Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) disciplines provide students the opportunity to analyze their worlds and create personal responses reflective of their knowledge and experiences. This can be enhanced through explicit information literacy skill instruction. Information literacy is a set of skills that enables an individual to recognize when information is needed and to locate, evaluate, and effectively use information. Information literacy in VPA engages students with resources from other cultures, periods, artists, and current events, creating connections to gain a greater understanding of the human experience. Additionally, students’ abilities to assess their need for information about a piece of art, locate that information, evaluate its credibility, and use it effectively can be a source of creative inspiration while strengthening discipline-specific skills and literacy. This practice brief focuses on how educators can leverage information literacy skill instruction in the VPA classroom to enhance students’ arts education.

Educators: The artistic processes of responding and connecting provide students with avenues to develop information literacy skills in conjunction with discipline-specific artistic literacy. A learning environment that supports and promotes the research, evaluation, and critical thinking skills necessary for effective inquiry develops students’ curiosity, creativity, and innovative thinking. The skills used in analyzing and critiquing works of art, as well as reflecting on their own work, evolve when educators incorporate information literacy practices in instruction.

School Leaders: In arts education, information literacy skills are crucial for enabling students to gain clarity, process information, critique the creative works of other artists, and self-reflect. Recognizing and elevating these skills in artistic disciplines will help deepen students’ knowledge and strengthen their creative problem-solving abilities. High-quality, discipline-specific information literacy resources and materials are essential tools for in-depth arts study and critical analysis in the arts.

• An artist uses a variety of resources (e.g., text, visuals, audio, and objects) to inform and inspire the creation of personal works of art that are both meaningful and impactful. The skills of the school library media specialist are necessary for sourcing the varied media and resources to create curated collections for student investigation.
• Knowledge of the legal and ethical use of copyrighted material is necessary when artists use and manipulate the work of others to use in their own creative work.
• Communicating through the arts requires the opportunity to learn new techniques in arts creation through research and experimentation.
• Effective information literacy instruction will assist students as they evaluate content generated by artificial intelligence (AI). Verifying factual information, understanding the sources of content, and recognizing the limitations of AI-generated text will inform students’ decision-making as AI becomes more prevalent in society. 

• When students’ culture, identity, and abilities are elevated in instruction, the arts provide students with space to explore and express their identities, acquire knowledge of various cultures and perspectives, build empathy, and strengthen community.
• Information literacy skills develop students’ abilities to critically examine artists’ lived experiences and explore the social contexts of their work, creating opportunities for human connection and understanding both locally and globally.

• Collaborate with school library media specialists on intentional integration and availability of current discipline-specific information literacy instructional resources for the arts.
• Develop a common set of questions that can be implemented across all arts disciplines for students to use when analyzing resources.
• Design lessons focused on student choice and inquiry-based arts instruction that will guide students in developing new knowledge and producing work with artistic intent.
• Provide opportunities for students to experience and engage with curriculum-aligned primary sources by attending live performances, productions, and museum and gallery exhibits.

• What research methods or resources do visual and performing artists use to inform and create works of art, and how can information literacy connect to and support that creative process?
• How can arts students use the school library as a source of inspiration?

• Students with Disabilities and the Core Arts Standards: Guiding Principles for Teachers was created by the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts to assist arts teachers in developing and incorporating inclusive practices to support students with disabilities.
• The Digital Art History Directory created through the Art Libraries Society of North America is an open-access publication with a database of digital art history projects, for use as a research tool by educators and students.
• The Library of Congress has digital collections of historical information related to visual and performing arts.

The resources provided on this webpage are for informational purposes only. All resources must meet the New Jersey Department of Education’s (NJDOE) accessibility guidelines. Currently, the NJDOE aims to conform to Level AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1). However, the NJDOE does not guarantee that linked external sites conform to Level AA of the WCAG 2.1. Neither the NJDOE nor its officers, employees or agents specifically endorse, recommend or favor these resources or the organizations that created them. Please note that the NJDOE has not reviewed or approved the materials related to the programs.