InformAll criteria

Using the InformAll (formerly RIDLs) criteria to support the development of information and data literacy training resources

In 2013, RIDLs – the initiative that preceded and laid the ground for InformAll – issued a set of criteria intended to describe, review and evaluate information literacy training interventions. The criteria are a practical tool, free to use, intended for academic librarians, and more broadly for all those who, within HEIs, are responsible for devising, running or managing courses, sessions and other digital/online resources aimed at developing the information-handling knowledge, skills and competencies of researchers, students and teaching staff. The criteria can be found below, in their full version, and in a summarized version that provides a preliminary checklist to introduce the key questions:

InformAll criteria

InformAll criteria – summarised version

The criteria serve three broad purposes:

(i)           Helping to describe and review training interventions; the aim being to provide a structured, recognized and, crucially, a consistent way of presenting such interventions in online resources and demonstrating their value.

(ii)          Providing a simple means of evaluating courses and resources, for use within or outside the institutions in which the interventions have been compiled; the aim being to evaluate their suitability and usefulness as transferable resources.

(iii)         Serving as a prompt for a dialogue between training practitioners and learners, and providing a structure for such a dialogue.

However, the criteria are not intended as a prescriptive or rigid tool, nor as a means of assessing the performance of training practitioners: instead, they provide the latter with a self-help framework to assist them with the formulation and delivery of their resources. Practitioners may additionally use the criteria as a form of accreditation, or as a basis for providing guidance / support in the devising of training material.

The criteria are endorsed by the CILIP Information Literacy Group