The Association of College and Research Libraries defines information literacy as:
[T]he set of integrated abilities encompassing the reflective discovery of information, the understanding of how information is produced and valued, and the use of information in creating new knowledge and participating ethically in communities of learning.
The Guttman information literacy learning goals were developed with this definition in mind. They reflect a general introduction to information literacy concepts and outline competencies that can be expected of second-year college students who are still emerging as researchers. Because information literacy skills are best learned in the context of a discipline, the Guttman Information Literacy Program provides a foundation on which these disciplinary research skills can be built.