• Uses various research methods, based on need, circumstance, and type of inquiry
• Uses different types of searching language (e.g., controlled vocabulary, keywords, boolean operators, natural language) appropriately
• Identifies various formats for information and matches an information need with an appropriate type of source
• Identifies and consults the more authoritative sources
• Demonstrates an awareness of bias in publications
• Understands that different methods of information dissemination with different purposes are available
• Gives credit to the original ideas of others through proper attribution and citation

• Identifies and uses sources related to their major area of study including electronic databases, reference books, and core journals
• Understand that first attempts at searching do not always produce adequate results
• Designs and refines needs and search strategies as necessary, based on search results
• Formulate questions for research based on information gaps or on reexamination of existing, possibly conflicting, information
• Recognize they are often entering into an ongoing scholarly conversation and not a finished conversation;

Advanced
(senior)

• Articulates the traditional and emerging processes of information creation and dissemination in a particular discipline
• See themselves as contributors to scholarship rather than only consumers
• Identifies interested parties, such as scholars, organizations, governments, and industries, who might produce information about a topic and then determine how to access that information
• Consults bibliographies and other lists to identify and acquire relevant sources
• Determines the availability of needed information and makes decisions on broadening the information seeking process beyond local resources