The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) created the to aid librarians and academic faculty in teaching the critical information skills that students need to navigate the modern information environment. The Framework is built around a set of interconnected ideas - known as Frames - that incorporate competencies and threshold concepts that open the door to a broader understanding of information use.
In addition to the threshold concepts, key knowledge practices (ways learners can demonstrate their understanding) and dispositions (ways educators can address multiple dimensions of learning) are included in each information literacy frame.
Connecting the Framework to IUP Libraries Information Literacy Instruction
When librarians at the IUP Libraries teach students, we shape our instructional approach around one or more of the information literacy frames, tailoring the experience to the students’ level, the course assignments, and other specific needs. Customizing the experience in this way helps focus on the specific abilities and concepts that are most relevant to the student and helps us explore the richness of the information ecosystem.
Information Literacy Frames
The frames that anchor the ACRL Framework and their definitions (from the ACRL website) are linked below.
Information resources reflect their creators’ expertise and credibility, and are evaluated based on the information need and the context in which the information will be used. Authority is constructed in that various communities may recognize different types of authority. It is contextual in that the information need may help to determine the level of authority required.
Information in any format is produced to convey a message and is shared via a selected delivery method. The iterative processes of researching, creating, revising, and disseminating information vary, and the resulting product reflects these differences.
Information possesses several dimensions of value, including as a commodity, as a means of education, as a means to influence, and as a means of negotiating and understanding the world. Legal and socioeconomic interests influence information production and dissemination.
Research is iterative and depends upon asking increasingly complex or new questions whose answers in turn develop additional questions or lines of inquiry in any field.
Communities of scholars, researchers, or professionals engage in sustained discourse with new insights and discoveries occurring over time as a result of varied perspectives and interpretations.
Searching for information is often nonlinear and iterative, requiring the evaluation of a range of information sources and the mental flexibility to pursue alternate avenues as new understanding develops.