The College aims to graduate women and men who can think clearly, who can speak and write persuasively and even eloquently, who can evaluate critically both their own and others' ideas, who can acquire new knowledge, and who are prepared in life and work to use their knowledge and their abilities to serve the common good.
Information literacy is a set of interdisciplinary, transferable competencies that help individuals determine and diminish knowledge gaps. To be information literate is to know methods of inquiry, to possess effective research skills, to navigate all formats of publication fluently, to recognize one's personal limitations and how to overcome them, to know where to start, to discern when to consult a librarian or other expert for assistance, and to communicate ideas effectively. It includes the ability to articulate an information need, to construct complex search statements, to assess the relevance and authority of found documents, and to be capable of synthesizing existing content in order to explore the parameters of her or his research question. Information literacy is the sum of the attributes required of lifelong learners.
The Librarians of Grinnell College seek to develop information literacy skills in concert with discipline-based learning. Librarians offer to consult and collaborate with classroom faculty in order to integrate information literacy competencies into courses and sequence information literacy skills throughout students' academic careers. Through this partnership, students will cultivate information literacy skills, use core resources, and search for information with increased facility, thus improving performance in academic work and beyond.
