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Information Literacy: Information Literacy Framework: What is the ACRL Framework

Information literacy is the ability to recognize when information is needed, locate relevant information, evaluate its credibility, and use it effectively.

What is the Framework?

What Is It?

The ACRL Framework is a set of interconnected core concepts designed to guide how students learn to interact with information in higher education. It emphasizes flexibility over rigid standards and encourages institutions to adapt the framework to their unique student populations.

Purpose

  • Moves beyond checklists of skills to focus on conceptual understandings.
  • Encourages critical thinking about how information is created, shared, and used.
  • Supports curriculum integration of information literacy across disciplines.

The Six Frames

  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

Each frame includes:

  • Knowledge Practices: What learners should be able to do.
  • Dispositions: Attitudes and values learners should develop.

About the ACRL

  • Division of the American Library Association (ALA).
  • Founded in 1940, focused on academic librarianship.
  • Offers professional development, tools, and publications.
  • Over 10,000 members and hosts a biannual conference.

 

Association of College & Research Libraries. (n.d.). Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education.

Association of College & Research Libraries. (2021, April 1). ACRL history.

ACRL Framework Booklet