Library Instruction

The Library Instruction Program provides course-integrated and course-related library instruction, incorporating the Information Literacy Competencies identified by the librarians as essential learning skills. For more info, contact the library at 488-2482.

Information Literacy Competencies

The ability to effectively use information is one of the greatest legacies that students graduating from the University of Evansville can depart with. To be a fully functional citizen of the Information Age, successful graduates will need to be information literate. Information Literacy (IL) manifests itself in individuals whom can do the following:

  • Recognize that accurate and complete information is the basis for intelligent decision making;
  • Recognize the need for information;
  • Formulate questions based on information needs;
  • Identify potential sources of information;
  • Develop successful search strategies;
  • Access sources of information including computer-based and other technologies;
  • Evaluate information;
  • Organize information for practical application;
  • Integrate new information into an existing body of knowledge; and
  • Use information in critical thinking and problem solving1.

University of Evansville Libraries' Instruction Program is designed to help students develop these skills. Basic IL concepts are introduced in introductory courses and are built upon in upper division classes.

The Instruction Program has identified the following competencies to be mastered by students before their graduation. The competencies in italics are the more advanced skills.

  • General Competencies
    • Location of items/services in library
    • Primary v. secondary resources
    • Identify citations for books, articles, videos, web sites, etc.
    • Recognize the importance of title, thesis, preface, introduction, table of contents, etc., in determining the scope, limitations, and special features of information sources and thereby their usefulness
  • Online Catalog
    • Search by subject, title, and author
    • Search by keyword
    • Identify bibliographic record components
    • Create Boolean searches
    • Understand how computers search for information and recognize their limitations
    • Evaluate results (see #5)
  • Indexes
    • Differentiate between bibliographic, abstract and fulltext databases/indexes
    • Identify commonalties inherent in all databases
    • Understand how computers search for information and recognize their limitations
    • Distinguish between the different types of journals
    • Identify components of an article citation
    • Create complex searches, using Boolean and database features
    • Identify general and specific resources (i.e. Academic search v. Sociofile)
    • Identify various access points in a database (title, subject, author, etc)
    • Evaluate results (see #5)
  • Internet
    • Understand that the Internet is a collection of pages, loosely organized, offering various levels of quality information on any topic imaginable
    • Identify URLs and their components
    • Identify tools other than www, like ftp, gopher, newsgroups, mailing lists, etc.
    • Differentiate between search engines and web directories
    • Understand how computers search for information and recognize their limitations
    • Evaluate results (see #5)
  • Evaluation
    • Utilize the six criteria listed below to determine if a web page is appropriate, given the user's information need.
      1. Currency
      2. Authority
      3. Effective use of time
      4. Stability
      5. Accuracy
      6. Relevance

1Doyle, C. S. 1992 "Final Report to National Forum on Information Literacy" ED 351-033.