Demanding Literacy in the White House?

Should Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates be tested for information literacy skills? It is not in the Constitution. However, Michelle Dover in Demanding Literacy in the White House is suggesting such a test. The article was published in Steamboat Local in Colorado.

Dover wrote:

I strongly suggest, as a nation, we stipulate that anyone who is going to hold a public office should take a literacy test appropriate to his or her responsibility level. Closer to my point, vice presidential candidates and presidential candidates must read from a broad range of sources in order to be informed about the world. We must hold them responsible to achieve this expectation! Some refer to this specific literacy skill as Information Literacy. Thus, public officials should be tested in order to make sure American Intellectual and Informational standards are at the highest level among our elected officials.

ACRL (Association of College & Research Libraries) defines information literacy as "the set of skills needed to find, retrieve, analyze, and use information."

I obviously believe that everyone (including political candidates) should be information literate. However, I also realize that many equate information literacy with personal beliefs. People think "I am well read, I know how to use and evaluate sources, this is what I believe about X, those who do not believe this must be information illiterate as if they were better information literacy educated they would think like I do."

The ability to recognize the need to seek out valid information, to be able to evaluate it and use it is separate from personal beliefs. You can be a liberal, conservative, moderate, libertarian, communist, vegetarian, omnivore, religious believer, atheist, etc. and be information literate. People often reach different conclusions after rational thought and careful evaluation of the same sources. The information literate often do that.

Of course, all people (including political candidates) should be information literate. How do we test it? There are several tests being piloted and used out there including project SAILS and the Research Readiness Self-Assessment from Central Michigan University. Neither of these test intentionally for personal beliefs. Instead, they look at how the person seeks out, evaluates, and uses information.

Even these tests are open to interpretation. Are they biased in some ways to western cultural norms? Could the selection of questions in some way unintentionally grade people higher or lower based on what the test authors believed were universal truths that not all informationally literate people agree with?

I agree with Dover that political candidates should be fluent with information literacy skills. However, I am not sure if any test can detect this for certain. I do know that I reject any argument that individuals are not informationally literate based on their personal beliefs. The information literate represent all spectrum's of political debate. Unfortunately, so do the information literacy impaired.

Call for Proposals: 2009 LOEX Conference

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

37th Annual LOEX Conference

April 30 – May 2, 2009

Albuquerque, New Mexico

The New Mexico LOEX Committee invites you to submit proposals to be considered for presentation at the 37th Annual LOEX Conference, April 30 – May 2, 2009 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The conference theme, Blazing Trails: On the Path to Information Literacy, explores the diverse paths that librarians take to develop successful information literacy programs.

Presenters are encouraged to develop unique and creative proposals related to the theme. Proposals should model best practices, provide useful information that participants can use at their libraries, showcase effective and innovative practices, support collaboration, and be as applicable as possible to a wide range of academic institution types. Successful proposals reflect elements of one of seven themes:

- Luminarias: The Art and Practice of Teaching casts light on teaching strategies, curriculum design, learning styles, and student engagement.

- Trail Guides: Leadership and Management covers topics such as managing a significant project or team, leading an initiative such as integrating information literacy into institutions of higher education, or establishing and fostering a professional development program.

- Off the Beaten Path: Creativity and Exploration includes comprehensive planning or implementation of innovations or emerging trends in all aspects of information literacy and instruction.

- Shortcuts: Lesson Plans To Go has the presenter share a proven lesson or unit plan, including processes and materials. Session participants should be able to go back to their respective institutions and readily implement the lesson plan.

- From Covered Wagon to the Railroad: Technology in Education asks what are useful roles of instructional technology in the 21st century? This track focuses on building, utilizing, or sustaining the effective use of technology in education.

- Round-up: Collaborative Efforts and Spaces examines how collaborations between people and programs can enhance information literacy and what types of spaces are best for collaboration and instruction.

- Are we there yet? Assessment and Accountability focuses on evaluating teaching or instructional tools, peer evaluation, or assessing user needs, student learning, or information literacy initiatives.

SESSION FORMATS

Two types of proposals will be accepted. Presentation: A 60-minute session that includes time for a 45-minute presentation and 10-15 minutes of question and answer. Most feature a successful program, practice or key issue related to instruction or information literacy.

Presentations are intended for an audience typically of 50-70 people. Presenters should include in the proposal description the topic and an outline of the presentation.

