Library Instruction

The Associate of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) Framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education guides librarians in incorporating information literacy skill development into their classes. Each of the six "frames" of information literacy includes a concept central to information literacy (a threshold concept), a set of knowledge practices ("ways in which learners can increase their understanding of these information literacy concepts"), and a set of dispositions ("ways to address the affective, attitudinal, or valuing dimension of learning").

The Six Frames of Information Literacy are: 

1. Authority is Constructed and Contextual
   • Authority is constructed in that various communities may recognize different types of authority. It is contextual in that the information need may help to determine the level of authority required.
2. Information Creation as a Process
   • The iterative processes of researching, creating, revising, and disseminating information vary, and the resulting product reflects these differences.
3. Information Has Value
   • Information possesses several dimensions of value, including as a commodity, as a means of education, as a means to influence, and as a means of negotiating and understanding the world. 
4. Research as Inquiry
   • Research is iterative and depends upon asking increasingly complex or new questions whose answers in turn develop additional questions or lines of inquiry in any field.
5. Scholarship as Conversation
   • Communities of scholars, researchers, or professionals engage in sustained discourse with new insights and discoveries occurring over time as a result of varied perspectives and interpretations.
6. Searching as Strategic Exploration
   • Searching for information is often nonlinear and iterative, requiring the evaluation of a range of information sources and the mental flexibility to pursue alternate avenues as new understanding develops.

BC's commitment to formative education calls for us to support our students in all areas of their development: intellectual, emotional, interpersonal, and spiritual. Student formation is at the forefront of Boston College Libraries's strategic priorities.

A crucial aspect of Jesuit pedagogy is formation and discernment. Weaving concepts of formation, discernment, and reflection into instruction sessions can help students process information as well as understand how to incorporate what they are learning more broadly into their lives. 

BC Library instructors  also integrate reflection on their own teaching process. Library instructors engage in continuous learning together.

BC Libraries believe that Generative AI's (GenAI) role in learning should be to extend critical learning processes, not circumvent them.

Statement on the Library's Approach to GenAI

In the BC Libraries, we emphasize the importance of student formation, understanding critical thinking and engagement with information, data, and information technologies. 

We support community members in navigating the unique challenges posed by Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) collaborating directly with academic departments and schools to address their specific needs.

• Fostering critical information and data literacy: Guiding students to evaluate the reliability, accuracy, assumptions, and context of all content, including GenAI-generated material. 
• Fostering a critical interdisciplinary understanding of AI technologies: Informing students about the methods, processes, and technologies that produce GenAI-generated results.
• Promoting responsible information use: Ensuring students understand that the research process requires time and careful evaluation for accuracy, bias, and limitations, especially in reproducibility. Guiding students to cite AI usage as appropriate within a framework of ethics and crediting information creation.
• Reflecting, learning, and grappling with information: Reinforcing that meaningful learning involves grappling with troubling concepts, and analyzing and synthesizing complex knowledge;  GenAI's role in learning should be to extend those critical learning processes, not circumvent them.

The Library’s Generative AI guide provides further information about how the library is thinking about AI.