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07/18/2004 Archived Entry: "ala"

The ALA information literacy standards something or other. Man. I can't even get through it. I just start to read to see what they're up to....and snore snore snore. I've fallen face down onto the keyboard and am dreaming away (mmmm...beer....).

Information literacy is a set of abilities requiring individuals to "recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information." Information literacy also is increasingly important in the contemporary environment of rapid technological change and proliferating information resources.

Uh. Yeah. That's pretty progressive stuff there. Finding out what kind of info is needed??? Huh. Who would have thunk that one up? And hey, iinfo literacy is "important." Good to know. Otherwise, you know, you wouldn't have written this document, right? Unless you want to spend 8,000 words on somethng that's not important.

Information literacy forms the basis for lifelong learning. It is common to all disciplines, to all learning environments, and to all levels of education. It enables learners to master content and extend their investigations, become more self-directed, and assume greater control over their own learning.

Whew. Hey, guys. Don't hold back. Radical thinking. How many of you did it take to come up with this anyway? How many years?

An information literate individual is able to:

* Determine the extent of information needed
* Access the needed information effectively and efficiently
* Evaluate information and its sources critically
* Incorporate selected information into one’s knowledge base
* Use information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose
* Understand the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information, and access and use information ethically and legally

Boy, that sounds oddly familiar. Oh yeah. It's in any kind of "manifesto" regarding literacy, teaching, or writing I come across. Original, the ALA ain't. For all the time that goes into writing a long winded, boring, way too long, says nothing new, document like this, does anybody care? Documents like these get shuffled through admin university offices as if they prove something, they're tacked on to outcomes and mission statements, but is anything really being said? Use information for a purpose? Evaluate information critically? Is anyone really arguing that we teach students to not evaluate information critically or to have no purpose whatsoever? Well, maybe me on the last point. This kind of stuff is like preaching "family values" or doing something "for the children." Meaningless statements which just get people all excited because of keywords and catch phrases (MONOROAIL). Maybe the ALA, and all its information literacy supporters (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE) aren't all that information literate yet to figure out that this document says nothing.

Posted by Neha @ 07/19/2004 09:01 AM EST