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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

INTRODUCTION

Lifelong learning is a foundational principle of nursing and healthcare. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Essentials describe lifelong learning as an element of personal, professional and leadership development, and define it as, “…both formal and informal learning opportunities throughout one’s life to foster the continuous development and improvement of the knowledge and skills needed for employment and personal fulfillment.”  Information literacy (IL) is a key skill for lifelong learners as the universe of information continues to expand. According to the American Library Association (ALA), IL encompasses “the set of integrated abilities encompassing the reflective discovery of information, the understanding of how information is produced and valued, and the use of information in creating new knowledge and participating ethically in communities of learning.”

This Companion Document is for librarians and nursing faculty to design IL instruction for all levels of nursing education and practice. The primary audience includes:

  • Nursing Students: At all levels, for checking their own learning and identifying further areas for skill acquisition.
  • Practicing Nurses: To use as a resource for continuous professional development
  • Nursing Faculty and Program Administrators: For planning, delivering, and evaluating course content and conducting educational research. To help build and scaffold essential skills into nursing program curricula
  • Librarians: For planning, delivering, and evaluating instruction and supporting nursing faculty. To conduct research independently or in collaboration with nursing faculty and program administrators.

Throughout the process of developing the Companion Document, we integrated the principles of evidence-based practice in nursing and national standards for nursing education and practice published by the AACN and the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing (CASN). Given the evolving nature of these standards and healthcare, this document was written to be adaptable and usable across various evidence-based practice (EBP) models. Additionally, we emphasized principles of equity, diversity, inclusion, and social justice to reflect their importance in nursing practice and librarianship.

This Companion Document and its associated research guide (https://acrl.libguides.com/health/frameworkcompanion/starthere) provide flexible, adaptable content ready for conversation and collaboration around the six frames outlined in the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. These Frames facilitate direct dialogue between the disciplines of nursing and librarianship through a practitioner- and librarian-informed resource.

Understanding and applying the principles of IL is crucial for navigating the complexities of modern healthcare. By fostering a culture of continuous learning and critical thinking, this document bridges nursing education and practice, ultimately enhancing patient care and professional growth. Our aim is to inspire collaboration, discussion, and innovation, contributing to the development of information-literate nurses of the future.


History and Background

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) to help establish best practices for becoming information literate nurses. 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), known as the Framework. The ILCSN and the Framework are foundational documents for designing IL instruction for nurses at all stages of education and practice. The ILCSN was written with the understanding that the Framework would eventually supersede it.

In 2017, the HSIG Nursing Information Literacy Framework Working Group was formed to adapt the ILCSN to reflect the Framework and incorporate changes in nursing education and practice. This effort was led by co-chairs Bethany McGowan and Laureen Cantwell-Jurkovic. The working group began by surveying nursing faculty about their use of IL in instruction (McGowan et al., 2020) and conducted a comprehensive literature review on IL in nursing education (Cantwell et al., 2021). We found that nursing educators:

  • frequently brought IL into their courses using a variety of methods.
  • used guiding documents from nursing educational associations (e.g., AACN and CASN)) much more commonly in their course design rather than guiding documents from librarianship (e.g., the ILCSN and the Framework).
  • did not often mention involvement, or collaboration with, a librarian when publishing about IL in nursing higher education.
  • may have relied on nursing journals for IL-related content, possibly missing out on 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 the Frames and aimed to build the AACN Essentials (https://www.aacnnursing.org/AACN-Essentials) into our work.

Methods

After the updated AACN Essentials were published in 2021, these national standards were incorporated by describing the competencies that characterize each Frame in the context of nursing. Although the Frames were not directly mapped to the AACN Essentials competencies, guidance on operationalizing them within each Frame is provided.  The authors used Bloom’s Taxonomy Levels (Remembering, Understanding, Applying, Analyzing, Evaluating and Creating) and their associated language to describe the increasingly complex use of IL as an information literate learner grows and develops stronger competency. The ACRL Framework itself is a response to the shift from teaching IL as prescribed steps or skills, as in the ILCSN document, to a cluster of interconnected core concepts with flexible options for implementation. Our approach aligns with current practice in higher education and the evolving information ecosystem while acknowledging a range of audiences, as illustrated by examples of the “frames in action” and the sharing of examples of assessable competencies.

