The 'Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education' presents core concepts for critically engaging with information. This framework was defined by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) in 2015. Note that it is slated to be reevaluated and revised in time for the ALA (American Libraries Association) conference in 2025.
Within this framework, there are six interconnected frames:
It is important to recognize that information resources are drawn from a creator's expertise, and credibility is based on the information needed and the context in which the information will be used. Authority should be viewed with an attitude of informed skepticism and an openness to new perspectives, additional voices, and changes in schools of thought.
Related Guides:
Criteria for Evaluating Information
Fake News
Format is the way tangible knowledge is disseminated. The essential characteristic of format is the underlying process of information creation, production, and dissemination, rather than how the content is delivered or experienced.
Learners recognize that there is a process behind the production of each resource. Knowing how information is created and produced for specific formats helps learners to evaluate the quality of a resource and illuminates benefits (e.g. the review process for an article) & constraints (the lack of currency of a book) of those resources.
Related Guide:
Types of Sources and Information
The creation of information and products requires a commitment of time, original thought, and resources that need to be respected by those seeking to use these products, or create their own work based on the work of others. Information is intellectual property produced for all different purposes. Its value is based on various factors such as the producer, intended audience, and the content. Both creators and consumers of information have responsibilities to ethically use information.
This refers to an understanding that research is iterative and depends upon asking increasingly complex questions whose answers develop new questions or lines of inquiry in any field. One thing leads to another. It is important to stay open to the process and to new ideas.
This refers to the idea of sustained discourse within a community of scholars or thinkers, with new insights and discoveries occurring over time as a result of competing perspectives and interpretations. While many questions can be answered with a single, authoritative source–the capital of a country or the average rainfall in L.A., for example–scholarly research resists simple answers. Rather, scholarship is discursive practice in which ideas are formulated, debated, and weighed against one another over extended periods of time.
Locating information requires a combination of inquiry, discovery, and serendipity. There is no one size fits all source to find the needed information. Information discovery is nonlinear and iterative, requiring the use of abroad range of information sources and flexibility to pursuit alternate avenues as new understanding is developed. Depending on the information need and context, the learner may need to consult a variety of resources ranging from databases and books to observations and interviews.
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