Standards Toolkit

The Standards Toolkit is a set of tools, web pages and other resources that will help you to use the Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. You can find the official complete text of the Standards, which includes a full introduction and appendix, here. As context for the use of the standards in academic instruction programs, read the ACRL Instruction Section's "Guidelines for Instruction Programs in Academic Libraries." For grounding in how to approach and understand the "outcomes" defined in the Standards, read "Objectives for Information Literacy Instruction: A Model Statement for Academic Librarians", the companion statement to the Competency Standards.

The home page for all of ACRL's Standards and Guidelines can be found here.

Step-By-Step
The Toolkit has a step-by-step introduction to each of the 5 Standards, the Performance Indicators for each Standards and the Outcomes for each Performance Indicator. The corresponding Objectives for Information Literacy Instruction : A Model Statement for Academic Librarians are also included where appropriate.

The Standards in Detail
Browse through the Performance Indicators and Outcomes for the five Standards, with objectives and practical examples for each:

Standard One: Know
Standard Two: Access
Standard Three: Evaluate
Standard Four: Use
Standard Five: Ethical/Legal

Using The Standards
These Standards can be used to develop a short instructional presentation, a full-length class, a semester-long course, or a full program. They are the first step in developing assessments to measure student learning. This section gives examples in each of these areas.

Adapting the Standards
This section has examples of adapting the Standards, translations of our Standards, and links to Standards in other countries.

Accreditation
Read about how several accreditation agencies have changed the language in their standards to stress the importance of teaching information literacy skills in colleges and universities.