Comments on: Limitless Lists of Literacies? http://blog.aacu.org/index.php/2009/08/31/limitless-lists-of-literacies/ A blog from the LEAP Initiative Mon, 03 Oct 2011 18:24:14 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: Barbara Fister http://blog.aacu.org/index.php/2009/08/31/limitless-lists-of-literacies/comment-page-1/#comment-234 Barbara Fister Sun, 20 Sep 2009 22:40:10 +0000 http://blog.aacu.org/?p=298#comment-234 I generally agree, though I would like to extract "information literacy" from the pack of technology terms. Information is related to technology, to the extent that every medium of reading and writing, from clay tablets to the computer, is a technology. But when librarians use the (admittedly unlovely) phrase, they aren't talking about tools, they're talking about critically thinking about what sources might be out there, what strategies can be used to find them and sort them out, and how to make good critical judgments about them. Ultimately, it's about being discriminating about information in order to be able to produce your own knowledge. There is a risk that we'll fall back on training people how to use a tool that will change next week, or helping students learn how to use a library, not all libraries. But at least in its ideal form, information literacy is much more than technical know-how. I generally agree, though I would like to extract “information literacy” from the pack of technology terms. Information is related to technology, to the extent that every medium of reading and writing, from clay tablets to the computer, is a technology. But when librarians use the (admittedly unlovely) phrase, they aren’t talking about tools, they’re talking about critically thinking about what sources might be out there, what strategies can be used to find them and sort them out, and how to make good critical judgments about them. Ultimately, it’s about being discriminating about information in order to be able to produce your own knowledge.

There is a risk that we’ll fall back on training people how to use a tool that will change next week, or helping students learn how to use a library, not all libraries. But at least in its ideal form, information literacy is much more than technical know-how.

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