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What is Information Literacy?
Robyn Hartman
Why Information Literacy is Important
Heather VanDyne
Real-Life Examples of Information Literacy
Claire Nickerson
Advanced Topic: The ACRL Framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education
Introduction to Information Literacy Key Takeaways
Introduction to Annotated Bibliographies and Research Plans
Narrowing a Topic
Ohio State University Libraries Teaching & Learning and Heather VanDyne
Background Reading
Mind Mapping
Research Plan and Topic Key Takeaways
The Purpose of Research Questions
Ohio State University Libraries Teaching & Learning
Regular vs. Research Questions
Ohio State University Libraries Teaching & Learning and Robyn Hartman
Influence of a Research Question
Developing Your Research Question
Research Questions Key Takeaways
Categorizing Sources
Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sources
Ohio State University Libraries Teaching & Learning and Claire Nickerson
Quantitative or Qualitative
Publication Formats and the Information Lifecycle
Peer Review
Popular, Trade/Professional, and Scholarly Sources
Fact or Opinion
Data as Sources
People as Sources
What Sources to Use When
Which Kinds of Sources Meet Which Needs?
Planning Your Sources
Types of Information Key Takeaways
News as a Source
WorldCat and Interlibrary Loan
Google Scholar
Web Search Engines
Generative AI
Searching the Web Key Takeaways
Thinking Critically About Sources
Evaluating for Relevancy
Evaluating for Credibility: Using SIFT and Lateral Reading
Evaluating Key Takeaways
Ethical Use and Citing Sources
Why Cite Sources?
Scholarly Articles as Sources
Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing
Summarizing and the Ethical Use of Sources Key Takeaways
Finding Tools
Databases
Library Guides
Finding Tools Key Takeaways
Searching Library Catalogs
Why Precision Searching?
Making the Most out of Your Main Concepts
Heather VanDyne and Ohio State University Libraries Teaching & Learning
Related and Alternative Terms
Search Statements
Searching Library Catalogs Key Takeaways
Challenges in Citing Sources
Citation and Citation Styles
Steps for Citing
Online Help with Citations
When to Cite
How to Cite Key Takeaways
Catalogs Versus Databases
Common Databases
Specialized Databases
Open-Access Databases
Searching Databases Key Takeaways
The CRAAP Test
Assessing Bias
Assessing Key Takeaways
Citation Software
Citation Tracing
More About Citations Key Takeaways
Reflecting on Information Resources with BEAM
Organizing Resources with BEAM
Taking Notes with BEAM
BEAM Key Takeaways
What is an Annotated Bibliography?
Parts of an Annotation
Annotated Bibliographies Key Takeaways
Appendix A: Example Annotated Bibliography
Appendix B: Example Annotated Bibliography
Credits
Glossary
Ohio State University Libraries Teaching & Learning; Heather VanDyne; Claire Nickerson; and Robyn Hartman
Version History
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The Path to Information Literacy: From Finding a Topic to Writing an Annotated Bibliography Copyright © 2026 by Fort Hays State University Tebo Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
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