RIPL (Reference & Instruction Discussion Group)

Topic: The ACRL Framework for Information Literacy: Assessing its Usefulness and Impact 6 Years Later

It has been 8 years since the ACRL released the initial draft of the ACRL Framework in 2014 to no small amount of controversy and debate, and 6 years since the final draft was released in 2016. While the initial controversy has died down, recent research shows that librarian opinions about the Framework and their abilities to adapt it are still somewhat mixed.

To assess how the dust has settled on the initial controversy, we’ll be reading the article Implementing the ACRL Framework: Reflections from the Field by Don Latham, Melissa Gross, and Heidi Julien, and discussing how the ACRL Framework has impacted (or not impacted) our approaches to information literacy instruction, for better or worse. If you haven’t looked at them in a while, you can also check out The Framework for Information Literacy and ACRL’s older Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education as a comparison.

Discussion Question Agenda:

• Have you used the ACRL Framework to inform any aspect of instructional design for information literacy instruction at your library?  If you were using ACRL’s Standards for Information Literacy before, did you switch to the Framework, or keep using the Standards?
• If you have used the Framework, what aspects have you found most helpful for instructional design, especially compared to ACRL’s older Standards for Information Literacy?  Do you have any specific instructional sessions you’ve done that you feel are especially good at teaching one or more of the frames?
• What aspects of the Framework have you found most difficult to adapt?  Are there any particular frames that you find troublesome?
• If you don’t make use of the Framework for instructional design, are there any other models of Information Literacy that you do use?  E.g. The original ACRL Standards, the 7 Pillars, meta-literacy approaches, or etc.  Why do you find these models more helpful than the Framework?
• Do you have any ongoing issues or critiques with particular frames from the Framework that we haven’t touched upon yet?

We hope to see you there!