Information Literacy collections

 Information Literacy  is paramount in today's digital world, where people have unfettered access to an overwhelming amount of disorganized and unverified information through different news networks and social media platforms. It is crucial, now, to evaluate information and information sources.

The Smithsonian aims to support educators and learners as a  trusted  source.  Increasing knowledge  becomes its priority within a world in constant change, and the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives, through a series of digital collections on information literacy, helps you further your skills in this critical area.

At the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives, we support you in becoming an information-literate individual to avoid misinformation and make your own informed decisions.

The term Information Literacy has been used for more than 40 years. The American researcher Paul Zurkowski was the first to use the concept of " information literacy " in 1974.

In 1989 the  American Library Association  (ALA) defined it 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.’"

The Smithsonian Institution and the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives are committed to the diffusion of trusted knowledge in a variety of ways.

The Smithsonian Institution:

• Free museum exhibits
•  Smithsonian Open access 
• Publications ( Smithsonian Research Online) 
• Podcast ( Sidedoor )

The Smithsonain Libraries and Archives:

• Free collections exhibits
• Responding to public inquiries through  Ask a Librarian 
• Developing authoritative research guides on  Art and Design ,  History and Culture ,  Interdisciplinary , and  Sciences 
• Social media such as  blog ,  instagram ,  twitter ,  youtube , and  facebook 

To learn more on the ways the Smithsonian disseminates knowledge, see the online collection  Smithsonian: Diffusing Knowledge  from the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives.

Asking the following questions will help evaluate your information accurately and critically.

Understanding how to find, organize, evaluate, and use information through information literacy prevents disinformation and empowers individuals to be more informed citizens.

There are other types of information literacy that help us understand visual information, use emerging technologies and address global problems that affect our world. You can find more information here on Media Literacy, Visual Literacy, Environmental Literacy, Civic Literacy, and Social Justice Literacy.

The following resources will help you learn more about information literacy. For an extended bibliographic list, see here.

Association of College & Research Libraries. (2016). Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education.  https://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework 

The American Association of Schools Librarians. (2011). Information Literacy Standards for Teacher Education.  https://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/standards/ilstandards_te.pdf 

Sensoy, O., & DiAngelo, R. (2017). Is everyone really equal?: An introduction to key concepts in social justice education. Teachers College Press.

Benedict, C. (2021). Music and social justice: A guide for elementary educators. Oxford University Press.

Butler, A. (2020). Educating media literacy: the need for critical media literacy in teacher education. Brill Sense.

Nickel, Katie L. (2022). Growing Literacy Skills with Visual Thinking Strategies on Virtual Art Museum Tours. Literacy Practice and Research. 47(1).  https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/lpr/vol47/iss1/3/ 

Stahura, D. (2018). ACT UP for evaluating sources: Pushing against privilege. College & Research Libraries News, 79(10), 551. doi: https://doi.org/10.5860/crln.79.10.551   

Hardesty, J., & Nolan, A. (2021). Mitigating Bias in Metadata. Information Technology and Libraries, 40(3).  https://doi.org/10.6017/ital.v40i3.13053  

Stanford History Education Group. (n.d.). Civic Online Reasoning.  https://cor.stanford.edu/ 

News Literacy Project. (2022).   https://newslit.org/ 

Visual Literacy Project (n.d.).  https://visualliteracytoday.org/