Published: October 19, 2016
On October 1, 2009, President Barack Obama proclaimed October as National Information Literacy Awareness Month.
President Obama called for 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."
77 FR 51445 – Presidential Proclamation 8429, National Information Literacy Awareness Month - October 7, 2009
Information literacy forms the basis for lifelong learning. It is common to all disciplines, to all learning environments, and to all levels of education. It enables learners to master content and extend their investigations, become more self-directed, and assume greater control over their own learning. An information literate individual is able to:
- Determine the extent of information needed
- Access the needed information effectively and efficiently
- Evaluate information and its sources critically
- Incorporate selected information into one’s knowledge base
- Use information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose
- Understand the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information, access and use information ethically and legally
123 Stat. 3711 – National Information Literacy Awareness Month, 2009
DCPD-200900770 - Proclamation 8429-National Information Literacy Awareness Month, 2009
Read the Presidential Committee on Information Literacy: Final Report, released January 10, 1989 on the Association of College & Research Libraries’ website.
Learn more about information literacy on the National Forum on Information Literacy’s website, and search information literacy articles on the Education Resources Information Center’s (ERIC) website - an online digital library of education research and information sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences of the United States Department of Education.