Thinking Critically and Reflecting on the Research Process

Foundational

Intermediate

Discipline Specific

Expert

Confers with instructors, librarians, and peers to identify a research topic, or other information need.

Develops a manageable thesis statement and formulates questions based on the information need.

Explores general information sources to increase familiarity with the topic.

Understands the difference between a foundational source and ‘new’ literature.

Understands that content and physical format are independent of each other.

Examines an existing problem and identifies an information need that would help resolve it.

Formulates a realistic overall plan and timeline to acquire the needed information.

Refines topic so that it is appropriately specific.

Identifies gaps in the information retrieved and revises search strategy accordingly.

Reviews information retrieval tools used and expands to include others as needed.

Recognizes that existing information can be combined with original thought, experimentation, and/or analysis to produce new information.

Recognizes that knowledge can be organized into disciplines that influence the way information is created, presented, and accessed.

Understands the process of scholarly production, from authors’ ideas through publication in a variety of expressions.

Realizes that information may need to be constructed with raw data from primary sources.

Considers experts or other researchers as potential information resources.

Understands the time implications for accessing different types of information.

Considers the feasibility of acquiring a new language or skill (e.g., foreign or discipline-based) in order to gather needed information and to understand its context.

Creates a system for organizing the information.

Extends initial synthesis to a higher level of abstraction and constructs new hypotheses that may require additional information.

Searching and Retrieval Skills

Foundational

Intermediate

Discipline Specific

Expert

Identifies the appropriate retrieval tool for each search.

Uses reference resources to provide background information and contextual information.

Understands and can use tools that aid in navigating print sources (tables of contents and indexes) and web pages (site maps and menus).

Uses technology for accessing information.

Understands that there are different bibliographic databases available for different purposes/subjects.

Understands that all databases do not provide the same depth of content.

Uses library resources, including the catalog and general or multi-disciplinary databases.

Recognizes and correctly identifies the type of work represented by a citation.

Understands how to follow the trail from database citations to the catalog records.

Locates items in the library.

Understands that materials in the academic library are primarily arranged by subject, but sometimes also by format.

Identifies and uses subject terms from specialized indexes and bibliographies.

Recognizes and uses subject specific tools unique to the discipline.

Begins to identify important scholars in the field.

Begins to identify seminal works in the field.

Develops awareness of the professional and scholarly associations in the field and the literature they publish.

Creates an extensive literature review.

Explores resources at appropriate institutions outside academia (agencies, government offices, archives, etc.).

Adapts search strategies to effectively use the unique features and search capabilities of each database or other resource.

Uses information resources to keep current in ones’ field, profession, or discipline.

Uses the Web and other multidisciplinary resources to explore the shape and context of a topic.

Understands the process and benefits of citation searching.

Resource Evaluation Skills

Foundational

Intermediate

Discipline Specific

Expert

Distinguishes between facts and opinions.

Qualitatively differentiates web resources.

Judges the appropriateness of information found with respect to the specific information need.

Examines and compares information from various sources in order to evaluate reliability, validity, accuracy, authority, timeliness, and point of view or bias.

Analyzes resources and makes conscious decisions how each resource supports the development of the topic.

Creates an annotated bibliography.

Distinguishes among the different types of reference works and understands the kind of access to information offered by each.

Applies disciplinary knowledge to evaluate the accuracy and usefulness of the resources.

Recognizes the value of archival information and how its use and importance may vary with each discipline.

Understands the structure of a scholarly work within a discipline.

Understands what constitutes primary, secondary and tertiary sources within a discipline.

Uses subjective and objective sources such as book reviews and citation indexes to determine the relative importance of an author and/or specific work.

Recognizes the core resources within a discipline.

Ethical and Legal Use of Information

Foundational

Intermediate

Discipline Specific

Expert

Cites items or ideas used and does not represent work attributable to others as his/her own.

Understands that citation implies the work cited has been read.

Understands that the citation of other works or ideas and plagiarism are ethical and legal issues.

Does not distort the author’s intended meaning when citing a quotation.

Understands that different disciplines have different citation standards and habits.

Recognizes the cultural, physical, or other context within which the information was created and understands the impact of context on interpreting the information.

Understands and uses discipline or professionally related codes of ethics related to information.

Understands that ethical and legal constraints may limit the availability of certain kinds of information.

Knows the citation standards and habits of the discipline.

Demonstrates an understanding of federal, state, and institutional policies related to information and research.

Identifies and handles sensitive or confidential information appropriately.