I spent today at criminal court for jury duty (sorry again to my workshop group for having to reschedule) and was struck by the importance of teaching information literacy. It is vital for students to gain knowledge in looking at information and recognizing fact from opinion as well as bias, and understanding this will help them become a contributing member of society. It will also be important for serving on any jury.
While the judge was questioning the jurors he made sure that all of us would be able to base our verdict on the facts presented by both parties without being partial to one or the other. He also made sure that we could disregard any questions or comments made by the defense or prosecution that played upon bias. In order to recognize bias, people need to know how to look at information in such a way that they understand why the source is conveying information in a certain way and how to be able to separate fact from opinion.
As library media specialists we will provide the education necessary to better be able to evaluate information sources in order to form the most educated opinions on certain topics. These are tools for life-long learning and life-long contribution to society.
I was selected today to serve on the jury, and I wonder if my telling them that I am currently getting my masters in library science made them want me on the jury for the very reasons I explained above. Regardless, today I was reminded that we as library media specialists offer a vital service to students in educating them on how to evaluate and judge information, and I was proud to be going into the field of librarianship while I sat in the courthouse.
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You hit the nail on the head, Amber! Of course, as teachers and librarians, we want our students to be successful at school. But really, our ultimate goal is for them to be successful outside school, as members of our society. There are so many well funded sources out in the world trying to persuade us to believe in their cause, vote for their candidate, or purchase their products, that it's nearly impossible to get an unbiased opinion about anything! In order to be successful adults making decisions everyday, some significant (who should I vote for,) others not so much (what brand of toilet paper should I purchase,) people must be informationally literate. (Is that a word??)
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