Science and Technology Section (STS): Information Literacy

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This guide is intended to provide a place for librarians to find resources to guide their information literacy instruction for students and faculty in the sciences, engineering, and technology fields.  This collection of science information literacy resources is sponsored by the ACRL Science & Technology Section's Information Literacy committee (STS-IL). The Science & Technology Section (STS) is a section of the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL), a division of the American Library Association (ALA).  STS-IL is divided into two subcommittees, the Chat subcommittee and the Resources subcommittee.

As defined by ACRL's Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education, “Information literacy is 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.” For those in STEM disciplines these abilities are used to navigate the vast amount of scientific information available, critically analyze it, and apply it to scientific inquiry, research, and decision-making. Effective information literacy skills in STEM empower students to follow and engage in the scholarly conversation, make informed decisions, and create new knowledge.

For more on guiding priniciples for information literacy from library professional organizations, see the Information Literacy Standards for STEM page.