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Home: Information Literacy

Core LibGuides

Acknowledgement

The acronym SAFER, introduced by the UCL Institute of Education (UCL IOE), is used to highlight the importance of understanding the initial steps to becoming information literature. The acronym is reused under the CC-NC-BY-SA license and any reuse must acknowledge UCL IOE.

Information Literacy Support at UCA Libraries

Source: Literacy Rainbow 

The American Library Association defines "information literacy" as a set of abilities requiring individuals to "recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.  Information literacy encourages critical thinking which is an essential requisite for study and research. 

The Library provides instruction to library users to help them search, find, access and use library resources efficiently and effectively for study and research. Instruction is offered on using electronic resources, formulating search strategies, using information ethically / avoiding plagiarism, evaluating sources of information and organising citations based on established standards e.g.  APA, MLA, etc. Library instruction works best when students/researchers seek assistance with a specific assignment or research paper in mind so that the librarian can ascertain individual information needs and target the instruction and search across relevant resources. Please contact the library via email if you need assistance or require a one-to-one information literacy session.

The LibGuides (links to the left of this page) provide additional help at the point of need.

The CRAAP Test

It is important to evaluate where and what you search and find.  One way to do this is to try out the CRAAP test for websites, books, articles and a range of resources. The graphic below from Humber Libraries at Humber College shows that CRAAP is an acronym for: