Develop your ability to
- Acknowledge Different Types of Authority - define different types of authority such as subject expertise (e.g., scholarship), societal position (e.g., public office or title), or special experience (e.g., participating in a historic event, personal experience);
- Determine Credibility of Sources - Use research tools and indicators of authority to determine the credibility of sources, understanding the elements that might temper this credibility;
- Question Authority of Established Scholars and Publications - Understand that many disciplines have acknowledged authorities in the sense of well-known scholars and publications that are widely considered “standard,” and yet, even in those situations, some scholars would challenge the authority of those sources;
- Discover Authoritative Content in Various Source Types- Recognize that authoritative content may be packaged formally or informally and may include sources of all media types;
- Become a Responsible Authority - Acknowledge you are developing your own authoritative voice in a particular area and recognize the responsibilities this entails, including seeking accuracy and reliability, respecting intellectual property, and participating in communities of practice;
- Understand the increasingly social nature of the information ecosystem - where authorities actively connect with one another and sources develop over time.
"Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education" by ACRL is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.