I think I will explore this through the social impact frame. In 1995, noted political scientist Robert Putnam wrote an essay titled Bowling Alone (Putnam, 1995). The thesis of his essay suggested that social capital, a crucial component of any liberal democracy, has waned significantly in America since the 1960’s due to declining participation in civic organizations. The bowling alone concept pointed to an isolated and marginalized citizenry with little political efficacy. This theory has been cited as an explanation for the general retrenchment of a collective spirit (declining commons) and the primacy of the individual rational actor model. I thought of Putnam as I read about Information Literacy because community and the creation of community is a key point mentioned repeatedly in the readings. Community is a big idea and an assumption in Information Literacy. Social capital refers to connections within and between social networks, and in Putnam’s view, social capital flourished as a result of membership in social and fraternal organizations. On the other hand, proficiency in Information Literacy can aid in creating a new form of social capital with the emergence of new social networks courtesy of the World Wide Web.
Along with community, another assumption in Information Literacy is that not only are we living in a knowledge based society, but we are living in a knowledge based economy operating under auspices of globalization. Globalization creates interdependency between nation states which increases the need for Information Literacy as a bridge builder. Concerning globalization, I found this hopeful definition of Information Literacy on a UNESO primer: “Information Literacy as a mean to empower people in all walks of life to seek, evaluate, use and create information effectively to achieve their personal, social, occupational and educational goals” (Horton, 2008).
References
Horton, F. W. (2008). Understanding information literacy: A primer; an easy-to-read, non-technical overview explaining what information literacy means, designed for busy public policy-makers, business executives, civil society administrators and practicing professionals. UNESDOC. pp.1-103. Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/ulis/cgi-bin/ulis.pl?catno=157020
Putnam, R. D. (1995). Tuning in, tuning out: The strange disappearance of social capital in america. PS: Political Science and Politics, 28(4), pp. 664-683. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/stable/420517
I can see information literacy and globalization going together nicely. I've found living/traveling in a foreign country to be a constant exercise in information literacy--and a very practical exercise at that. You want to take the train somewhere? Well, you need to be able to find and read a train schedule and figure out how to purchase and validate a ticket. You want to get a job in a foreign country? You need to research employment laws, adapt your resume to the culture/language, find job posting websites, etc. I've had the pleasure of living in Belgium for two months and Germany for a year, and both experiences were constant tests of my ability to locate, evaluate, and use information.
ReplyDeleteWhile it's valuable to consider information literacy in terms of an educational environment, people are usually in school for fewer than 20 years (maybe a quarter of one’s life). What I think is most important is that people are able to transfer their information literacy skills to the real world.
@ evole: The "Bowling Alone" idea is so interesting--the idea of a socially fragmented society is one that has been nagging at me for a while. Ragnar Audunson had an intriguing article called "The Public Library as a Meeting-Place in a Multicultural and Digital Context: The Necessity of Low-Intensive Meeting Places." (2005, Journal of Documentation, 61(3), 429-441). In it, he argues that the public library can serve well as a place where people from a large cross-section of society can still gather and mingle, even if they don't otherwise have much in common.
ReplyDelete@ Kimberly: Travel is an excellent example of information literacy.
I also was intrigued by Putnam's thinking laid out in Bowling Alone. (I haven't read it but have read quite a bit about it. Must add it to the list!) At this moment, it makes me think of my parents who are old-school in terms of their engagement in civic institutions. They are actively involved in their church in Boston and have gotten involved in countless social justice actions ranging from organizing to help neighbors on their block whose house is going into foreclosure to participating in marches to protest violence and lack of social services in certain neighborhoods and so on and so forth. They organize by calling people on the phone, sending out e-mails, bumping into people on the street and talking.
ReplyDeleteThey are not at all involved in any social networks that exist on the Web. They are cut off from the world of Twitter, Facebook, iPhones, iPads and so on and so forth. Because of their person: person relationships, I think that their roots are deeper, their interactions with others more authentic--but I can't romanticize or try to go back to these kinds of connections. I can feel nostalgic for that way of life, but in order to not be cut out of my time, my generation, I need to spend all of this time in front of the screen so that I can connect with others in the virtual world, be literate in today's social networks, current with Information Literacy circa 2011. I guess that makes me...literate but dissatisfied??
@ Kathleen: I don't think it's an either/or scenario with person:person or Web-based social networking. Both involve social interactions that have their own rules, advantages, and disadvantages. It's important to be able to navigate both. I think of the Sprint commercial where a man calls, e-mails, texts, and conference-calls the coworker sitting right across from him. Sometimes there is no substitute for common sense and old-fashioned face-to-face social etiquette. People who are "literate" in this form of interaction will still have an edge, in certain cases, over those who don't--regardless of how technologically savvy those others may be.
ReplyDeleteI think people *can* go back to those kinds of person to person connections (and should). The naivete lies in assuming those will be the only kinds of interactions people or should have.
Wow, all of these ideas are coming together in my brain right now! I lived in Italy for 18 months and I’ve traveled quite a bit around Europe, including Spain last summer (it helps to have a choir director who likes to tour for a husband!). These places have social commons built into the very fabric of their lives. The old cities of Europe are built around squares, and pubs and outdoor restaurants spill out into them. People spend time meeting together, lingering over their meals and drinks as they interact socially.
ReplyDeleteI think this Bowling Alone idea probably affects Americans the most. Here, we are spread out geographically, and we like being individuals. To people like us, the Internet is a glorious Mecca, where we actually can find people who love knitting for Chihuahuas, or whatever else we enjoy!
But I do think we lose something along the way: social literacy. My husband tells me that many of his students have no idea how to talk to an adult, especially a professor. If face-time is not comfortable for us, we start to live in a weird world of our own making. We end up like Mark Zuckerberg’s character at the end of The Social Network, trying to “friend” an ex-girlfriend who actually hates him.
Not being socially literate will affect employment and friendships, but could ultimately hurt the relationships that require the most self-sacrifice and understanding: those that exist within the walls of our own homes.