[WEB4LIB] Re: In defense of stupid users

[Jimm Wetherbee]

| This is why I would argue for a lightened emphasis on "information
| literacy" and a greater emphasis on designing more useful tools.
[--jimm replies] While I dislike the term "information literacy," and agree
that what patrons need are better tools to search through the wealth of data
that is out there, there is still something to be said for at least some
aspects of information literacy. 

A fair bit of what we do is not an intrinsic good, but a skill to some other
end.  Developing good Boolean search strategies is not something that either
is easily applicable to the course of one's life nor is it like the ability
to appreciate fine art.  If it were not necessary for using many databases,
none of us would bother with it.  One the other hand, there are some things
that information literacy is good for.  One is the ability to define as
precisely as possible what it is one is after.  Doing so in itself assists
in selecting the type of sources one needs as well as what information
satisfies the query. I wager that really is the point of all those pesky
questions we ask patrons in reference interviews.  We are clarifying in our
minds (and theirs) just what they are looking for and in turn are
demonstrating a discipline that patrons can take with them elsewhere.
Another skill is the ability to judge whether the information one has pulled
up is at all valuable.

--jimm


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