INFORMATION LITERACY

Yes, it’s true I have learned a lot about Information Literacy since starting this unit but unlike my little story I think that we may never fully be aware of everything thing that is out on the world of Web, but it has been fun working through the 23 things and a challenge for the future. It seems the more I explore the more tangents I go off on (like a huge spider web). I know we are just touching the surface in our 23 Things unit but it has inspired me to try to perfect an application one at a time.

I believe libraries in the future will be very different from what they are today. What we do and how we do it will change dramatically and we will have to be creative and adapt to different roles and be constantly changing. As jobs are more Web focused who’s to say we won’t be having staff working at home and still being able to do their job effectively. We must be seen to be leading the way so we can advise patrons on the most effective way to research e.g. advising how to create your own search engine, with the sites that you have established and considered as reliable, is a valuable tool for everyone to learn.

One area I thought I would never be interested in was TWITTER. I couldn’t think of anything worse ‘tweeting‘ all day long and the only experience I had with it was kids or younger adults who would ‘tweet’ about anything and everything they were doing. I would rather TALK to people personally. Then, only just this week I saw an interview on TV with Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan and she had an inspiring way of using Twitter and Facebook that I hadn’t thought of before. Even though she is the Queen of Jordan she finds using Twitter and Facebook allows her to share her personal feelings and personality more openly with others. Being a Queen of her country there are certain protocols in addressing her and her husband and people don’t say exactly what they are feeling, they are too scared to view their opinion on a personal level.

INFORMATION LITERACY - MY VIEW

SYNC or swim… I feel like I have been stranded on a deserted island in the middle of CYBERSPACE ocean, on WEB 2.0 ISLAND, and told ‘to survive’ I must swim to the another island called INFORMATION LITERACY ISLAND, which is only 23 THINGS (kms) away. I was told once I got there I will have all the skills and knowledge to rescue myself and be empowered in all 23 THINGS. I will also know how to assist others who are also trapped on the Island.

I started off slowly from the beach once I’d set up my BLOG and NING accounts, but then the surf got rougher and I was surrounded by WIDGETS, LINKS, WIKIS, TAGGING, just to name a few. I didn’t have many TOOLS, only my YOUTUBE to help me survive my journey. It was taking ages SURFING on the NET as many APPS FLICKR’d past me and the TAG CLOUDS gently drifted above my head. The more I swam the further the INFORMATION LITERACY ISLAND seemed away. I only had my RSS FEEDS to sustain me with regular updates. My FACEBOOK seemed dehydrated and I was fading fast. I had constant ONLINE IMAGE GENERATORS going through my mind of my fate so I decided to use my time more wisely and ROLLYO helped me to SEARCH my ENGINES, which raised my hopes that I was LEARNING EFFECTIVELY. I even took a stab at CATALOGUING MY LIBRARYTHING with my favourite books while I was day dreaming. The more I swam the more the Island seemed out of my reach until I struck DEL.ICIO.US which helped me see that with help from my SOCIAL BOOKMARKED FRIENDS I could make it. I did eventually make it… exhausted… and collapsing into my SANDBOX. I am proud I survived my experience and reached my goal of INFORMATION LITERACY and can now assist others who can ask for HELP.