Empower America’s Workforce, Insure America’s Future

Jan. 24, 2013 - PRLog -- Calling all information and digital literacy advocates...The National Forum on Information Literacy has recently submitted a petition to the White House's newly created We The People petition (https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/empower-americas-workforce-insure-americas-future/lGnJFdll) website on the critical importance of information and digital literacy training for our students and our workers in the 21st century.

The phenomenon of Big Data is presently creating a seismic shift in the world of business. The socio/economic benefits are enormous, but so are the challenges.  The predicted talent gap underscores the vigilance needed to ensure the accessibility and availability of information and digital literacy skills training for all Americans.

According to motivational speaker Brian Tracey, “Those people who develop the ability to continuously acquire new and better forms of knowledge that they can apply to their work and to their lives will be the movers and shakers in our society for the indefinite future.”  

The National Forum’s primary mission is to mainstream information literacy practice.  Information literacy skills include the ability to define a problem or a task, find the appropriate information, analyze and synthesize the information in order to make the best decision...in essence, critical and creative thinking.  America needs these skills if we are to retain our primary status in the world economy.

A recent report from the National Research Council classified information literacy as “crystallized intelligence” i.e. the knowledge and skills required for effective lifelong learning practice.  

The days of preparing for and working in one career are over.   Learners and workers need to acquire a transferable information and digital literacy skill set that allows them to capably handle the social and economic dynamics of a 21st century global marketplace.

Students must have the information and digital literacy skills know-how to use today’s technological tools as educational assets and not just as entertainment playthings.  Workers are in the same predicament.  They also need the information and digital literacy skills know-how to apply these information and communication tools effectively in the workplace, not only to enhance their productivity and personal growth, but corporate profitability as well.

Our students continue to perform poorly on national and international assessments. Three million jobs in the U.S. go unfilled because we are not embedding information and digital literacy training within our formal and informal educational and training infrastructures.

We need to get the attention of national policy makers.  We need 25,000 signatures (https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/empower-america...) to receive an official response from the Obama Administration.  Join us in signing the petition.  The National Forum on Information Literacy appreciates your support.

Established in 1989 by the American Library Association, the National Forum on Information Literacy (NFIL) has evolved into one of the pre-eminent advocacy, non-profit organizations dedicated to mainstreaming information and digital literacy practice at home and abroad. To be an effective practitioner of information literacy in today's dynamic, digital economy requires developing competencies that transcend the traditional 3Rs – reading, writing, and arithmetic. The continuation of our democratic republic depends on the overall ability of the American people to manage and use effectively information pertinent to sustaining their individual welfare and that of the nation.

For more information, visit http://infolit.org