Information literacy skills are a universal need of all students and adults to effectively navigate and engage with the modern world. Content areas, such as English Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, and Comprehensive Health and Physical Education, already contain specific information literacy-related performance expectations and disciplinary practices. In addition, standard 9.4 Life Literacies & Key Skills contains specific core ideas and performance expectations related to information literacy that can be applied to all content areas. Information literacy skills shall not be taught in isolation but rather reflect the organic engagement with information encountered by students in and out of school. Information literacy will function differently according to the needs of each classroom and discipline, which further supports skill transferability and the development of information-literate citizens. An information literacy education embeds the dynamic, iterative daily practice of effectively and efficiently consuming, creating and distributing information in a critical and informed manner. 

• Information Need is the specific knowledge required to establish understanding, answer a question, make informed decisions, or support an idea within a particular content area. The ability to determine and meet information needs in critical and purposeful ways is essential for building and demonstrating knowledge and skills in education, career and life outside of school. Individuals develop their own research processes with time, practice and reflection by assessing their background knowledge, identifying gaps in information and creating inquiries to engage with content. This equips them to effectively address interests, tasks and prompts via information clearinghouses such as libraries, digital archives, databases, museums, government and institutions of higher education. Assessing one’s need for information is iterative, reflective and necessary for lifelong learning.

• Information Identification and Evaluation are essential processes that enable individuals to build accurate and credible knowledge across all content areas. Identifying a comprehensive collection of information to use in the research process requires a variety of skills and digital tools that support the individual in searching for, locating and selecting information, then evaluating the accuracy, authenticity, context, credibility, intent, purpose, relevance and validity of that information. Additionally, selecting comprehensive, credible information while maintaining safety, security and privacy is an essential component of information literacy. While evaluating authorship and content is important to information identification, evaluating the information provider, platform and source type is also vital in determining which information is relevant and appropriate for a particular purpose. Information identification and evaluation necessitates an evolving skill set which must be adapted to reflect advances in technology, platforms and products.

• Information Use involves the organization and analysis of information for a specific purpose. Individuals must demonstrate the ability to organize, collate and summarize information as a precursor to the analysis and comparison of sources to create meaning to answer a question, fulfill a task, construct a claim/argument and/or form perspectives. This is an ongoing process in which individuals must continually assess their knowledge and evaluate the need for additional information to fill any gaps in understanding and, if necessary, locate more information. Thorough and effective analysis of information requires individuals to understand the ways in which information is used to influence people and societies both positively and negatively, ultimately enabling individuals to use information in informed and ethical ways when forming claims/arguments, supporting perspectives and making choices.

• Information Creation and Distribution encompasses not only the production of information but also the foundational knowledge necessary for the responsible publication, amplification and consumption of information. In understanding how information is produced, published, accessed and used by various audiences for a variety of purposes, the individual is equipped to select appropriate formats and technologies for creating and distributing information.  The ethical and legal creation and distribution of information depends on an individual’s awareness of socio-cultural context and applicable laws as well as the individual’s ability to attribute and cite information according to task, audience and purpose. Because information grows and transforms both personal and public understandings, the individual must have the skills and capacities to reflect on, revise and update distributed information and published work.

• An information literate person:

  • Recognizes and understands the complexities of information production, distribution, access and consumption;
  • Uses information needs to formulate concrete strategies and plans to search for and access information from diverse sources;
  • Employs relevant and diverse tools in a systematic, explicit and efficient manner to access information for utilization safely and ethically;
  • Interprets, compares, critically evaluates, authenticates and synthesizes information in all contexts and settings;
  • Organizes information and media content for creation and production of new information for a specific purpose and audience;
  • Communicates and distributes information in various appropriate formats and platforms for multiple applications in a legal, ethical and efficient manner; and
  • Reflects continually on existing knowledge and the subsequent need for information in order to support their pursuit of knowledge in an ever-changing information landscape, including artificial intelligence. 

• American Association of School Librarians. (2018). National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and School Libraries. ALA.
• Association of College and Research Libraries. (2015). Framework for information literacy for higher education.
• National Association of Media Literacy Education. (2023). Core principles of media literacy education.
• UNESCO. (2019). Global Standards for Media and Information Literacy Curriculum Development Guidelines.

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