Picking Up Momentum - Information Literacy State Proclamation Initiative

April 30, 2012 - PRLog -- The National Forum on Information Literacy (NFIL) is leading an initiative to raise awareness of information literacy among state policymakers, starting with each state’s governor’s office.  Our goal is for designated information literacy advocates in all U.S. states and territories to submit recommendations for a public policy proclamation to their governors’ offices that will declare October as Information Literacy Awareness Month.   State public policy influences and impacts public practice and what better place to start to build a 21st century information literacy culture than at the state level.

“To prosper in the Digital Age, people must become masters of information,” says Dr. Caroline Stern of Ferris State University, a former Michigan Association of Governing Boards’ Teacher of the Year recipient and a UNESCO information literacy expert and trainer. In becoming masters of information, learners and workers must incorporate information literacy practice within their individual skill sets. Today’s digital universe requires that learners and workers must not only have the ability to assess and manage the myriad of information and social media resources available in today's academic and workplace environments, but also how to utilize that skill set effectively in delivering  informed solutions and productive outcomes. Employers across America are demanding that workers must possess this skill set if we, as a nation, are to sustain our competitive advantage worldwide.
 
NFIL began this initiative with a recommendation to President Barack Obama, who issued a national proclamation in 2009.  The President of NFIL, Dr. Lana W. Jackman, made a request to Governor Deval  L. Patrick, who issued a proclamation in 2011.  So far, twenty-six  states and one U.S. territory have committed to draft and seek  gubernatorial information literacy proclamations:  Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Utah, Wyoming, and the Virgin Islands.

If you would like to work with the project coordinators in one of these states, or if you would like to initiate the process in a state or territory that has not yet committed to draft a proclamation, please contact Dr. Sharon Weiner, Vice-President of the National Forum on Information Literacy, Professor of Library Science, and W. Wayne Booker Chair in Information Literacy at Purdue University at sweiner@purdue.edu.

Established in 1989, the National Forum on Information Literacy is one of the premier organizations promoting information literacy philosophy and practice.  For more information, please visit www.infolit.org.