Interactive Workshop: A 60-minute session where the presenter facilitates a learning environment in which attendees develop or explore teaching and/or research techniques. Presenters are expected to facilitate a well-planned and interactive session. Workshops are intended for an audience typically of 30-60 people. Proposals should include a description of the topic and details on how the presenter will make this session a “hands-on” experience for attendees.

In addition, there will be Poster sessions. Students currently enrolled in a Master's program in library and information sciences along with librarians in resident or intern programs will be invited to propose poster sessions. Details about proposing poster sessions will be posted in a separate call for proposal.

SUBMISSION INFORMATION

Proposals must be received by November 21, 2008. Proposals must be submitted through the online submission form. The primary contact on the proposal will be notified if the proposal has been accepted for presentation by Friday, January 16, 2009. More information can be found at: http://www.loexconference.org/callforproposals.html.

Contact for presenters: Cecilia Stafford at sessions2009 at loexconference.org.

Fifth UNESCO information literacy workshop held in Ankara

Claudio Laferla has a report of an international information literacy conference held in Turkey. The report is titled Fifth UNESCO information literacy workshop held in Ankara. It looks like this was a nice event.

Some highlights as noted in the report:

The Workshop Programme was extensive and covered every aspect of IL: theoretical and practical, pedagogical and curricular. After each lecture, we were divided randomly into groups and started our workshop. These workshops were intended for participants to put into practice their newly learnt knowledge. The beauty of these types of workshops is that at the same time, cross-fertilisation of ideas, methods and styles comes out to the fore through the intense and diverse interactions. Social networking is at its peak in these types of settings. It is actually during these interactions that most of the acquired knowledge is understood, clarified and accentuated. These workshops are what makes the conference excel and reach new heights.

The main topics of the programme of the workshop covered the following aspects:

· the concept of information literacy and lifelong learning;

· information literacy and lifelong learning as 'twin concepts';

· programmes, models and developed and tested standards for information literacy;

· sharing “Best Practices”;

· course syllabus;

· “needs analysis”;

· learning styles;

· information literacy teaching methods and techniques;

· information literacy evaluation techniques; and

· integrating information literacy into curricula.

Digital Information Literacy Competition tests Internet literacy and cognitive agility

Want to encourage your students to develop good information literacy skills? This novel idea is being tried by Indiana University. The article Digital Information Literacy Competition tests Internet literacy and cognitive agility has some details.

It notes:

"Undergraduate students will show off their reference and Internet literacy skills during the Digital Literacy Contest on Sept. 30 at Indiana University Bloomington's Herman B Wells Library. The Indiana University Libraries, which is hosting the competition, is offering $100 as a first-place prize. Registration for the contest is free. Afterward, the library will provide food and lead a discussion about digital information literacy. The Digital Literacy Contest was created in 2007 by former Purdue University student Daniel Poynter. Current participants include Purdue, IU Bloomington, Brown University and the University of Florida."

We Won't Be Fooled Again: Teaching Critical Thinking via Evaluation of Hoax and Historical Revisionist Websites in a Library Credit Course

The new issue of College and Undergraduate Libraries 15 (1/2) (2008) is on critical thinking. Stephanie Mathson and I have an article in it titled "We Won't Be Fooled Again: Teaching Critical Thinking via Evaluation of Hoax and Historical Revisionist Websites in a Library Credit Course." The article is not online but Stephanie and I are pleased with it.

From the abstract:

At Central Michigan University, librarians teach multiple sections of an eight-week, one-credit research skills class to hundreds of undergraduate students each semester. While the main focus of the course is to teach students how to find, use, and properly cite library resources, librarians also address critical thinking skills by designing lessons to teach World Wide Web organization and how to analyze the information found via search engines. Showing student's obvious hoax sites about “tree octopi” and “male pregnancy” introduces the concepts of critical thinking and Website analysis. Most students quickly refute the information on such sites. However, students have a more difficult time assessing social, historical, or political revisionist Web sites' validity. Contrasting those claims with evidence accepted by international courts, historians, and scientists is useful in pointing out the flaws of seemingly well documented but one-sided revisionist sites. There are dangers in exposing students to these groups via their Websites. Yet, it is important to do so in order to convey the importance of critical analysis of information. The authors discuss students' preand post-test (CMU's online assessment tool, the “research readiness self-assessment” [RRSA]) scores to determine whether critical thinking skills have improved.

