53 Introduction
“Information literacy” is a term you’ll hear a lot during your college years. It means that all students (and all people, really) should be able to find and use reliable information and source materials, and that they should be able to find the right material for whatever it is they’re doing or whatever questions they have.
Finding dependable information is especially important in the digital/internet age, where millions of ideas can be discovered in half a second but where much of that information is outdated or worthless.
Handling the materials correctly is important too; this includes giving full credit when using materials created by others. This chapter deals with how to find, evaluate, and use information correctly.
Learning Objectives
In this chapter on “Research,” students will:
- Find information and research topics using various sources.
- Compile, evaluate, and review information.
- Identify plagiarism.
- Reference sources, appropriately demonstrating an understanding of the different referencing styles (i.e. MLA, APA).
Text Attributions
This chapter has been adapted from the following chapter:
- “Why is Information Literacy Important?” in The Word on College Reading & Writing by Carol Burnell, Jaime Wood, Monique Babin, Susan Pesznecker, and Nicole Rosevear. Adapted by Mary Shier. CC BY-NC.
refers to skill and competence in locating, examining, understanding, and working with all kinds of information.