Information Literacy Guide for Faculty

To guide students successfully through the research process, design assignments that anticipate stumbling blocks and make expectations crystal clear. NWACC librarians partner with you to align tasks with information literacy outcomes and provide the right supports—without adding to your prep time.

How we can help

• Design an effective research assignment. Co-create prompts that scaffold skills and avoid common pitfalls.
• Evaluate a current assignment. Check for clarity, feasibility, and alignment with information literacy competencies.
• Recommend targeted resources. Point students to specific databases, sources, and source types that fit your goals.
• Provide plug-and-play supports. Share research guides, handouts, worksheets, tutorials, and Canvas pages (customizable with lead time).
• Deliver instruction at the point of need. Time librarian visits or embedded content to match your assignment timeline.
• Support in Canvas. Add modules, micro-lessons, and quick checks for online and hybrid courses.

Bottom line: Share your prompt—even a draft—and we’ll help you refine it, align outcomes and assessments, and provide ready-to-use supports for your students.

Use these tested tips to make research assignments clearer, more feasible, and better aligned with information literacy outcomes.

📚 Assignment Requirements

• Provide a clear, written prompt with purpose, outcomes, and evaluation criteria.
• Verify access. Ensure reliable sources exist and are available via NWACC Library (online or in person).
• Match level to learners. Recommend sources that fit students’ reading ability, subject knowledge, and search skills.
• Avoid stacked restrictions. Multiple tight limits (e.g., “3 peer-reviewed, 2 print, last 5 years”) can make research impossible.
• Balance print and online. Many government/current sources are digital-only; set expectations accordingly.

🔍 Searching for Information

• Point students to sources. Specify relevant databases, reference works, or scholarly tools.
• Be explicit about counts/types. State how many sources and which types are permitted or required.
• Allow topic refinement. Encourage narrowing or pivoting after initial searching.
• 🤖 Acknowledge AI. AI can suggest keywords or steps, but it does not replace finding and analyzing real sources.

✅ Evaluating Information

• Require credibility. Set expectations for authority, relevance, currency, and evidence.
• Model evaluation. Provide a short checklist/rubric students can apply to any source—including AI outputs.

✍️ Using Information

• Teach academic integrity. Link to the Plagiarism Guide (see link below).
• 🤖 Address AI use. State if/when generative AI is permitted and how to cite it if used.
• Specify citation style. Link to NWACC citation guides.
• Make process visible. Add checkpoints (proposal, annotated bibliography, draft) to encourage steady progress.

Bottom line: Clear expectations, right-sized requirements, and visible checkpoints lead to stronger work, less AI misuse, and easier grading.