Information Fluency

The IU Libraries support and facilitate information fluency in the university community through its collections, staff, and services to ensure success in university goals for teaching and learning in the 21st Century and beyond.

According to the Shared Goals of the General Education Policy at Indiana University (effective Fall 2011), Information Fluency is defined in the following way:

Information Fluency includes, but goes beyond, information technology skills, to introduce students to critical information resources that underlie the major field of study and introduce students to skills in utilizing information resources within that field. Students should be able to determine the extent of information needed, access the needed information effectively and efficiently, evaluate information and its sources critically, incorporate selected information into one’s knowledge base, use information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose, and understand the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information, and access and use information ethically and legally.

This language is based primarily on the Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education approved by the Board of Directors of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) on January 18, 2000. These standards can be summarized in the following way:

An information literate individual is able to:
• Determine the extent of information needed
• Access the needed information effectively and efficiently
• Evaluate information and its sources critically
• Incorporate selected information into one’s knowledge base
• Use information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose
• Understand the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information, and access and use information ethically and legally