2008 Michigan Library Association Information Literacy Award

Several months ago, I learned that I had been named the recipient of the 2008 Michigan Library Association Information Literacy Award. I was honored to learn of this and happy I did not have to accept the award (and make any mini-speech) until October when the award is presented at the annual MLA Conference in Kalamazoo.

Much to my surprise, the Dean of the CMU Libraries decided there should be a reception held in my honor for this. While happy and grateful, I also found this a bit awkward. People usually only get receptions when they retire...

The event went well and I was happy to see and speak with my colleagues from Central Michigan University. The cake was nice. And the coconut shrimp was excellent. :]

I was also happy that my wife and youngest son could attend. My oldest boy is off to summer camp but we put a piece of cake in the freezer for him so he can have it when he comes home Friday.

My thanks to all my colleagues (students, support staff, librarians, and administrators) I have either worked with or have associated with through professional associations, conferences, and the publishing process. My thoughts and work in information literacy and library instruction have been built through my association with all of you and I am truly grateful.

LOEX 37th National Conference

Early heads up on next year's LOEX Conference. It will be in Albuquerque, New Mexico, April 30 - May 2, 2009.

Here is some text from a promotional flier:

LOEX 2009 April 30-May 2 Albuquerque, NM: Blazing Trails On the Path to Information Literacy

Join us in the Land of Enchantment to explore, network, and share. We encourage you to begin thinking about presentations you would like to share with colleagues.

Our trails will diverge toward the following themes:

• Trail Guides: Leadership and Management

• Off the Beaten Path: Creativity and Exploration

• Shortcuts: Lessons “to go”

• From Covered Wagon to the Railroad: Educational Technologies

• Round-up: Collaborative Efforts and Spaces

• Are we there yet? Assessment and Accountability

LOEX 2009 New Mexico Planning Committee

José Aranda, Doña Ana Community College
Megan Beard, University of New Mexico Libraries
Carroll Botts, University of New Mexico Libraries
Mark Emmons (co-chair), University of New Mexico Libraries
Susan Moore, Central New Mexico Community College
Cassandra Osterloh (co-chair), Queen of Heaven School
Cecilia Stafford, New Mexico State University
Grants Theresa Valko, New Mexico State University

Information Literacy Roundtable presents inaugural Michigan Information Literacy Initiative (MILI) program

Even though it is last minute; here is a great opportunity!!

The Information Literacy Roundtable Board invites you to attend the June 6 inaugural Michigan Information Literacy Initiative (MILI) program at Michigan State University in East Lansing.

The MILI program is a day-long series of workshops to help you enhance your planning, instruction and teaching skills. Our speakers are committed to providing you with interactive programs that will enhance your skills and provide you with real tools and methods you can put to work right away in your own teaching environment.

Here <http://www.mla.lib.mi.us/files/Promotional%20flyer%20pdf%20final.pdf> is a quick outline of the MILI Program:

Keynote speaker: Dr. Caroline Stern, Ferris State University

Beyond Instruction: Practical Techniques and Resources for Developing Information LiteracyDr. Stern asks us "how can librarians maximize the opportunities they have to offer instruction in the limited time they have with their learners". She'll discuss learner analysis, goals and outcomes, and practical methods of instructional delivery that can improve the instructional design of your instruction sessions.

Track A - Suggested for Librarians with more than 3 years of instruction experience

Instructional Design for Information Literacy: Theory-Based Practical Tips

Our keynote speaker, Dr. Caroline Stern, reviews instructional design basics and "how to" practical, classroom-tested models for instructional design that can help improve the development and delivery of instruction.

Effective Needs Assessment

Dr. Monica Tracey, Wayne State University, focuses on identifying and using the tools of Needs Assessment including identifying learner characteristics, knowledge, skills and ability assessment. You'll walk away with a Needs Assessment Toolkit to help you answer the question, "what do they want?"

Track B - Suggested for Librarians with less than 3 years of instruction experience

Using a VAKuum to Learn About Yourself as a Teacher and Your Students as Learners

Leslie M. Behm, Michigan State University, focuses on VAK, the visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning styles. Find out what the differences are and how to work with your material to make your teaching more effective.

I'm Up Here! Presentation and Teaching Techniques that Engage Your Audience from Start to Finish

Veronica Bielat, Wayne State University and Elise Brown, Kendall College of Art & Design, explore the methods of effective presentation and ways to develop a classroom environment of cooperation and collaborative learning.

Learn how to engage your students the minute they enter the door of your classroom.

