Skip to Main Content

Companion Document to the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education: Nursing DRAFT

This guide was developed to accompany the HSIG's Companion Document to the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education: Nursing.

Introduction to this Framework Companion Document

Nursing - Companion Document to the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education

AIMS & HOW TO READ THIS DOCUMENT

The Companion Document aligns the six Frames with nursing education, nursing scholarship, and nursing practice. 

Each Frame section includes:

  • Summary (1-2 sentences)
  • Narrative (2-3 paragraphs)
  • Evidence of the Frame in Action (real world examples, use, and context)
  • Competencies (skills that are informed by the AACN Essentials Domains and Concepts, and map to the six levels of the Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy (remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating and creating).

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS COMPANION DOCUMENT

Introduction
Individual Frames (linked to the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education)

  1. Authority Is Constructed and Contextual
  2. Information Creation as a Process
  3. Information Has Value
  4. Research as Inquiry
  5. Scholarship as Conversation
  6. Searching as Strategic Exploration

Appendices

References

INTRODUCTION

In 2013 the Information Literacy Standards Task Force of the ACRL Health Sciences Interest Group (HSIG) completed the Information Literacy Competency Standards for Nursing (ILCSN) (https://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/nursing). In 2015, the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) published the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education (https://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework), hereafter referred to as the Framework. The Standards for Nursing were undertaken knowing that the soon-to-be published Framework would prompt the writing of this document.  In 2017, the HSIG Nursing Information Literacy Framework Working Group was formed to adapt the ILCSN to reflect the Framework document, as well as incorporate changes in nursing education and practice. The working group began meeting in January 2018, directed by co-chairs Bethany McGowan and Laureen Cantwell-Jurkovic. 

We began by diving deeply into the literature of information literacy and nursing, as well as surveying nursing faculty about their use of information literacy in instruction; the resulting article was written in 2019 and published the following year  (McGowan et al., 2020). In 2020, the group wrote a comprehensive review of the literature about information literacy in nursing education (Cantwell et al., 2021). 

These research projects were essential to inform the working group about nursing faculty’s approach to information literacy (IL) instruction and their utilization of librarianship-generated IL guiding documents in their work (McGowan et al., 2020). We also learned how nurse educators integrate IL into their courses and whether or not they involve librarians when doing so (Cantwell et al., 2021). Our findings indicated that nursing educators:

  • frequently bring information literacy into their courses and do so through a variety of methods;
  • use guiding documents from nursing educational associations (e.g., the AACN) much more commonly in their course design rather than guiding documents from librarianship (e.g., the Standards, the Framework), which were rarely applied;
  • do not often mention involvement, or collaboration with, a librarian when publishing regarding IL in nursing higher education;
  • may have a limited lens on the topic when relying on nursing journals for IL-related content due to the variety of disciplines in which relevant literature may be published (e.g., education, librarianship/information science, and the broader health sciences).

We used these findings in our approach to drafting frames and aimed to build the American Association of Colleges of Nursing’s AACN Essentials (https://www.aacnnursing.org/AACN-Essentials) into our work, while consulting a variety of resources for reference. The Essentials were in the midst of an update during our research, and the updated publication was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic before being accepted in April 2021. After the updated AACN Essentials were published, we incorporated the perspective of these national standards more intentionally into our work by describing the competencies that characterize each Frame in the context of nursing. 

PURPOSE AND AUDIENCE

Throughout the process, we integrated the principles of evidence-based practice in nursing and the standards for nursing education and practice published by nursing organizations such as AACN and CASN. Because these standards and healthcare itself are constantly evolving, this companion document was written to be adaptable and can be used regardless of what EBP model has been adopted. The imperative to consider equity, diversity, and inclusion, as well as the tenets of social justice, by nurses in every aspect of the profession exemplifies change that has been urgently needed but only recently voiced widely. The ACRL Framework itself is a response to the shift from teaching information literacy as a series of prescribed steps or skills, which were addressed in the 2013 ILCSN document, to that of a cluster of interconnected core concepts with flexible options for implementation. The Framework is thus more in line with current practice in higher education and the evolving information ecosystem, while still acknowledging  a range of audiences with examples of the frames “in action” as well as with examples of assessable competencies. 

The anticipated audience for this Companion Document includes key stakeholders such as nursing students at all levels, practicing nurses, faculty teaching in nursing programs, nursing program administrators, and librarians in the United States and Canada. Nursing students and practicing nurses will be able to use this Companion Document to check their own learning and skill acquisition, and to identify further areas for learning. Nursing faculty and program administrators will be able to use the Document as a resource for planning, delivering, and evaluating course content, and for conducting educational research. This Companion Document can also be used in nursing programs to build and scaffold essential skills into the curriculum for students at all levels. Librarians will be able to use the Document as a resource for planning, delivering, and evaluating instruction, as well as for supporting and enhancing instruction delivered by nursing faculty and conducting educational research, on their own and in collaboration with nursing faculty and program administrators.

This companion document and its associated LibGuide (https://acrl.libguides.com/health/frameworkcompanion/starthere) seek to establish adaptable content, ready for conversation and collaboration. We believe these work to bring the two disciplines of nursing and library and information science into direct conversation through one practitioner- and librarian-informed resource. We hope these frames inspire discussion, teamwork, and innovation, and that they help grow and shape information literate nurses of the future.

AUTHORS OF THIS DOCUMENT

  • Bethany S. McGowan (co-chair), MLIS, MS, AHIP; Associate Professor and Health Sciences Information Specialist, Purdue University
  • Laureen P. Cantwell-Jurkovic (co-chair), MSLIS, PhDc; Head of Access Services & Outreach, Colorado Mesa University
  • Jamie L. Conklin, MSLIS; Health Sciences Librarian & Liaison to Nursing, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  • Francesca Frati, BFA, MLIS; Associate Librarian, McGill University Libraries
  • Shannon Johnson, MLS; Director Helmke Library, Purdue Fort Wayne 
  • Sandra C. McCarthy, MLIS, MA, AHIP; Faculty Librarian, Washtenaw Community College 
  • Julie Planchon Wolf, MLIS; Associate Librarian, Research & Instruction/Nursing & Health Studies Librarian, University of Washington Bothell & Cascadia College
  • Rebecca Raszewski, MS, AHIP; Associate Professor & Information Services & Liaison Librarian, University of Illinois at Chicago
  • Maribeth Slebodnik, BSN, MLS; Research & Learning Librarian, University of Arizona Health Sciences Library

APPENDICES (to be added in future versions)

  1. Introducing nursing faculty to the Frames
  2. Strategies for assessment
  3. Sample Learning Goals (by Frame)
  4. Sample Learning Activities (by Frame)  

REFERENCES