Without a doubt, information technology has increased the need for information literacy. That is one reason why ACRL drafted its Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education in 2000Footnote ¹ . Those in the design fields often enter academia with less preparation than most in terms of utilizing the wealth of resources available to them. Many students do not recognize the need to use library resources and often bypass or try to marginalize the research component of their assignments. Recognizing this, Jeanne Brown, then the Architecture Librarian at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, put out a call for participants to join her in drafting guidelines for information literacy in the design fields. The design guidelines were drafted with several goals in mind. First and foremost, they aimed to assist new librarians in developing a targeted approach to instruction. For the more seasoned librarian, they were written with the goal of ensuring a uniform approach to instruction across institutions, delivering specific core content at the appropriate moment in the student's education. Concerns over the lack of consistency across programs and disciplines were often being voiced by instruction librarians at the time. Using the ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards framework as a starting point , the group of nine librarians (Jeanne Brown, Jane Carlin, Thomas Caswell, Edith Crowe, Maya Gervits, Susan Lewis, Alan Michelson, Barbara Opar and Jennifer Parker) went about the task of identifying the different design fields, pertinent resources in each of the areas, the skills needed to use the tools and at what point in their academic career students should have developed familiarity with discipline specific reference works and competency in the use of essential titles.

The design disciplines were identified as: architecture, architectural history, landscape architecture, art history, studio arts, planning, fashion design, interior design and museum studies. Architectural technology was studied separately but later incorporated under the broader term. It was agreed that additional areas of design could be added at a later time as necessary. Once the core disciplines were agreed upon, the committee members identified relevant educational and accreditation associations, seeking links to competency requirements by each of these groups.

In the field of architecture, the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) and the National Architecture Accrediting Board (NAAB) both specify learning outcomes. The 2004 NAAB Conditions for Accreditation for Professional Degree Programs in Architecture stressed the role of librarians in promoting research skills and critical thinking. In addition to these two skill sets, the NAAB report emphasizes the importance of precedents and understanding of emerging trends in practice. The Landscape Architecture Accrediting Board recommends the integration of library and other information systems into coursework. The Council of Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA) standards include critical thinking skills, the ability to conduct research, knowledge of materials and products, and a foundation in professional practice.

While library instruction and information literacy were not specifically discussed in the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD), nonetheless their 2005–2006 handbook asks that the institution place importance on the development of a library and the necessary resources to support both undergraduate and graduate curricula.

The lack or inconsistency in application of any information literacy standards for instruction in the design disciplines meant that the standards group needed to draft guidelines more or less from the ground up. Instruction web pages, developed by certain subject librarians, proved helpful.

Information Competencies for Students in Design Disciplines Footnote ² did not follow the same order as the ACRL standards, instead taking a year by year approach. This was later revised to use the terms basic, intermediate or advanced. The group agreed on core library skills that all design students should possess. General recommendations included instilling in the beginning student an understanding of context and how intended use impacts the approach as well as the selection of tools. An understanding of library organization and classification systems and search skills and techniques were deemed essential. Evaluation criteria such as relevance, accuracy, authority, objectivity, and currency were to be stressed. The compilation of a bibliography from multiple sources, the assignment of credit, proper citations and adherence to copyright were all listed as necessary skills. Identified categories were followed by bullet points that laid out how goals could be met. For instance, under Evaluation/Citing points like ‘Analyze the record elements from search results…’ and ‘Properly assign credit for the source of information and ideas…’ were chosen as indicators of an understanding of the role of evaluation in research. The student conducting skilled research and using good search techniques should be aware of policies and procedures as well as the importance and value of browsing library stacks.

The report then went on to present the recommended skills for individual programs. Many of the specific reference sources and strategies were repeated across the disciplines, but wording and emphasis varied. Basic skills for each program included locating Library of Congress call number ranges appropriate to the field and the use of discipline specific dictionaries of terminology, biographical resources and core handbooks. The Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals and the Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects were highlighted as key to student success in architecture. Use of the Avery was also emphasized as essential for architectural history, landscape architecture, planning and interior design. Use of multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary tools was recommended for many of the areas, with some like GeoRef mentioned by name. For the field of planning, indexes related to public affairs, economics and the environment were suggested additions.

Image research was stressed for students in art history with a recommendation to use specific tools like ARTstor to find and study significant works. Those in the studio arts should be aware of university art collections as well local museums. The use of web sites from the fashion industry as well as those from research libraries were identified as key to successful learning outcomes. For most disciplines, unique resources were noted.

In terms of overarching intermediate competencies, the emphasis was placed on skills sets over specific resources. Being able to formulate a topic, develop a search plan, use specific citations to locate new information, and analyze the information gathered were listed as indicators of effective research. The identification of experts in the field, knowledge of professional organizations, product information, government standards and specialized types of information (e.g. auction records, catalogues raisonnés, artists’ books, trend forecasting reviews) were identified as key to advanced research. Extending the research to related fields was stressed for most disciplines including art history where anthropology, history and theology were noted as related fields.

Collecting multiple perspectives and identifying information gaps and issues were cited as core to advanced research in all the design fields. Many of the same skills sets and/or resources were listed, but the level of use and understanding of nuances were expected to have increased. Greater emphasis was placed on professional aspects of the field like company information, job searches, portfolio preparation and archiving information. Understanding copyright and metadata shared equal weight with the role of the discipline in society.

So ten years late, how do the competencies guidelines hold up? Certainly a number of resources are not as core as they were when the guidelines were written. For example, the Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects has not been updated or made digitally available; the Grove Dictionary of Art now provides much of the same content in an easy to use online format. Websites are a now a given as sources of viable information. In hindsight, greater consistency across the disciplines could have been achieved by using uniform terminology and outlining more of the specific resources by category in the general section. For instance, stressing use of the appropriate Library of Congress call number ranges and spelling them out by discipline would have worked as a bullet point under skills for all students. But while tools and formats have changed, the skills sets and strategies noted then are still important today. How we teach with respect to technology may change, but the research process remains much the same as the Information Competencies for Students in Design Disciplines show us a decade later.