LibGuides: Library Research Methods: Authority Is Constructed and Contextual

Framework Defined

Authority Is Constructed and Contextual refers to the recognition that information resources are drawn from their creators’ expertise and credibility based on the information need and the context in which the information will be used. Experts view authority with an attitude of informed skepticism and an openness to new perspectives, additional voices, and changes in schools of thought.

From the ACRL Framework document:

Information resources reflect their creators’ expertise and credibility, and are evaluated based on the information need and the context in which the information will be used. Authority is constructed in that various communities may recognize different types of authority. It is contextual in that the information need may help to determine the level of authority required.

Experts understand that authority is a type of influence recognized or exerted within a community. Experts view authority with an attitude of informed skepticism and an openness to new perspectives, additional voices, and changes in schools of thought. Experts understand the need to determine the validity of the information created by different authorities and to acknowledge biases that privilege some sources of authority over others, especially in terms of others’ worldviews, gender, sexual orientation, and cultural orientations. An understanding of this concept enables novice learners to critically examine all evidence—be it a short blog post or a peer-reviewed conference proceeding—and to ask relevant questions about origins, context, and suitability for the current information need. Thus, novice learners come to respect the expertise that authority represents while remaining skeptical of the systems that have elevated that authority and the information created by it. Experts know how to seek authoritative voices but also recognize that unlikely voices can be authoritative, depending on need. Novice learners may need to rely on basic indicators of authority, such as type of publication or author credentials, where experts recognize schools of thought or discipline-specific paradigms.

Consider: What are the markers of authority in your discipline? Have professional organizations and publications you're familiar with embraced new modes of communicating, such as blogs or Facebook?

Authority Is Constructed and Contextual Infographics

Authority Is Constructed and Contextual Infographic

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Who Do You Trust and Why? - Questions

Click the button to take a quiz on how to recognize credible authority.

Alignment with 2000 ACRL Standards

Standard One: The information literate student determines the nature and extent of the information needed

Standard Three: The information literate student evaluates information and its sources critically and incorporates selected information into his or her knowledge base and value system.

From: Hovious, Amanda. “Alignment Charts for ACRL Standards and Proposed Framework.” Google Docs, January 23, 2015.

Key Aspects

Key Aspects of the Frame:

What is the context? The given context and audience define the characteristics of authoritative evidence.
Use the right tool/source for the job! How a source is used determines its authority. The practitioner must always consider the contextual evaluation of sources.
Whose voices are being left out of this conversation? Recognize that traditional notions of granting authority might hinder the diversity of ideas and worldviews that get heard and shared.
What are you bringing to this conversation? Evaluate sources using a variety of criteria in order to cultivate a skeptical stance and self-awareness of your own biases and world views.
It’s not all relative! One of the challenges of teaching this frame is falling into subjectivity. However, no matter what the context, there are going to be better and less good sources.

Possible Learning Objectives

Recognize appropriate information resources per discipline through understanding the role of authoritative voices in a subject area.

Recognize the relevance of subject expertise as a kind of authority in order to gather appropriate articles for an information need
Acknowledge that oneself may be seen as an authority in a particular area, and recognize the responsibilities entailed

Determine attributes of authoritative information for different needs, with the understanding that context plays a role in authority-based attributes

Evaluate sources using a variety of criteria in order to determine whether it meets ones information need
Evaluate sources using a variety of criteria in order to cultivate a skeptical stance and a self-awareness of their own biases and world views
Evaluate databases results in order to select relevant and credible sources
Evaluate an author's use of sources
Recognize that traditional notions of granting authority might hinder diverse ideas and world views

Distinguish between different types of sources (i.e. scholarly, popular) in order to select appropriate sources for the research need.

Thoughtfully find published primary sources in order to include first-person perspectives in their research project.
Distinguish news from an editorial article to understand that information is created for a purpose.
Express a desire to find better resources in order to improve the quality of their resources.