Sign <http://www.mla.lib.mi.us/events/programs/form_workshop_registration>
up for MILI today!! Make sure you tell us which track you would like to participate in the Additional Information area of the Registration Form.

For questions about MILI please contact:

Veronica Bielat
Wayne State University Education Librarian
ag6887 at wayne.edu
(313) 577-4217 phone

Information Literacy for German Language and Literature at the Graduate Level: New Approaches and Models

Library Philosophy and Practice has a new information literacy article written by Peter Kraus of the University of Utah. It is titled Information Literacy for German Language and Literature at the Graduate Level: New Approaches and Models.

From the site:

The hiring of several new faculty members in the German Language and Literature Section of the Modern Languages department at the University of Utah resulted in an increased demand for library instruction and technical support. A library subject specialist and a faculty member in German collaborated to teach graduate students about important electronic and print resources in German language and literature.

Elementary Counselors Get Schooled in Information Literacy

The Ledger of Lakeland, Florida has a report up about elementary education and information literacy. It is titled Elementary Counselors Get Schooled in Information Literacy and was written by Thomas Hagerty.

From the site:

Elementary professional school counselors from the Polk County School District held their spring meeting April 10 at the University of South Florida Lakeland. The featured speaker was Dr. Wendy-lou Greenidge, assistant professor of counselor education, USF Lakeland. She spoke on "Using Online Resources and Technology to Improve Elementary School Counseling Programs."

In her presentation, Greenidge stressed the importance of information literacy - the ability to recognize when information is needed and to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.

"In this Information Age, to provide the best service to their clients and to promote their own professional development, counselors need to develop information literacy," said Greenidge. "The Internet houses an abundance of counseling information and resources. However, to effectively and efficiently access this information requires knowledge of search engines, Web sites, and databases."

Report on the Thirteenth Off-Campus Library Services Conference

I recently had the privilege of visiting Salt Lake City, Utah for a library conference. It was the Off-Campus Library Services Conference. I had a great time and really enjoyed visiting Utah. In addition to attending many great sessions, I presented a paper on publishing for librarians. It is in the conference proceedings already and I also hope to get the paper up on the Central Michigan University Digital Repository soon. I also visited some attractions in Salt Lake City such as Temple Square.

I enjoyed the conference and hope to go again next time this conference is held. Here are a few PowerPoint slides from some sessions held dealing with library instruction or information literacy:

Using Online Tutorials to Reduce Uncertainty in Information Seeking Behavior

Visual Tutorials for Point- of-Need Instruction in Online Courses

How It’s Done: Examining Distance Education Library Instruction and Assessment

Creation, Management, and Assessment of Library Screencasts: The Regis Libraries Animated Tutorials Project

Information Literacy Successes Compared: Online vs. Face to Face

Health Information Literacy Project at Lake Hospital System

Lake Hospital System in Ohio has been selected as one of only nine hospital libraries across the country to participate in the Medical Library Association's Health Information Literacy Research Project, which is being funded through a $250,000 two-year contract from the National Library of Medicine. Under the project, participants will evaluate hospital-based health care providers' awareness and understanding of health information literacy and its value in support of patient care. Full details can be found at Lake Hospital System Selected as Pilot Site for Health Information Literacy Research Project.

From the site:

"There are many factors that influence health literacy. In addition to a patient's general literacy, you have to consider the individual's amount of experience in the health care system, the complexity of the information being presented and cultural factors that may influence decision making," explained Holly Kimborowicz, Lake Hospital System's health science librarian.

"Add to this the emotions that can be involved, especially with the diagnosis of a serious illness, and it's not surprising that patients and their families are often overwhelmed by all information being communicated to them," she said.

Kimborowicz said studies show that health care professionals can most readily improve patients' health literacy by confirming that patients understand the information communicated and by adopting a more patient- friendly communication style that encourages questions.

Partnering With Librarians to Meet NCATE Standards in Teacher Education

There is a long technical article at Red Orbit on information literacy titled Partnering With Librarians to Meet NCATE Standards in Teacher Education. It is by Tobeylynn Birch, Louise Greenfield, Karen Janke, Deborah Schaeffer, and Ada Woods. If you are a fan of the ACRL Information Literacy Standards, this article is for you.

