Information Literacy Starts with Infobase

Information Literacy Starts with Infobase

February 16, 2024
Student using her information literacy skills at her laptop

The first step to becoming a scholar is learning how to find and use reputable sources. But, how do you know which sources to trust and how best to use them? You need to cultivate the critical-thinking, computer, and communication skills necessary to figure out not only which sources you can build your research on, but also how to cite them appropriately and contribute something substantive to the scholarship. In short, you need information literacy.

Information literacy (IL) once referred mainly to the abilities to discern an information need and find, evaluate, and use content effectively—how to use databases and other resources, cite sources, avoid plagiarism, etc. In more recent years, however, it has expanded to include media literacy, the ability to analyze and evaluate different types of media, from news articles and books to memes and social media posts. In an era of “information overload” when mis- and disinformation is omnipresent, IL is, along with media literacy, more important than ever.

Infobase can help students build their information literacy skills. We have courseware that specifically teaches those foundational skills plus award-winning and renowned databases and streaming video platforms with trustworthy content that can encourage critical thinking. 

Information Literacy Courseware You Can Rely On

Creating high-quality, standards-driven instructional materials to cultivate information literacy skills requires extensive time, staff, and technical expertise. Information Literacy – Core offers a solution to this growing problem, providing tools for libraries to conduct formalized ACRL and AAC&U-aligned instruction, both in person and online.

InfoLit – Core offers IL educators more than 100 content assets covering topics such as:

  • Media literacy
  • Critical thinking
  • Quantitative reasoning
  • Research methods
  • Visual literacy
  • And more!

"Why Information Literacy Matters" on Information Literacy – Core

Plus, educators can customize tutorials, quizzes, and the student platform to match their teaching strategies and assess how well those strategies work with the Credo Insights analytics tool.  

For institutions with programs in the health sciences, you should also check out Information Literacy – Health Science, which features IL teaching materials that can be used in health science courses, one-shot sessions, and at the point of need. Find content assets supporting your teaching efforts on topics such as search strategies, evidence-based practice, health information, bias and evaluation, research methods, and more. 

Subscribers: Log into Information Literacy – Core and Information Literacy – Health Science now to take advantage of these excellent tools. 

Not a subscriber? Why not take a FREE trial to see them for yourself?

Get Tried and True Content—and Tips on How to Research—with Credo

Looking for a place to direct students who are learning how to conduct research beyond Wikipedia and Google for the first time? Credo Reference is the ultimate launching point for student research. They’ll get access to hundreds of searchable, full-text titles from many of the world’s most respected publishers of reference along with thousands of images and audio files, all across the primary disciplines of higher education, including arts, humanities, social sciences, and STEM. 

In addition, Credo Reference features Research Quick Tips—concise, informative videos embedded throughout the platform to cultivate information literacy skills while students research. Subjects covered include:

  • How to Avoid Bias in Your Searches
  • How to Find Relevant Sources
  • Using Images
  • What to Do When Your Topic Is Too Broad
  • Why You Need Many Sources
  • And more!

"How to Avoid Bias in Your Searches" on Credo Reference

Subscribers, log into Credo Reference today!

Want to see these products for yourself? Take a FREE TRIAL today!

Build Critical-Thinking Skills with Balanced Pro/Con Articles 

Ideal for bolstering critical-thinking skills as well as debate skills, Issues & Controversies helps researchers understand today’s crucial issues by exploring hundreds of hot topics in politics, government, business, society, education, and popular culture. Updated weekly, with an extensive backfile, Issues & Controversies offers in-depth articles—each presenting both sides of an issue clearly, coherently, and without bias—made to inspire thought-provoking debates. The articles are written by our own expert writers and editors, and each article includes a full range of supporting materials.

Some of the pro/con articles you can find on Issues & Controversies include:

  • Gun Control: Should the United States Adopt Stronger Gun Control Laws?
  • Capital Punishment: Should the United States Maintain the Death Penalty?
  • Gambling: Should Gambling Be Legal?
  • Hate Crimes: Are Hate Crime Laws Necessary?
  • Book Bans: Are the Book Challenges Sweeping School and Public Libraries Across the Country in the Best Interests of Students?
  • And many more!

"Book Bans" pro/con article on Issues & Controversies

Have students check out Issues & Controversies alongside World News Digest to add an even broader perspective on the issues being talked about today.

Subscribers, log into Issues & Controversies and World News Digest today to see the latest content!

Watch Issues & Controversies editor-in-chief Andrew Gyory, Ph.D., answer the question, “What Is the Mission of Issues & Controversies?”

Not a subscriber? Take a FREE trial today!

Supplement IL Courses with Streaming Video 

Infobase’s award-winning Films On Demand streaming video platform for colleges and universities gives students, educators, and researchers instant access to outstanding documentaries, award-winning educational films, independent films, and helpful instructional videos, including those on information literacy and verifying information in the digital age and videos for education students on how to promote media literacy. Relevant, informative titles that can be found in our Films On Demand products include:

  • Mastering the Art of Information Literacy series (Motion Masters, 2023, Item #291369)
  • Information Literacy in the Digital Age (Motion Masters, 2020, Item #208338)
  • Creative and Critical Thinking (Siren Films, 2020, Item #275085)
  • Internet Know How (Motion Masters, 2020, Item #208335)
  • Will ChatGPT Do More Harm Than Good? A Debate (Open to Debate, 2023, Item #287656)
  • How to Recognize Fake News (Motion Masters, 2018, Item #145228)
  • TedEd: 5 Tips to Improve Your Critical Thinking (Samantha Agoos) (TED, 2016, Item #288369)
  • News or Not (NewsHour Productions, 2018, Item #154781)
  • Media Literacy (Makematic, 2018, Item #195478)
  • Visual Literacy (Makematic, 2018, Item #195488)
  • Using Media to Develop Critical-Thinking Skills (Makematic, 2021, Item #274411)

"Using Media to Develop Critical-Thinking Skills," available on Films On Demand

Subscribers, log into Films On Demand today to watch these videos now! 

Not a subscriber? Why not take a FREE trial?

See also:

[Hero image source: SFIO CRACHO/Shutterstock.com]

About The Author

Patrice Keville (she/her) has been Proofreader/Coordinator at Infobase for nearly a decade and has worked in marketing and editorial capacities at library and education-focused companies for well over 15 years. Prior to working at Infobase, she was an Assistant Editor at the H.W. Wilson Company, where she worked on H.W. Wilson’s Core Collections (formerly Standard Catalogs); she was also Online Editor at Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, Matthew.