NATIONAL INFORMATION LITERACY AWARENESS MONTH
NATIONAL INFORMATION LITERACY AWARENESS MONTH
October is National Information Literacy Awareness Month. So much news and information garbage exist via the airways these days, how can you tell what is true and what is not true? Better yet, do you even care…you should…but do you really?
Well, if you want to have some control over your life, your destiny, then you better take more seriously having the ability to access and use information effectively. Librarians are the information literacy experts, but how many of you were trained like they were in library school. I can guarantee you…not many!
Knowing how to search Google is only the tip of the information iceberg. Librarians learn how to search every nook and cranny of the worldwide information universe. Can you do so in your own backyard?
There is a particular set of skills associated with becoming masters of the information universe. Before you say “I can do that!” – do you really know how to effectively question, challenge, analyze, compare, contrast, evaluate, summarize, and synthesize any type of information.
Education and government policy makers say that you are taught how to execute these skills throughout your K-12 educational experience. Numerous research studies, however, document the contrary – addressing such national issues as the achievement gap, high school and college dropout rates, jobs going unfulfilled because employers cannot find qualified candidates who possess some, if not all, of these skills.
You really have to ask yourself – did I really learn information literacy skills in elementary, middle, or high school. If you have technical expertise and you think that is all you need to succeed in college and/or the workplace, I have news for you. Knowing how to search Google, work with Facebook, create and upload videos on YouTube, or operate Microsoft Office programs does not make you information literate! It does make you a technocrat.
Being able to strategically filter through the daily onslaught of information and use it to meet your personal and professional needs is the secret pathway to success in today’s dynamic 21st century information universe. And, believe it or not, information literacy provides you with the exact skill set to do so!
Related External Links
- Set sail on the 7 Cs | BrowseBlog
- Families Trim Plans To Pay For College In Wake Of Bad Economy
- “Making Contact with Employers” – CNNfn (9/3/04) | Lead The Field …
- New and replacement skills support « Scarlettlibrarian’s Blog