For an online credit-bearing course, a team at Bowling Green State University Libraries designed a module around ACRL's Standard Five in order to help students navigate the complexities of using information ethically and legally. Module contents, including readings, discussion questions, assessments and quizzes, may be used as a whole or in pieces as needed. Module readings and activities work equally well online or in the classroom setting and can be easily modified for one-shot library sessions or as part of a larger conversation on academic honesty and correct citing of sources.
ACRL's 5th Information Literacy Competency Standard:
Susan Blum (2009), an anthropologist at the University of Notre Dame, contends that relying on fear tactics is not an effective strategy to prevent plagiarism because it does little to change the understanding of a complex issue. Students live in a world where “Sharing and socialibility are valued, solitude and selfishness are deplored. . . . Accusations of plagiarism are at odds with the positive value placed on working collaboratively on producing a joint project, making a team effort” (p. 90).
Shelley Gullikson published in the Journal of Academic Librarianship the results of a study she conducted on her campus about faculty attitudes toward the ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards. The outcome perceived to be most important among faculty is 5.2.f: “Demonstrates an understanding of what constitutes plagiarism and does not represent work attributable to others as his/her own.”
Gullikson, S. (2006). Faculty perceptions of ACRL's Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 32, 583-592. Retrieved March 8, 2009, from Academic Search Complete database.