[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 193 (Wednesday, October 7, 2009)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 51445-51446]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-24290]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 193 / Wednesday, October 7, 2009 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 51445]]


                Proclamation 8429 of October 1, 2009

                
National Information Literacy Awareness Month, 
                2009

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Every day, we are inundated with vast amounts of 
                information. A 24-hour news cycle and thousands of 
                global television and radio networks, coupled with an 
                immense array of online resources, have challenged our 
                long-held perceptions of information management. Rather 
                than merely possessing data, we must also learn the 
                skills necessary to acquire, collate, and evaluate 
                information for any situation. This new type of 
                literacy also requires competency with communication 
                technologies, including computers and mobile devices 
                that can help in our day-to-day decisionmaking. 
                National Information Literacy Awareness Month 
                highlights the need for all Americans to be adept in 
                the skills necessary to effectively navigate the 
                Information Age.

                Though we may know how to find the information we need, 
                we must also know how to evaluate it. Over the past 
                decade, we have seen a crisis of authenticity emerge. 
                We now live in a world where anyone can publish an 
                opinion or perspective, whether true or not, and have 
                that opinion amplified within the information 
                marketplace. At the same time, Americans have 
                unprecedented access to the diverse and independent 
                sources of information, as well as institutions such as 
                libraries and universities, that can help separate 
                truth from fiction and signal from noise.

                Our Nation's educators and institutions of learning 
                must be aware of--and adjust to--these new realities. 
                In addition to the basic skills of reading, writing, 
                and arithmetic, it is equally important that our 
                students are given the tools required to take advantage 
                of the information available to them. The ability to 
                seek, find, and decipher information can be applied to 
                countless life decisions, whether financial, medical, 
                educational, or technical.

                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.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the 
                United States, do hereby proclaim October 2009 as 
                National Information Literacy Awareness Month. I call 
                upon the people of the United States to recognize the 
                important role information plays in our daily lives, 
                and appreciate the need for a greater understanding of 
                its impact.

[[Page 51446]]

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                first day of October, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United 
                States of America the two hundred and thirty-fourth.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. E9-24290
Filed 10-6-09; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-W9-P