the biggest change in the new

Framework since the last set of standards from 2000?
Id say that it is the fact that the new Framework is not
based on a step-by-step definition of information literacy,
but instead is based on a much more integrated set of core
competencies. So, for example, the previous version laid
out what an information-literate student could do, but this
new Framework is much more aligned with how teaching
and learning has changed. We also found that in order for
information literacy to have its greatest impact, it has to be
integrated into the context of specific disciplines, so it is
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Sharon Mader

The previous Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education were published in 2000, and
they came up for their cyclical review in 2011. A task force
was appointed to revise it, but reported back that because
the whole landscape of higher education, teaching, and the
role of students as information creators had changed so
dramatically over the last several years we needed to rethink
these standards entirely. The Framework is built around
conceptual understandings that are central to information
literacy and draws upon the foundations of the Understanding by Design [Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development, 2nd Edition, March 2005] work of Wiggins and
McTighe, threshold concept theory, and meta-literacy. After
extensive work by the task force and feedback from practitioners in the field, the new Framework was presented to the
ACRL board in February 2015 as a dynamic new direction to
be explored and used by the profession.
The Framework is geared for those in community colleges
and up, though we still need to be sure to be mindful and
address the bridge between secondary school and higher
education. It is intended to foster collaborations among librarians, faculty, and other educational partners.

important for librarians to collaborate with various discipline-specific faculty to discover the essential understandings they want students to have. The threshold concept
foundation means we need to look at the places where students get stuck, and then go back to those places and work
with the students in showing them how to get past those
barriers. The full Framework document can be found at ala.
org/acrl/standards/ilframework.

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How and where is this new Framework being

implemented so it has an impact on students
information literacy capabilities?
The Framework helps surface the essential questions to
use when determining what we want students to learn. So,
for example, say you are doing an instruction session; you
would need to first develop the learning outcomes. And
those outcomes would inform how you would assess what
the students learned. That assessment could be narrowly
focused toward specific skills learned in a single short session, or it could be a much larger general education outcome assessment as well. For example, a much broader outcome might be that, upon graduation, freshmen will have
achieved a certain level of information literacy and critical
thinking skills. Part of the assessment too is to make sure
we know that they really did learn those skills, which we can
assess by having students do active learning exercises to
demonstrate how and what they are learning.

Do you have any specific examples of institutions

where you see the Framework being put into action?
It is still early on, so we are working with librarians as they
begin using this Framework and keeping track of results.
We want to facilitate people sharing what they are doing.
We hear about their experiences via forums like conferences
and on listservs so we can identify best practices. Anyone
can subscribe to the Framework discussion list at lists.ala.
org/sympa/info/acrlframe. There are many conferences at
the local, regional, and national level. The ALA Annual Conference in June 2016 [Orlando, Fla., June 2328] will offer a
preconference and other programs on the Framework. Past
conferences include the LOEX Fall Focus Conference in November 2015, which provided many good examples of the
integration of the Framework into instruction (loexconfer
ence.org/ff2015/sessions.html). The recent ACRL publication,
Teaching Information Literacy Threshold Concepts: Lesson
Plans for Librarians, offers 34 detailed examples of how practitioners are using the Framework in instruction at institutions
around the country (alastore.ala.org/detail.aspx?ID=11471).
We also are using our IL Framework website (acrl.ala.org/
framework) to provide resources and examples of how people use the Framework. Were also developing an online
sandbox where people can submit and share lesson plans,
assignments, assessments, and other Framework resources
for their colleagues to use and adapt in their own settings.
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Stepping back a bit, where would you say the

whole effort to enhance student information literacy
stands? What are some of its biggest successes and
biggest challenges?
The current direction for enhancing student information
literacy is to integrate information literacy and the library
into the larger teaching and learning endeavor and to have
librarians collaborate with faculty in the disciplines to embed information literacy into the curriculum. On the institutional level, we continue to work to have the importance
of information literacy recognized as part of what students
need to accomplish by the end of their time in college. Of
course, some institutions are more advanced than others
here. One specific initiative we are trying to get more known

Allowing students to deposit

their works in repositories also
is an excellent way to provide
experiential learning about
copyright and open access.
and accepted falls under a scholarly communications initiative, which is to encourage institutions to gather and organize faculty and student research in digital repositories. This
creates a place and experience where students can learn
about scholarly communication and how research is shared
and serves to facilitate a learning-by-doing practice.
Allowing students to deposit their works in repositories
also is an excellent way to provide experiential learning
about copyright and open access. Librarians and faculty can
have conversations with students about whether or not they
want their work freely available or with restrictions. This will
inform them about intellectual property and help them better understand the importance of respecting different forms
of copyright when doing their own research.

