ACRL Information Literacy Standards for Fantasy Football

ACRL Information Literacy Standard

ACRL Indicator

Fantasy Football Activity

Standard 1: "The information literate student determines the nature and extent of the information needed."

Indicator 1: "The information literate student defines and articulates the need for information literacy."

As players determine the strengths and weaknesses of their team, they need to decide on what information is needed to make decision. Players need to know what positions are required and what strong roster match-ups exist. Players explore general information sources in order to gain a specific focus relative to their needs.

Standard 1

Indicator 2: "The information literate student identifies a variety of types and formats of potential sources for information."

Fantasy players identify a variety of sources including: printed guides, websites, interviews, peer conversations, forum discussions for information. Players then construct information from the raw data (game statistics) from the box score primary sources.

Standard 1

Indicator 3: "The information literate student considers the costs and benefits of acquiring the needed information."

With the expansion of internet and print resources, players determine what information is available for free and what is fee based. Players weigh this information with the potential benefits of each source before deciding what information required.

Standard 2: "The information literate student accesses needed information effectively and efficiently."

Indicator 2: "The information literate student constructs and implements effectively designed search strategies."

In order to find the information desired, players identify what terms (positions, players, keywords) to search for. This search process implements a variety of retrieval methods to find the required material.

Standard 2

Indicator 3: "The information literate student retrieves information online or in person using a variety of methods."

Fantasy players use chats, forums, call-in shows, interviews, email letters to gain primary information from sports writers and other experts.

Standard 2

Indicator 4: "The information literate student refines the search strategy if necessary."

Players assesses the quality the information they obtained and determines if they have enough to make roster, player, draft decision. During this process, players identify gaps in their information and repeats any searches.

ACRL Information Literacy Standard

ACRL Indicator

Fantasy Football Activity

Standard 2

Indicator 5: "The information literate student extracts, records, and manages the information and its sources."

Many players create personalized organizational systems like spreadsheets and draft cheat sheets organize their information. Players track citation of sources in order to come back to the information and analysis during the season.

Standard 3: "The information literate student summarizes the main ideas to be extracted from the information gathered."

Indicator 1: "The information literate student summarizes the main ideas to be extracted from the information gathered."

Fantasy players reads source content and selects the key data that applies to need (roster, team, match-up).

Standard 3

Indicator 2: "The information literate student articulates and applies initial criteria for evaluation both the information and its sources."

Players determine the reliability, bias, validity, authority and timeliness of sources in order to make roster and drafting decisions. It is important for fantasy players to recognizes the potential prejudice in fan based sites compared to professional sites in order to make informed decisions.

Standard 3

Indicator 3: "The information literate student synthesizes main ideas to construct new concepts."

Team owners recognize trends and relationships in statistics (primary sources) and commentaries in order to make roster decisions. Players often use spreadsheets and tables to construct comparison charts and rankings for drafting a roster.

Standard 3

Indicator 4: "The information literate student compares new knowledge with prior knowledge to determine the value added, contradictions, or other unique characteristics of the information."

Based on the knowledge the player gained, they decide if they have enough information to make a roster decision. As the season progresses, the players integrate new and ongoing information with previous knowledge to make timely decisions about their rosters and teams

Standard 3

Indicator 5: "The information literate student determines whether the new knowledge has an impact on the individuals' value system and takes steps to reconcile the differences."

Players encounter commentaries and information that contract their own beliefs on teams/athletes and their value. Based on their evaluation of this information, the player how and if the information will impact their roster.

ACRL Information Literacy Standard

ACRL Indicator

Fantasy Football Activity

Standard 3

Indicator 6: "The information literate student validates understanding and interpretation of the information through discourse with other individuals, subject-area experts, and / or practitioners"

Players engage in personal and electronic discussions about players and roster decisions to gain additional knowledge on their players and roster choices. Throughout any fantasy sports season, players can seek expert opinions through weekly shows and chats conducted by paid professionals like writers for ESPN, NFL, and CBS.com.

Standard 4: "The information literate student, individually or as a member of a group, uses information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose."

Indicator 1: "The information literate student applies new and prior information to the planning and creation of a particular product or performance."

The player articulates the knowledge gained in the drafting process and weekly roster moves every time they begin a new week.

Standard 4

Indicator 2: "The information literate student revises the development process for the product or performance."

After every match-up, the player reflects on the process and the results (win/loss) to determine future strategies.