Information skills training

The Aalto University Learning Centre offers training in information retrieval skills to support learning, teaching and research activities.

• For students
• For researchers and other staff

The trainings are organised in the Learning Centre and around Otaniemi campus. The aim of the training is to assist in the selection of information sources, facilitate information retrieval and assessment and offer tools for information management. The training can be incorporated into a degree or arranged as separate sessions open to everyone. Information retrieval training integrated into degree programmes is planned and implemented in collaboration with teachers of different subjects.

Information retrieval skills are related to the wider concept of information literacy which means personal abilities for managing information and critical thinking. The curriculum for information literacy aims to ensure that a graduating university student can meet international standards for information literacy competency.

Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education*:

1. Authority Is Constructed and Contextual

   Information resources reflect their creators’ expertise and credibility, and are evaluated based on the information need and the context in which the information will be used. Authority is constructed in that various communities may recognize different types of authority. It is contextual in that the information need may help to determine the level of authority required.

2. Information Creation as a Process

   Information in any format is produced to convey a message and is shared via a selected delivery method. The iterative processes of researching, creating, revising, and disseminating information vary, and the resulting product reflects these differences.

3. Information Has Value

   Information possesses several dimensions of value, including as a commodity, as a means of education, as a means to influence, and as a means of negotiating and understanding the world. Legal and socioeconomic interests influence information production and dissemination.

4. Research as Inquiry

   Research is iterative and depends upon asking increasingly complex or new questions whose answers in turn develop additional questions or lines of inquiry in any field.

5. Scholarship as Conversation

   Communities of scholars, researchers, or professionals engage in sustained discourse with new insights and discoveries occurring over time as a result of varied perspectives and interpretations.

6. Searching as Strategic Exploration

   Searching for information is often nonlinear and iterative, requiring the evaluation of a range of information sources and the mental flexibility to pursue alternate avenues as new understanding develops.

*. Association of College & Research Libraries. ALA. Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education

Please give us your feedback on the information retrieval training you received: https://link.webropol.com/s/irfeedback