From Standards to Frameworks for IL: How the ACRL Framework Addresses Critiques of the Standards

The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education, since their publication in 2000, have drawn criticism for ignoring the social and political aspects of information literacy. The ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards Task Force responded with the Framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education, which rethinks information literacy by acknowledging that it is a social phenomenon and by recognizing students as participatory learners. This article contrasts the constructions of information, information literacy, and students in the Framework and the Standards to show how the Framework addresses some of the critiques of the Standards.