Welcome to PRDV201: Information Literacy

Specific information about this course and its requirements can be found below. For more general information about taking Saylor Academy courses, including information about Community and Academic Codes of Conduct, please read the Student Handbook.

Course Description

Learn how to develop a research strategy to find, retrieve, evaluate, and use information ethically and legally.

Course Introduction

This short course will help you better understand how information impacts all facets of your life, whether personal, professional, or educational. Information is central to life, especially in a knowledge economy driven by technology. Understanding how to effectively find, evaluate, and use information is key to success. This course will discuss how information is produced, organized, located, and used ethically and legally, both online and in print. This process starts with understanding the research process that informs your information-seeking behavior. Developing an effective question to drive your research will help you develop an effective search strategy using appropriate search tools. Once relevant information is found, you will evaluate it to ensure it meets your information needs. Knowing what type of information is needed is key in this step. Finally, when using information, you must consider issues of ownership and the importance of attribution to be an ethical user of any source. Information literacy skills are even more necessary now with the rise of misinformation online.

This course includes the following units:

Unit 1: The Research Process. Unit 2: Where to Search for Information. Unit 3: Finding Relevant Sources of Information. Unit 4: Evaluating Information. Unit 5: Using Information Ethically and Legally

Course Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

[1] Explain the steps in the research process, including identifying your topic, gathering background information, locating material, evaluating sources, and citing sources; [2] Identify the appropriate research tool for your information need; [3] Design an effective search strategy to find relevant information sources; [4] Implement evaluation criteria such as lateral reading or the CRAAPO test to determine the value of an information source; [5] Use information ethically and legally, including creating proper attributions

Throughout this course, you will also see learning outcomes in each unit. You can use those learning outcomes to help organize your studies and gauge your progress.

Course Materials

This course's primary learning materials are articles, lectures, and videos.

All course materials are free to access and can be found in each unit of the course. Pay close attention to the notes that accompany these course materials, as they will tell you what to focus on in each resource and will help you understand how the learning materials fit into the course as a whole. You can also see a list of all the learning materials in this course at this link: Resources.

Evaluation and Minimum Passing Score

Only the final examination is considered when awarding you a grade for this course. To pass this course, you will need to earn 70% or higher on the final exam. The exam will be password-protected and requires a proctor.

Your score on the exam will be calculated as soon as you complete it. There is a 14-day waiting period between each attempt. You may only attempt the final exam a maximum of three times. Be sure to study in between each attempt! If you do not pass the exam after three attempts, you will not complete this course.

There is also a practice exam that you may take as many times as you want to help you prepare for the final exam. The course also contains end-of-unit assessments in this course. The end-of-unit assessments are designed to help you study and do not factor into your final course grade. You can take these as many times as you want to until you understand the concepts and material covered. You can see all of these assessments at this link: Quizzes.

Continuing Education Credits

The certificate earned by passing this self-paced course displays not only the program hours you completed, but also continuing education credits (CEUs) for documenting successful completion of courses that are designed to improve the knowledge and skills of working adults. Many industries value CEUs, and now your certificate reflects them clearly, and they may be used to support career advancement or to meet professional licensing standards. This course contains 0.7 CEUs.

Tips for Success

PRDV201: Information Literacy is a self-paced course, meaning you can decide when to start and complete the course. We estimate the "average" student will take hours to complete. We recommend studying at a comfortable pace and scheduling your study time in advance.

Learning new material can be challenging, so here are a few study strategies to help you succeed:

  • Take notes on terms, practices, and theories. This helps you understand each concept in context and provides a refresher for later study.
  • Test yourself on what you remember and how well you understand the concepts. Reflecting on what you've learned improves long-term memory retention.

Technical Requirements

This course is delivered entirely online. You will need access to a computer or web-capable mobile device and consistent internet access to view or download resources and complete auto-graded assessments and the final exam.

To access the full course, including assessments and the final exam, log into your Saylor Academy account and enroll in the course. If you don’t have an account, you can create one for free here. Note that tracking progress and taking assessments require login.

For more details and guidance, please review our complete Technical Requirements and our student Help Center.

Optional Saylor Academy Mobile App

You can access all course features directly from your mobile browser, but if you have limited internet connectivity, the Saylor Academy mobile app provides an option to download course content for offline use. The app is available for iOS and Android devices.

Download on Google Play Download on the App Store

Fees

This course is entirely free to enroll in and access. All course materials, including textbooks, videos, webpages, and activities, are available at no charge. This course also contains a free final exam and course completion certificate.

Last modified: Friday, August 1, 2025, 2:57 PM