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"We can do it!" Rosie the Riveter poster |
This month, we dedicate ourselves to increasing information literacy awareness so that all citizens understand its vital importance. An informed and educated citizenry is essential to the functioning of our modern democratic society, and I encourage educational and community institutions across the country to help Americans find and evaluate the information they seek, in all its forms.
"Information literacy, and all its associated critical thinking, communication, and technology competencies, is now widely recognized as a critical component of:
- A democratic society
- A knowledge economy
- A 21st century workforce
- Globalization
"Instant information gratification combined with the glut of raw, unfiltered, non authoritative, biased, and questionable information readily available and mixed in with quality information, forces the information consumer to make intelligent choices. The vision and pioneering efforts of Patricia Senn Breivik moved the conversation about information literacy out of the realm of libraries and higher education and placed it firmly on the agendas of business and civic leaders. The National Forum on Information Literacy (NFIL) has been the vehicle for that public conversation, in the United States, and more recently, around the world. Congratulations and thank you to both NFIL and to Dr. Breivik for their leadership and dedication to, as it is called in the Alexandria Proclamation, “this basic human right.”
- Lifelong learning
- Above from Patricia Iannuzzi, Dean of Libraries, University of Nevada at Las Vegas, in NFIL Testimonials - Presentation Transcript in the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the founding of the NFIL.
See also:
- President Barack Obama's Proclamation designating October 2009 as National Information Literacy Awareness Month
- Wikipedia article about Information Literacy