AUTHORS

  • Bethany S. McGowan (co-chair), MLIS, MS, AHIP; Associate Professor and Health Sciences Information Specialist, Libraries and School of Information Studies, Purdue University-West Lafayette; West Lafayette, IN, USA
  • Laureen P. Cantwell-Jurkovic (co-chair), MSLIS, PhD; Head of Access Services & Outreach, Colorado Mesa University; Grand Junction, CO, USA
  • Jamie L. Conklin, MSLIS; Health Sciences Librarian & Liaison to Nursing, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Chapel Hill, NC, USA
  • Francesca Frati, BFA, MLIS; Associate Librarian and Interim Head Librarian, Schulich Library of Physical Sciences, Life Sciences, and Engineering, McGill University Libraries; Montreal, QC, CA
  • Shannon Johnson, MLS; Director and Full Librarian, Helmke Library, Purdue University-Fort Wayne, Fort Wayne, IN, USA
  • Sandra C. McCarthy, MLIS, MA, AHIP; Faculty Librarian, Washtenaw Community College; Ann Arbor, MI, USA
  • Julie Planchon Wolf, MLIS; Associate Librarian and Research & Instruction/Nursing & Health Studies Librarian, University of Washington Bothell & Cascadia College; Bothell, WA, USA
  • Rebecca Raszewski, MS, AHIP; Full Professor and Information Services & Liaison Librarian, University of Illinois Chicago; Chicago, IL, USA
  • Maribeth Slebodnik, BSN, MLS; Full Librarian, University of Arizona Health Sciences Library; Senior Lecturer, University of Arizona College of Nursing; Tucson, AZ, USA

HOW TO READ THIS DOCUMENT

The Companion Document aligns the six Frames (see following) with nursing education, scholarship, and practice.

Each Frame section includes:

  • Summary - Overview of each Frame and its relevance to nursing education, scholarship and practice.
  • Narrative - Brief explanation of each Frame’s application to nursing education, scholarship, and practice.
  • Competencies - Skills that are informed by the AACN Essentials Domains and Concepts, and map to the six levels of the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy. Bloom’s levels are suggested for each competency.
    • Level 1: Remembering: retrieving, recognizing, or recalling relevant knowledge from long-term memory.
    • Level 2: Understanding: demonstrating comprehension through one or more forms of explanation.
    • Level 3: Applying: using information or a skill in a new situation.
    • Level 4: Analyzing: breaking material into its constituent parts and determining how the parts relate to one another.
    • Level 5: Evaluating: making judgments based on criteria and standards.
    • Level 6: Creating or Synthesizing: creating new ideas or solutions.
  • Evidence of the Frame in Action - Real world examples, uses, and context to help users apply each Frame for their specific needs.

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

  • American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2021). The essentials: Core competencies for professional nursing education. https://www.aacnnursing.org/Portals/42/AcademicNursing/pdf/Essentials-2021.pdf
  • Association of College and Research Libraries. (2016). Framework for information literacy for higher education. American Library Association. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework 
  • Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL). (2013). Information Literacy Competency Standards for Nursing. https://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/nursing
  • Association of College and Research Libraries. (ACRL) (2014a,). Standards and guidelines: Information literacy competency standards for nursing. C&RLNews, 75(1), 34-41. Retrieved from http://crln.acrl.org/content/75/1/34.full.pdf 
  • Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing. (2022). National Nursing Education Framework. Retrieved from https://www.casn.ca/competency-guidelines/national-nursing-education-framework/ 
  • Cantwell, L. P., McGowan, B. S., Planchon Wolf, J., Slebodnik, M., Conklin, J. L., McCarthy, S., & Raszewski, R. (2021). Building a bridge: A review of information literacy in nursing education. Journal of Nursing Education, 60(8), 431-436. https://doi.org/10.3928/01484834-20210722-03  
  • Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society. (2023). Initiatives: TIGER. Retrieved from (Technology Informatics Guiding Education Reform) : https://www.himss.org/what-we-do-initiatives/technology-informatics-guiding-education-reform-tiger
  • McGowan, B. S., Cantwell, L. P., Conklin, J. L., Raszewski, R., Planchon Wolf, J., Slebodnik, M., McCarthy, S., & Johnson, S. (2020). Evaluating nursing faculty's approach to information literacy instruction: A multi-institutional study. Journal of the Medical Library Association : JMLA, 108(3), 378–388. https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2020.841 
  • Melnyk, B. M., & Fineout-Overholt, E. (Eds.). (2019). Evidence-based practice in nursing & healthcare : A guide to best practice (Fourth). Wolters Kluwer.
  • Phelps, S. F., Hyde, L., & Planchon Wolf, J. (2018). The intersection: Where evidence based nursing and information literacy meet. (S. F. Phelps, L. Hyde, & J. Planchon Wolf, Eds.). Chandos Publishing.
  • Quality and Safety Education for Nurses. (2020). QSEN Institute competencies. Retrieved from https://qsen.org/competencies/ 
  • Saunders, L. (2017). Connecting information literacy and social justice: Why and how. Communications in Information Literacy, 11(1), 55-75. https://doi.org/10.15760/comminfolit.2017.11.1.47 
  • Young, L. M., & Hinton, E. G. (2019). Framing health care instruction: An information literacy handbook for the health sciences. (L. M. Young & E. G. Hinton, Eds.). Rowman & Littlefield.