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 Ratings
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| Reviewed: |
Mar 30, 2003 by Information Technology Editorial Board |
| Overview: |
This is a web site promoting work of the National Forum on Information Literacy,
an initiative aimed at insuring broad access by the populace to information.
This forum was established in 1990 following the recommendations from the
American Library Association's Presidential Committee on Information Literacy.
It has an impressive array of member organizations (e.g., U.S. Department of
Education, College Board, EDUCAUSE, U.S. Department of Commerce). The purpose
of this forum is to empower member organizations to attack the "digital divide"
problem by facilitating the wide dissemination of all available information.
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| Learning Goals: |
The goals of the Forum, and by extension the web site, are to pursue
"activities in four primary areas. Through its member organizations, the Forum
examines the role of information in our lives and integrates information
literacy into their programs. It also supports, initiates, and monitors
information literacy
projects both in the United States and abroad. NFIL actively encourages the
creation and adoption of information literacy guidelines by such regulatory
bodies as State Departments of Education,
Commissions on Higher Education, and
Academic Governing Boards. And finally, it works with teacher education programs
to insure that new teachers are able to incorporate information literacy into
their teaching."
Additionally, this website sensitizes the reader to the nature and scope of the
"digitial divide" problem. A secondary learning goal is to understand this
complex problem, and learn the concerted efforts in place to address it.
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| Target Student Population: |
The site is not directed at students per se. It seems to be aimed more at public
policy makers, faculty/administrators in higher education, and librarians.
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| Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills: |
Some familiarity with information literacy issues would be helpful to fully
appreciate this site.
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| Type of Material: |
This site has a collection of reports and recommendations for public policy. A
fairly comprehensive list of agencies and organizations with information
literacy interests is also presented. Additional materials include: reference
material; compendium of resources, past events, and forthcoming events.
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| Recommended Uses: |
For the target population described earlier, this site is a great resource for
learning about the "digital divide" problem and strategies to tackle it in the
U.S. Additionally, the material at this website serves as a model for other
countries to respond to any "digital divide" problems that they potentially
face. This site would give students a good idea of the public policy aspects of
the promotion of information literacy.
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| Technical Requirements: |
Many of the resources require the use of Adobe Acrobat Reader. Otherwise, there
are no technical requirments for use.
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| Strengths: |
This is an excellent collection of reports advocating that information be
considered a national resource to which all citizens are equally entitled. There
are several excellent reports presented in full, notably the "Comprehensive
Assessment of Public Information Dissemination," which details the access to
information, and barriers to that access, encountered by people in this country.
The listing of member organizations, including contact information, provides a
fairly comprehensive list of active organizations in the area of information
literacyThe content areas include: Reports and Programs, Meetings, Definitions,
Publications, and Related Sites. The sections on Reports and Programs,
Definitions, Publications, and Related Sites contain a wealth of information
about information literacy and related problems such as the "digital divide."
For example, the Publications section reflects an exhaustive collection of
germane Books, Conferences, Journals/articles, and Videos.
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| Concerns: |
Although there are references in various places to events occurring in 2003,
most of the information at this website is from 2001 or earlier. There is a
need to update the website's content. Perhaps some of the dated information
could be placed in an archive (instead of removal) so it could be accessed for
research purposes. This way, the user will mostly see only recent information.
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Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool |
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| Strengths: |
The educational value of this site stems from the extremely detailed nformation
it contains on a core problem related to information literacy. Although the
Information Age has accelerated the pace of information collection, storage, and
dissemination, much of this is not readily accessible by all (the "digital
divide" problem). This site sensitizes the reader about strategies to tackle
this problem effectively.
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| Concerns: |
The site can be a bit confusing upon first inspection. It's not entirely clear
who or what the National Forum on Information Literacy is composed of. Outside
of one person listed as a contact, there is no explanation of organizational
structure or the Forum's mode of operation. This forces the visitor to deduce
the purpose of the site in light of the Forum's goals. Another concern: since
the primary purpose seems to be presenting information that will influence
public policy, the datedness of the material limits it usefulness as a teaching
tool. Two year old information in a fast-moving area is less useful when
considering current and future public policy.
Finally, is the "digital divide" problem as pervasive today as it was in the
year 1999 or 2000? The site does not offer much insight about this important
question.
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Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty |
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| Strengths: |
Navigation is fairly simple and straightforward. Much of the content is easy to
understand from the perspective of both students and faculty.
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| Concerns: |
Some of the material is outdated, as noted earlier. Additionally, the size of
some of the better materials (e.g., reports in Acrobat format) precludes this
resource from being very handy for anyone without access to a broadband Internet
connection. Navigation is fairly simple, although there is no common template
for all the pages, forcing the visitor to work a bit harder than necessary to
get around the site.
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| Other Issues and Comments: |
A very interesting site that would be even more useful with more contemporary
content.
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