by George Lorenzo

Typically in June I offer some summer reading suggestions, although I did not do it last year. This year I’m back on track. Many of my suggestions have to do with a topic I’ve been doing a lot of research and interviews on lately: information literacy. The most common definition of information literacy comes from the 1989 American Library Association Presidential Committee on Information Literacy: “To be information literate, a person must be able to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.”

This is a topic that is growing in importance quickly on a global scale as it relates strongly to the future of our Information Age.

Books About Information Literacy:

“Higher Education in the Internet Age: Libraries Creating a Strategic Edge,” by Patricia Senn Breivik and E. Gordon Gee, American Council on Education/Praeger Series on Higher Education, 2006.

This book is based on Breivik’s and Gee’s 1989 book in this series titled “Information Literacy: Revolution in the Library.” The authors address “the unique challenges of today’s information-overloaded culture while responding to the significant changes that have occurred on campuses during the past 15 years.” They offer a new concept of literacy that fosters the development of information-literate people, saying that higher education, especially in this Internet Age, “must graduate skeptical information consumers.” Breivik and Gee add that “knowledge is power, and access to information is the first step to knowledge. Few people ever stop to consider what that means to them personally or professionally. It is time for higher education to not only consider these issues, but to develop a consistent educational philosophy to guide both research and reform.” Commentaries and case studies are spread throughout the book.

“Integrating Information Literacy Into The Curriculum: Practical Models for Transformation,” by Illene F. Rockman and Associates, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2004.

Ten experts in the field of information literacy contribute to this seven-chapter book that covers the importance of information literacy, how to develop faculty-librarian partnerships, strategies for integrating information literacy into the curriculum, integrating information competence into an interdisciplinary major, meeting information literacy needs in a research setting, assessing students, and assessing information literacy to develop learning objectives.

“Information Literacy: A Practitioner’s Guide,” by Susie Andretta, Chandos Publishing Limited, 2005.

The author of this book is a senior lecturer in information management in the Department of Applied Social Sciences at the London Metropolitan University in the UK. “This book explores information literacy in the context of independent and lifelong learning, where the emphasis rests on the process of knowledge construction by the learner and the facilitation of this practice by the information literacy educator.” Profiles of approaches that illustrate information literacy initiatives are provided from the US, Australia and the UK.

“Information Fluency with Information Technology: Skills Concepts, & Capabilities,” by Lawrence Snyder, Pearson Addison Wesley, 2nd edition, 2006.

This textbook was inspired by a report from the National Research Council, titled “Being Fluent with Information Technology,” that was commissioned by the National Science Foundation. It describes in detail a package of skills students should have that are divided into three areas: computer proficiency skills, information technology concepts, and capabilities essential for exploiting information technology.

This textbook is designed for freshmen who will not be majoring in science, engineering or math. It is divided into four parts that comprise 25 chapters. Part one, titled “Becoming Skilled at Information Technology” is about teaching students how to use an Internet-connected personal computer. Part two, titled “Algorithms and Digitizing Information,” covers “how information is represented- from basic bits, through sound and video, to virtual reality.” Part three, titled “Data and Information,” examines how databases are stored, structured and delivered in order to provide information that interests us. Part three also addresses privacy and security issues. Part four, titled “Problem Solving,” covers the fundamentals of programming concepts. Snyder explains in the preface that “this book does not claim that one must be a professional programmer to be fluent. It sees programming’s significance for the general population to be much more limited: to support algorithmic thinking, reasoning, debugging and other components of fluency.”

“Developing Research & Communication Skills: Guidelines for Information Literacy in the Curriculum,” published by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, 2003.

It is noted on page one that “these guidelines demonstrate how the concept of information literacy has relevance for faculty members, librarians, students, administrators, and the institution as a whole. Chapter 1 demonstrates that information literacy can serve as a framework for linking together and enhancing the various expectations for students learning at the institution, program, and classroom levels. Chapter 2 offers suggestions for incorporating information literacy, explicitly or seamlessly, into the curriculum at the lower, upper, and graduate levels. Chapters 3 and 4 address assessment and the use of assessment findings for improving teaching and learning. Throughout, the text and the appendices illustrate how faculty and librarians can help students to understand the benefits that come from being information literate.”

Books About the Past, Present and Future:

“Our Underachieving Colleges: A Candid Look at How Much Students Learn and Why They Should Be Learning More,” by Derek Bok, Princeton University Press, 2006.

Here’s an excerpt from this book’s jacket cover: “Drawing on a large body of empirical evidence, former Harvard President Derek Bok examines how much progress college students actually make toward widely accepted goals of undergraduate education. His conclusions are sobering. Although most students make gains in many important respects, they improve much less than they should ins such important areas as writing, critical thinking, quantitative skills, and moral reasoning.” In short, things haven’t changed much over the last 50 years.

“Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed,” by Jared Diamond, Penguin Books, 2005.

My friend at the University of Central Florida Chuck Dziuban recommended this book. In particular, he advised reading Chapter 14, “Why Do Some Societies Make Disastrous Decisions?” This book is about societies, past and present, that have seen “a drastic decrease in human population size and/or political/economic/social complexity, over a considerable area, for an extended time.” Diamond, who wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Guns, Germs and Steel,” has come up with a five-point framework that contributes to the collapse of a society: environmental damage, climate change, hostile neighbors, decreased support by friendly trade partners, and a society’s response to its problems. Can we learn from past mistakes? Are we facing a global decline? Diamond addresses such questions, and much more, in his insightful, and often depressing, historical and recent perspective.

“A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age,” by Daniel H. Pink, Riverhead Books, 2005.

“A Whole New Mind” is an optimistic look into the present and future. I recommend it as a quick pick-me-up after reading “Collapse.” This is a one-day read that is a testimony to right brainers gaining dominance over left-brainers. The first paragraph from the introduction kind of says it all: “The last few decades have belonged to a certain kind of person with a certain kind of mind - computer programmers who could crank code, lawyers who could craft contracts, MBAs who could crunch numbers. But the keys to the kingdom are changing hands. The future belongs to a very different kind of person with a different kind of mind- creators, empathizers, pattern recognizers, and meaning makers.”

Two for Humor's Sake:
“A Man Without a Country,” by Kurt Vonnegut, Seven Stories Press, 2005, and “Teacher Man,” by Frank McCourt, Scribner, 2005.
The hardcover Vonnegut book can be read in about one hour and it cost me $25.95, less the 10 percent Barnes & Noble discount. It was worth it because his unique sardonic wit had me laughing out loud over and over again.
McCourt’s book was similar in that it, too, had me laughing out loud repeatedly as I read about the “trials, triumphs, and surprises” he faced during his 30 years of teaching in New York City’s public high schools.