From the site:

As colleges of education prepare to meet NCATE standards they will find technically savvy allies and willing collaborators at their campus libraries. The ACRL standards that guide librarians in the delivery of information literacy instruction parallel four of the six NCATE standards. In meeting the standards of their own professional association, academic librarians have prepared themselves to be knowledgeable partners in me achievement of NCATE information literacy and technology standards. As the numerous studies and projects discussed here indicate, librarians and school of education faculty are already collaborating in a variety of ways to meet the challenge of producing information literate teachers. The variety of responses also illustrate there is no panacea or single approach, and that there are many options and opportunities available for education professionals to meet NCATE standards.

Libraries urged to embrace ICT to stay relevant

There is another news article relating to information literacy coming out of Brunei. The Borneo Bulletin has an article titled Libraries urged to embrace ICT to stay relevant by P. Marilyn. In it Marilyn writes about The Permanent Secretary (Higher Education) at the Ministry of Education, Awang Haji Daud bin Haji Mahmud, yesterday called for a change in the traditional role of librarians or information officers.

Here is some of what he said during the speech:

"He said the role of libraries in an academic enterprise is dedicated to maintaining the importance and relevance of the academic library as a place of intellectual stimulation and a centre of activity on campus."

"Though access to information is increasingly decentralised, and computer labs now compete with libraries as campus gathering points, librarians must demonstrate to the campus community that the library remains central to the academic process."

"Information literacy skills and user education should be integrated across the curriculum and into appropriate courses with special attention given to information evaluation, critical thinking, intellectual property, copyright and plagiarism."

"As the profession becomes progressively challenging, we have to ensure professional education of new librarians and re-educating existing librarians with skills and knowledge to support new roles in a Digital Information Age, especially roles involving teaching and library promotion."

Nordic Journal of Information Literacy in Higher Education

I just found that a new information literacy journal is launching this year. It is the Nordic Journal of Information Literacy in Higher Education. The goal is an issue by November 2008. This journal will be open access and peer-reviewed. Contributions will be accepted in Swedish, Danish, Norwegian or English.

From the site:

Information literacy is a multidisciplinary field as it is the subject of both academic research, as well as of library pedagogical practice. The development of knowledge in the field is nourished by perspectives from different academic disciplines, such as pedagogy, sociology, media studies, library and information science and psychology.

We would like to invite article authors and book reviewers who can contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between research-based knowledge and learning processes in Higher Education, and teaching practices within the field of information literacy.

Librarians see their roles change from card-cataloging information gatekeepers to information superhighway guides

There is a nice newspaper article that is about information literacy up at the Casa Grande Dispatch. It is written by Susan Randall and is titled Beyond books & shelves: Librarians see their roles change from card-cataloging information gatekeepers to information superhighway guides. Librarians Jeff Middleton and Nancy Deegan (an author here at this blog) are featured.

From the article:

Libraries used to be places where people borrowed books. Today they are physical and virtual spaces filled with different kinds of information - much of it electronic and accessible from outside the library.

"It's a new world, an information world," said Jeff Middleton, director of library services for Central Arizona College. "But people at their core are the same. The best thing the librarian can do is help them explore, find things, understand them and use them.

"When children grew up with books, librarians helped them learn how to use books, he said. Today's students grew up with computers, and librarians help them find information in the online environment.

"Today's students need information literacy competencies the way students a generation ago needed to understand index cards and card catalogs," Middleton said.

Library Instruction in American Colleges: Way Up!

A press release from Primary Research Group of interest to those interested in library instruction and information literacy.

April 4, 2008 -- Primary Research Group's new report -- College Information Literacy Efforts Benchmarks (ISBN# 1-57440-099-1) is a North American survey presenting data on the information literacy efforts of colleges from the United States and Canada.

Some of the key findings of the 175-page report were that:

The mean percentage change in the number of classes or presentations given between the fall semester of 2007 and 2006 was +20.26%, with a median of +5%. The minimum offered in the sample was -50% while the maximum was 576%.

A mean of 9.64 instructors gave formal classroom instruction or presentations in information literacy in the last year for which statistics are available, with a median of 4 and maximum of 325. U.S. respondents had almost 3 times as many instructors giving sessions than did Canadian colleges.

Business, psychology, sociology, nursing, education, and English were commonly listed as one of the top three academic departments that had requested the most library instructional presentations or classes in the past year.

Librarians in the survey estimated that 23.5% of their students that had not taken any formal information literacy training knew a few essentials of Boolean searching. In our prompt, we indicated that Boolean searching basics included the use of quotation marks, "or" and "and." Private colleges reported that 32.5% of their students fell into this category; public colleges, 18.3%.

