Evaluates both the information retrieved and the process used to retrieve it
As the name and the definition outlined above suggest, the Question pillar is all about asking questions of the resources you have found and the methods you have used to find them. This is often called 'critical thinking', 'critical reading' or evaluation and can be seen as part of a wider set of academic skills developed over time at university and beyond.
Question is all about developing a questioning attitude that enables you to consider different points of view, read between the lines, evaluate the strength of a writer's argument, engage critically with your subject, contribute to debate and build your skills as an effective writer. These are skills that you carry with you beyond university study and use every day in a variety of settings to help make sense of what you hear or read, and to reflect and consider what is true, convincing or trustworthy.
Critical thinking and questioning is a complex skill-set and as you progress through your university programme you will build confidence and understanding of why and how you should evaluate the resources you find in order to provide the strongest evidence to support your arguments throughout your assignments.
The pages in the menu to the left, outline the skills and competencies you could expect to develop at each level, and should demonstrate how you scaffold and build these skills over your time at university.
It's worth remembering that the levels used in the Information Literacy Framework do not necessarily correspond directly to your year of study; you can be a beginner in some of the skills even if you are in your final year of study. We have given the following as a guide:
Beginner: Skills expected to be developed by someone new to, or returning to University level study after a break in education.
Novice: Skills that build upon the Beginner level and that demonstrate an increased confidence and understanding.
Intermediate: By the Intermediate level you are developing higher level skills. For example, you may be expected to demonstrate some or all of these by the end of the second year of an undergraduate programme.
Advanced: These are more advanced skills expected to be developed by the end of the third year of an undergraduate programme, for example.
Expert: The expert level skills would be expected to be developed by the end of a final year undergraduate or taught postgraduate programme.
We have a range of tools to help you develop your Information Literacy skills. They may be workshops you can attend, guides we produce in the Library, resources we pay for you to be able to use, or further reading. Take a look at the Tools to Help page in the left hand menu for more information.