Library & Information Literacy

Students today are bombarded with information, much of which is highly unreliable. More than ever, they need to be able to distinguish valid statements and data from both wishful thinking and maliciously shared untruths. At GMS, we teach students to understand the difference between making claims and supporting them and to question all information that is not backed up by evidence.

In parallel, our students learn that research is more than typing a query into a web browser. The GMS Library and Information Literacy Program teaches them to find information efficiently, evaluate it for accuracy and legitimacy, and then use it to make convincing arguments.

As part of our commitment to responsible technology use, we also teach students about the ethical and responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI). They learn how AI can be used as a tool to aid research, while also understanding the importance of critical thinking when engaging with AI-generated content. By exploring the benefits and limitations of AI, students become aware of potential biases in algorithms and the need to assess AI-generated information for reliability, just as they would with any other source.

Over the course of three years, in close collaboration with their core-subject teachers, GMS students are taught to:

• formulate answerable research questions,
• determine which resources will best help them answer their questions – books, periodicals, maps, speeches, newspapers, or online materials,
• evaluate information for currency, accuracy, bias, and relevance,
• put the information into a meaningful form, and
• properly cite their sources.

Following the information research recommendations of Bay Area Independent School Librarians (BAISL), our program also helps students understand and avoid plagiarism and educates parents in smart information research. By the end of eighth grade, all students are ready to undertake research at the high school level. To aid students in their studies, GMS carefully curates an in-house library and supplements it with a wide variety of high-quality online sources.