Data was more hopeful in assessing the student body's skills in using the online library catalog. Nearly 45% said their student body was competent, while 42% said they had basic knowledge at best. Just 9% considered them very unskilled, and nearly 4% reported they were highly proficient. Canadian libraries were 3 times more likely than U.S. ones to consider their students highly proficient in the use of the online catalog.

Just over 13% of survey participants administered a test to assess student skills in Microsoft Excel or other spreadsheet software.

Almost 17% administered a test to incoming freshmen or transfer students on their understanding of plagiarism. Almost 27% of research universities gave such a test. Nearly 21% of colleges with over 10,000 FTE students also gave this test, nearly twice the rate of mid-sized schools.

Almost 70% of the sample used student evaluation forms to assess the performance of information literacy or other library science instructors. Student evaluation forms were more popular with public colleges than private, and most popular with research universities, 80% of whom reported using such forms.

63% of survey participants offer presentations or brief classes to new students during new student orientation. Such classes were more commonly offered by Canadian libraries, research universities, and colleges with fewer than 1,000 FTE students. 71% of libraries at which librarians held faculty status conducted such orientation sessions, while less than 60% of participants whose librarians did not hold faculty status offered the sessions.

Barely 5.4% of the sample required a 1 or 2 credit information literacy course for graduation, and just 3.6% required a 3 or more credit course. However, over 23% of the sample required information literacy training integrated into basic writing or composition courses.

Just over a third of the sample believed that the English department, or equivalent department with similar responsibilities, seemed to try but could do better in terms of carrying out its information literacy responsibilities. Just 23% believed that the department was doing well enough, while 22% believed information literacy was a high priority for them and that the department made time for them. Just 8% believed the English department to be laggard, and 12% believed their collaboration to be an excellent one.

Nearly 48% of the colleges sampled offered interactive tutorials in information literacy topics to students. Just a third of bachelors-granting colleges offered such tutorials, while 6 out of 10 research universities did so.

The vast majority of the sample, nearly 84%, reported that the library was not really involved with computer technology training on campus.

Nearly 73% of the libraries in the sample had one or more instructional labs or learning centers designed for information literacy instruction in which much of their formal literacy instruction took place.

Half of the libraries in the sample reported making tutorial links and other resources available through course management systems such as Blackboard and WebCT.The report is based on detailed benchmarking data from more than 110 North American colleges; data is broken out by type and size of college for easier benchmarking.

For a table of contents, sample pages, and other information, visit our website at http://www.primaryresearch.com/.

Why the Information Literacy Land of Confusion?

I am often asked why I named this blog the Information Literacy Land of Confusion. There is a reason behind it. Here is the story.

In 2000, I conducted a study with high school student in the Lansing, Michigan area. It was a qualitative study which interviewed students asking them how they used the Web to find information for research. The result of my findings were published as:

"The Land of Confusion? High School Students and Their Use of the Web for Research." Research Strategies 18, no. 2 (2001): 151-163.

I was a bit taken aback by what I believed I found. Here is the abstract from the article:

"Examines high school students' use of the World Wide Web to complete assignments. Findings showed the students used a good variety of resources, including libraries and the World Wide Web, to find information for assignments. However, students were weak at determining the quality of the information found on web sites. Students did poorly at evaluating web site information in the absence of gatekeepers."

Most of the students were using search engines as gatekeepers. Google is a good gatekeeper for keeping spam out of search results. However, it is not a peer-reviewed resource in the sense that it can help students actually find the best scholarly resources. Yet, this is what many students were using it for anyway.

In 2003, I finally decided to indulge my curiosity about blogs and start one myself. Information literacy seemed like a good topic to write about although I have always been willing to write about other issues and my life in general at times.

Obviously, the name of this blog is related to the title of the 2001 article in Research Strategies. I gave the name to the article based on a song from the 80s band Genesis. In that song, Phil Collins sang, "Can't you see this a land of confusion?"

The lyrics seemed to me to apply to how many students were using the Web to find information when doing research. In the absence of the expertise of scholars, the Web had become and yet is a literal land of confusion. Surfer beware. I like the Web and can not imagine living without it. It can provide good information. But is not quite where it needs to be yet.

That is the story. Based on my logs, I know many of my hits are from people looking for free downloads of the Genesis song or the recent Disturbed remake of it. I am sorry to disappoint them. However, I am sticking with the name for this blog. And even if I do not update as frequently as I used to, I plan on sticking around.