What do you think young people still struggle

with the most when it comes to their information
literacy capabilities?
Well, one key problem is that students may think they are
good researchers (or rather, searchers), but research studies
and our direct experience show that this confidence is not
matched by adequate search and evaluation skills.

And what are the current major challenges facing

academic librarians?
Well, it goes without saying that, as usual, budget and resources are top of the listnobody has enough people anymore, and this forces you to rethink what you are doing. One
result of this is that all librarians, regardless of position, have
got to be intimately involved with faculty and students and

finding out what they need, though, of course, faculty and

students have a different perspective. Librarians today also
require continuing professional developmentbut again,
that has time and budgetary implications. One opportunity though is to pursue more and better online professional
development. Id like to see more online training, not just
the standard webinar with a chat box, but training that integrates new and innovative online learning formats that
allow for true interactivity for large groups. Librarians themselves need to be more informed and skilled with the latest
instructional design methods.

Where does the physical design of the library come

into play for enhancing information literacy?
There has to be a compelling reason why students should
come to a physical space. Today, libraries are creating collaborative learning spaces to replace or at least complement individual study carrels. These spaces may be enabled by various learning and creation technologies such as 3D printers or
digital media equipment, as well as including collaboration
spaces like cafs for social learning, as places where students
can come and meet others to talk over their research and
problem areas and work on current projects together.

Yes, data analytics is not in the Framework specifically,

but data literacy is definitely part of the larger umbrella of
information literacy. Librarians have begun taking an active role in working with faculty and students in organizing
and managing data in research projects. The frames, or big
ideas in the Framework, provide a context for students to
gain a deeper understanding of the purpose, processes, and
ultimate goals of research and how they can become part
of the scholarly communications process, which includes
the production and analysis of data, as well as discovery
and management. Nancy Fried Foster, an anthropologist researcher with Ithaka S+R, noted that the Framework more
realistically captures how research is really done and provides a better foundation for understanding the scholarly
work practice. At Midwinter 2015, the ACRL Board approved
the creation of a Research Data Management Roadshow,
and two curriculum designers/presenters have been selected to develop a professional development face-to-face
roadshow workshop package, with related webinars and online content, to be available later in 2016 (acrl.ala.org/acrlinsid
er/archives/11052).

How does the U.S. compare with other parts of the

world in our level and focus on the importance of
information literacy for our students and citizens?
As an officer and member of the IFLA Information Literacy
Section for the past 6 years, I have been impressed by what

Are there certain countries that have done a

particularly good or noteworthy job in establishing
and introducing information literacy programs?
In developing countries, such as those on the African continent, there is great recognition of the necessity for information literacy skills for citizens at all levels, although they
have to begin by working to ensure a basic level of access to
the internet (largely through mobile devices) as a first step.
IFLA is a strong advocate for the role of libraries in the UNs
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (www.ifla.org/
node/9726). A lot of interesting research and practice has
come out of the U.K. and Australia, and they have information literacy standards and Frameworks that have parallels
with what we are doing here. The Russian Federation has
a well-developed program of information literacy, and the
Scandinavian countries too are notable for their focus on
the importance of providing high-quality, rigorous education for everyone as a key public good.
The IFLA World Library and Information Congress will
be held in Columbus, Ohio, in August 2016, so that will be
a good opportunity for librarians on this continent to learn
more about information literacy initiatives and programs
around the world. (See 2016.ifla.org/ for more information.)

In addition to being co-editor of The Information Advisors Guide to

Internet Research, Robert Berkman is author of Find It Fast: Extracting
Expert Information From Social Media, Big Data, Tweets and More, 6th Edition (2015 CyberAge Books; books.infotoday.com/books/Find-It-Fast.shtml).
Comments? Email the senior editor Barbara Quint (bquint@gmail.com).
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I noticed there was no mention of Big Data or data

analytics in the new Framework.

I have learned about the information literacy initiatives and

accomplishments around the globe. While many countries
have national policies on information literacy, created and
administered by the central government, we dont have that
approach in the U.S. So we need different approaches to
create awareness of the importance of information literacy
and figure out how to implement the goal of an information
literate population. In K12 and postsecondary institutions,
we have active programs for developing information literacy competencies and habits of mind for our students, and
these efforts are supported by the American Association of
School Librarians (AASL) and ACRL.
While the Framework addresses the development of information literacy habits of thinking and practicing that
contribute to academic and professional success, librarians
in other countries and international agencies know that information literacy can be a critical survival skill for those living in marginal conditions or under oppressive regimes. At
an information literacy conference in Ireland, the audience
was near tears as a colleague from Syria described how a
group of refugees used information literacy skills in seeking
key information and map locations in order to escape from
their country and how an elderly man in a near-abandoned
village was able to use information-seeking skills to learn
how to sustain his family through a garden plot.

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permission.