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3.3: The Seven Pillars of Information Literacy

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    While the literacy landscape describes knowledge that you learn, to be able to use that knowledge is a different set of skills. Simply put, the are the steps you need to conduct your research. There are several ways to depict how we do this. We are going to use the Seven Pillars of Information Literacy linked here from Western Technical College Library Guide.

    Seven steps of Information literacy depicted as pillars..png

    Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): The Seven Pillars of Information Literacy is shared from Western Technical College libraries, La Crosse, WI.

    The seven pillars of literacy landscape depict 7 pillars, each of them a step in completing the research process, explained further below.

    These are the steps an information literate person completes in the research process.

    1. Identify when you need information.                                                                                                                                                                                   This will be the occasion, purpose, and rhetorical situation. You will determine what you need to do and how you will do it.
    2. Scope out what information you have, need, and where to find it.                                                                                                        These are the beginning stages of finding information. You will note what you already know to understand what you need to learn.             You also need to decide where you will look for your information.
    3. Plan strategies to locate needed information from various media.                                                                                                           You will take a little time to organize your research and make a plan of attack. This will help you stay focused and make the process           easier.
    4. Gather information by knowing where to locate and how to access needed information.                                                                           Now you will start looking for information in the places you scoped out in step 2.
    5. Evaluate information for accuracy and usability.                                                                                                                                                                    You use strategies to help determine whether a source is credible and useable.
    6. Manage information within written texts honestly and appropriately.                                                                                                     You use recognized formatting and guidelines as directed by your instructor. 
    7. Present gathered information by summarizing, synthesizing, and creating texts to share.                                                                          You will draft your argument, add your sources, write the final draft, and submit it.

    In the next chapter on research, we will integrate these steps into the research process so you can see how they work together. You will notice that these steps flow right into the research process. You may recognize that you have already done a lot of these skills in other research projects.

    Knowing all seven skills will make researching easier, more efficient, and more effective. We will discuss these further in the next chapter on research.

    Media Attribution

    The Seven Pillars of Information Literacy is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

    3.3: The Seven Pillars of Information Literacy is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LauraLee Miller, Western Technical College.