Dispositions / Knowledge Practices / Learning Activities

Learners who are developing their information literate abilities

develop and maintain an open mind when encountering varied and sometimes conflicting perspectives;
motivate themselves to find authoritative sources, recognizing that authority may be conferred or manifested in unexpected ways;
develop awareness of the importance of assessing content with a skeptical stance and with a self-awareness of their own biases and worldview;
question traditional notions of granting authority and recognize the value of diverse ideas and worldviews;
are conscious that maintaining these attitudes and actions requires frequent self-evaluation.

Learners who are developing their information literate abilities

define different types of authority, such as subject expertise (e.g., scholarship), societal position (e.g., public office or title), or special experience (e.g., participating in a historic event);
use research tools and indicators of authority to determine the credibility of sources, understanding the elements that might temper this credibility;
understand that many disciplines have acknowledged authorities in the sense of well-known scholars and publications that are widely considered “standard,” and yet, even in those situations, some scholars would challenge the authority of those sources;
recognize that authoritative content may be packaged formally or informally and may include sources of all media types;
acknowledge they are developing their own authoritative voices in a particular area and recognize the responsibilities this entails, including seeking accuracy and reliability, respecting intellectual property, and participating in communities of practice;
understand the increasingly social nature of the information ecosystem where authorities actively connect with one another and sources develop over time.

Some learning activities:

A One-Pager: Select any social media (Twitter feed, Facebook group, etc,) you decide to "follow" or "subscribe to". Why did you select it? Why do you trust it? Get students thinking about why they "trust" or want to track that information.
Have students look at a blog, a video on YouTube, a collection of tweets, or some other type of social media regarding a contemporary event (e.g. demonstrations at Tahrir Square during the "Arab Spring" events, the 2016 presidential campaign, Pope Francis's encyclical on the environment). Ask them to describe how they would analyze and evaluate the authority of the author(s) of the information. Are there ways to determine whether the individual was an actual witness or participant in the events? Are there ways to identify whether the individual or group that developed a collection of information has a particular political bias? Can they determine whether the author(s) has a particular status within the group he or she represents or is the individual reporting as an "average citizen"?
Provide students with two different information types (with two different goals) on the same topic by the same unnamed authoritative creator/author (for example, scholarly article and blog post). Use as discussion starter with students about context in relationship to authority. Reveal authorship later in discussion.
Ask students to create a citation "web" using a citation analysis database, and conduct a content analysis of the linked authors by affiliation (workplace, academic preparation, geography, subject expertise). Do authors cite each other? Are there some authors who are outliers in the web? How do such connections impact information generation?

Authority Is Constructed and Contextual Audiovisual

Research 101: Credibility is contextual - Anna Eisen

Credibility depends on many factors including the author, audience and purpose. For the complete Research 101 toolkit for librarians and instructors, visit http://guides.lib.uw.edu/research/UWr...(2:56 min.)

Authority is Constructed and Contextual: Breaking Down the ACRL Framework Citations

Henson, Brea. Authority is Constructed and Contextual: Breaking Down the ACRL Framework, presentation, June 2017; (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1164540/: accessed February 9, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .

Authority Is Constructed and Contextual

This video will focus on one frame, “Authority is constructed and contextual.” This concept encourages information users to think critically about the credibility of their information sources and what types of authority the authors have in the context of how the information is to be used. (5;55 min.)

Rubrics for the Frame

For general guidance on creating rubrics, refer to:

Arizona State University's Best Practices for Designing Effective Rubrics
DePaul Teaching Common's Creating Rubrics - provides good examples of language to use for proficiency levels

Rubrics examples for the specific Authority is Constructed and Contextual Frame, include:

West Chester University, University Libraries: Information Literacy Assessment: Authority is Constructed and Contextual
Bristol Community College Libraries' ACRL Framework Rubric - presented at the 2015 LOEX Conference.