Digital Information Literacy: Teaching Students to Use The Internet in Source-Based Writing

Abstract

The rich resources of the Internet increasingly call writing faculty to incorporate digital research strategies into source-based writing. Yet, research shows that some students do not have basic competency to use the Internet for academic research. Composition classes can help students to be information literate and know how to effectively find, evaluate, use, communicate and manage both traditional and digital research information that is reliable and valid. Composition teachers can provide guided practice for students who are learning to read and use the Internet in an information literate way. Source-based writing instruction can also alert students to the important difference between the library and the Internet. Lessons in source-based writing can be enhanced by incorporating one of the many widely available, public-domain online-information literacy tutorials that are published by libraries.