Beginning college students often make assumptions that scholarly sources are inherently bias-free. Students may also hold the belief that if they find a source through a library database, it is automatically a useful and neutral viewpoint on a topic. These mindsets can limit students’ motivation to apply evaluation strategies beyond establishing credibility based on the author’s credentials.This lesson plan introduces the concept of positionality statements to help students understand that scholars do not leave their identities and life experiences behind when they conduct research. Students practice a new way to evaluate and understand the perspective–and limitations–that scholars bring to their research.The lesson plan is designed for first-year composition courses in which students are asked to develop a research topic based on their interests or experiences. It could be adapted for upper-level undergraduate courses in the social sciences.

The goal of this activity is to help students develop a broader understanding how authority is determined and what types of sources are considered appropriate in different contexts. It is also intended to help address some of the misconceptions that students have related to the source evaluation process. 

This web resource provides a brief overview of the concept Authority is Constructed and Contextual. It includes a video, a concept description, and the related knowledge practices and dispositions. 

The goal of this activity is to help students start to think critically about the evaluation strategies that they have learned and whether they support the effective evaluation of information. Students will learn about the lateral reading strategy for evaluation and compare it to their existing evaluation process. 

This workshop engages participants in exploring corporate data collection, personal profiling, deceptive design, and data brokerage practices. Workshop content is contextualized with the theoretical frameworks of panoptic sort (Gandy), surveillance capitalism (Zuboff), and the four regulators (Lessig) and presented through a privacy and business ethics lens. Participants will learn how companies make money from data collection practices; explore how interface design can influence our choices and behaviors; and discuss business ethics regarding privacy and big data.The workshop is designed for 75-minute class sessions, but can be compressed into 60-minute sessions. Includes workshop guide, presentation slides, learning activities, and assessment instrument.

The goal of this activity is to help students develop a broader understanding of the purpose of academic research assignments, by helping to identify some of the common misconceptions that they might have about research assignments. This could also be used as a low-stakes activity or assignment at the beginning of a research project to help clarify expectations.

The goal of this activity is to help students start to develop an understanding of research as an ongoing process of inquiry, rather than a straightforward process of compiling information on a topic. Students develop initial definitions of “research as inquiry,” review and discuss resources related to the concept, revise their definitions, and reflect on how the concept relates to their research practices.  

Comprehensive strategies on finding statistics and data.

20-30 minute activity for students to practice citing material in a specific citation style. Can be adapted for any style.

Set in a broader internship program as a key component of an archival program and following a backwards design approach, interns (undergraduate students) develop complimentary archival exhibits in both physical and digital environments. Students are also tasked with anticipating their information needs. The supervisor draws on the Scholarship as Conversation Frame of the ACRL Framework to encourage conceptualizing both the archives/special collections/library environment they are in as a place of active conversation, and as a basis for encouraging reflection on the information component of their internship.