Information+Literacy

Information Literacy is the set of skills needed to find, retrieve, analyze, and use information.

Interesting op-ed piece from conservative writer David Brooks in NYTimes on May 2. He makes “our” point that we are living in a new age where information skills are the key to success. (from Big6 Blog) http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/02/opinion/02brooks.html

“The central process driving this is not globalization. It’s the skills revolution. We’re moving into a more demanding cognitive age. In order to thrive, people are compelled to become better at absorbing, processing and combining information. This is happening in localized and globalized sectors, and it would be happening even if you tore up every free trade deal ever inked.” “The globalization paradigm emphasizes the fact that information can now travel 15,000 miles in an instant. But the most important part of information’s journey is the last few inches — the space between a person’s eyes or ears and the various regions of the brain. Does the individual have the capacity to understand the information? Does he or she have the training to exploit it? Are there cultural assumptions that distort the way it is perceived?”