Information Literacy

“Information literacy is the ability to think critically and make balanced judgements about
any information we find and use. It empowers us as citizens to reach and express informed
views and to engage fully with society.” (CILIP, 2018)

Information Literacy is a key skill taught by your Faculty Librarians. We usually meet you in a lecture
or workshop at least once during your course. Lecture and workshop content is supported by online
learning resources which you can explore in your own time to develop this crucial skill for your
studies and beyond.

What skills do you already have and which do you need to develop? Visit the CILIP Information Literacy website for more information.

Staff members; contact your Faculty Librarian to discuss embedding Information Literacy into your course

For support on AI Literacy see these pages

Why do I need to learn this?

Planning your assignment

Navigating the Library

Starting your information search

Developing your research

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Once you’re started on your research you’ll soon become aware of the wealth of resources that are available to you. A simple check of the Library catalogue or a quick Google search will only take you so far. There are lots of other options.

Firstly take a look at the variety of resources the Library can offer with notes on why you might find them useful.

Then, if you’re taking your research to a higher level, look at our Research pages particularly under ‘For academic and research staff and PhD students’.

There is more detail on some specifics in these guides and page:

Finding Journal Articles

Determining if you’re looking at an Academic Journal or Popular Magazine

Using Google Scholar

Check out the Subject Pages for your area of research which have pages linked under ‘find articles’ with links to and descriptions of specialized databases.

Additional, more general, specialized resources:

The Map Library

Our Visual Culture page provides a good range of audio and visual resources.

Academic reading

Evaluating infomation

Referencing your sources

Using generative AI in coursework or research

Useful links

Academic reading (file)
Academic reading: journal articles (file)
Applying a search strategy (file)
Boolean logic (file)
Choosing keywords (file)
Fruitstall and keywords - selecting keywords for an assignment or dissertation (file)
Mind Maps
The Ocean of Information (file)
Using Generative AI in University Library coursework or research
Choosing keywords