In January 2016, the Board of the Association of College and Research Libraries adopted the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. This framework consists of six broad frames representing threshold concepts in information literacy.
There are six frames in the framework. These frames are typically presented in alphabetical order because the concepts are meant to be interconnected rather than linear. Each concept is laid out with knowledge practices and dispositions — elements that embrace flexible implementation and adaptation to other relevant learning outcomes. The concepts that make up the framework are:
- Authority is Constructed and Contextual
- Information Creation as a Process
- Information Has Value
- Research as Inquiry
- Scholarship as Conversation
- Searching as Strategic Exploration
(Click through each frame to view an infographic created by librarians (2015) at Bertrand Library, Bucknell University, shared via Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike 4.0 International License.)
The framework does not come with a plan of action for increasing information literacy in an academic library or across a college campus. That work is up to each institution at the local level.
Here in the SRSU Library, we’re sifting through the resources and lesson plans that are being developed, keeping track of what’s working at other universities and looking for more ways to incorporate the Framework into formal and informal library instruction.
We invite you to read the framework in its entirety here. Then, explore and consider how the six frames relate (or not!) to the learning outcomes of a particular assignment, course or department. Please provide feedback, questions and comments to the librarians via SRSULibrary@sulross.edu.