Albright College is committed to maintaining the highest standards of information literacy and creative thinking in both its curriculum and its campus culture. The Albright College Gingrich Library provides comprehensive information literacy modules and works diligently with faculty to intergrate the standards set forth by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL).
Assignments -- Asignments, IL Modules and IL tutorials
ACRL Framework--The new ACRL Framework that replaces the standards
The Old Standards- the ACRL division of the American Library Association has set the highest standards for College and University level Information Literacy. These standards have since been rescinded and replaced with the ACRL Framework.
Getting Assistance -- Who to contact to get assistance.
Below are a number of freely available resources that assess information literacy. The majority of these forced-choice assessments informed Albright College's IL assessment portions of Freshman Forum and FYS pre and post course surveys. The assessments listed check for IL competency on both a conceptual and practical level and are geared toward College level IL. Well-known assessments such as SAILS and TRAILS are geared toward elementary and secondary education and have not been included in the list below.
Beile Test of Information Literacy -- developed by Penny Beile --"The B-TILED was developed to assess education-specific information knowledge of undergraduate students enrolled in teacher education program. The instrument is freely-available and is based on alignment of ACRL information literacy standards with the International Society for Technology in Education’s National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS*T)."
Information Literacy Assessment -- from Madonna University Library, pre- and post-tests
TRAILS (Tools for Real-time Assessment of Information Literacy Skills) -- from Kent State University -- "There are two general assessments (30 items each), as well as two 10-item assessments in each of the five categories (Develop Topic; Identify Potential Sources; Develop, Use, and Revise Search Strategies; Evaluate Sources and Information; Recognize How to Use Information Responsibly, Ethically, and Legally). The assessment pairs are parallel in terms of concepts addressed and may be used as pre- and post-tests." -- Free for use by library media specialists and teachers
Sample Grading Rubrics for college-level Information Literacy compentency have been provided below and are assessments of comprehension of general principles as well as practical applications of IL theories and techniques.
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Sample Rubric for Book searching in the OPAC (IL Module #2)
|
Performance factor |
Advanced (Level 4) |
Proficient (Level 3) |
Satisfactory (Level 2) |
Developing (Level 1) |
|
Demonstrates an ability to locate resources through the Library OPAC |
-Develops effective search strategies using basic keywords, Boolean search terms, truncation Symbols and Phrase searching. -Identifies and searches the most appropriate sources; differentiates between and uses primary and secondary sources |
-Develops search strategies using keyword and subject searches -Utilizes Boolean search terms and truncation symbols -Identifies and searches more than the minimal number and/ or types of sources to retrieve information |
-Develops search strategies using basic keywords -May utilize Boolean search terms, truncation symbols, or phrase searching -Identifies and searches a minimal number and/ or types of sources to retrieve information |
-Unable to develop a search strategy using basic keywords -Needs assistance to identify and search sources to retrieve information |
Sample Rubric for Academic Journal Database searching (Module #3)
|
Performance factor |
Advanced (Level 4) |
Proficient (Level 3) |
Satisfactory (Level 2) |
Developing (Level 1) |
|
Demonstrates an ability to locate resources in multi-disciplinary academic databases |
-Develops effective search strategies using basic keywords, Boolean search terms, truncation Symbols and Phrase searching. -Identifies and searches the most appropriate sources; differentiates between and uses primary and secondary sources |
-Develops search strategies using keyword and subject searches -Utilizes Boolean search terms and truncation symbols -Identifies and searches more than the minimal number and/ or types of sources to retrieve information |
-Develops search strategies using basic keywords -May utilize Boolean search terms, truncation symbols, or phrase searching -Identifies and searches a minimal number and/ or types of sources to retrieve information |
-Unable to develop a search strategy using basic keywords -Needs assistance to identify and search sources to retrieve information |
Sample Rubric for evaluating academic resources (Module #4)
|
Performance factor |
Advanced (Level 4) |
Proficient (Level 3) |
Satisfactory (Level 2) |
Developing (Level 1) |
|
Demonstrates an ability to assess the accuracy, currency, authority and objectivity of both academic and non-academic web resources |
- Assesses each website based on the four criteria of accuracy, authority, objectivity and currency, and determines if the site provides valid, unbiased, and thoroughly annotated academic information -Identifies valid web resources based on domain names |
-Evaluates sites using at least three of the four criteria of authority, accuracy objectivity or currency. -Effectively evaluates resources for bias or inaccuracy
|
-Evaluates sites using at least two of the four criteria of authority, accuracy objectivity or currency.
|
-Requires retraining on the four evaluation criteria -Requires assistance in identifying suitable resources based on domain names and academic references
|
