Faculty Guide to Canvas Information Literacy Modules

The Highline College Library has 9 information literacy (IL) modules available for you to use in your Canvas courses. These modules are designed to teach students research skills in brief, focused modules.

Finding Background Information - covers reasons to use background information, types and formats of background information and where to find them, and how to search print and online reference tools for background information. This module takes approximately 5-10 minutes to complete.

Searching Databases - covers the difference between searching library databases and the web, keywords and search terms, Boolean and phrase searching, choosing and searching databases, database citations, and practice using search terms to search a database. This module takes approximately 45 minutes to complete. 

Evaluating Information - covers why evaluation is necessary and how to apply the CCOW criteria to sources to identify quality ones. This module takes approximately 25 minutes to complete.

Scholarly vs. Popular Sources - covers the difference between scholarly and popular sources, why we use scholarly articles, the difference between primary and secondary sources, identifying scholarly articles online, recognizing the parts of a research article, searching for scholarly articles in library databases and on the web, and reading a scholarly article. This module takes approximately 25 minutes to complete.

Recognizing and Avoiding Plagiarism - covers defining and recognizing plagiarism, citing sources using in-text and bibliographic citations, and quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing. This module takes approximately 35-40 minutes to complete.

APA Guide to Citing Sources (7th ed) - covers creating in-text citations, integrating sources into research, and producing a Reference list. This module takes approximately 35-40 minutes to complete.

MLA Guide to Citing Sources (9th ed) - covers creating in-text citations, integrating sources into research, and producing a Works Cited list. This module takes approximately 35-40  minutes to complete.

Media Literacy - covers the information timeline; differentiating between real news and fake news; recognizing algorithms and echo chambers; reading laterally; evaluating expertise; thinking critically about language, images, and graphs/charts; and recognizing media bias. This module takes approximately 50 minutes to complete.

Searching Nursing Databases - covers the difference between searching library nursing databases and the web, keywords and search terms, Boolean and phrase searching, choosing and searching databases, database citations, and practice using search terms to search a database. This module takes approximately 45 minutes to complete. 

You can import these modules into your courses from the Canvas Commons.

1. Log into Canvas.

2. Click Commons in the lower left corner of the Canvas window.

3. Return here and click the link for the module you want to import/download:

4. Follow instructions on the screen in Canvas Commons to import/download it. These modules include the Highline College Library logo, as in the example below.

Module Information

• You can make changes to these modules once you import them because each one has an open Creative Commons license (which means you’re free to retain, reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute this content).
• All of these modules meet accessibility requirements.
• The format of the modules and its assessments vary based on the module topic.
  • Some modules allow students to test themselves on the concepts.
  • Some include quizzes or exercises that you can assign for points, if you want.
  • Some include unpublished instructor resources with instructions for how you might use those resources, should you choose to.

The Highline College Librarians are happy to help you:

• Decide which modules you might use
• Import them into your courses
• Find additional or supplemental sources to accompany the modules
• Provide IL instruction for your students (for face-to-face and hybrid classes)
• Develop an equivalent to IL instruction for online courses using these modules