Reflecting on everything I’ve read about ‘Information society’ in Module 2, I can safely say that it’s pretty tough to come to a definitive definition, given there are so many factors that influence it. Traditionally I have thought more of information as ‘knowledge’. One of the main things I do in the library is help students find the most trustworthy information for their inquiry topics, making sure that they use that information appropriately and attribute it to the original source. In school libraries, information is available in a number of different formats and delivery modes, and it’s my job to assist students and teachers to access the most relevant information for their needs. So, I suppose in this respect I also look at information as ‘bits’ (in books, encyclopedias, trusted websites, provided by an expert) to be read and understood, but mostly I am asking students to find information on something they are learning, evaluate its trustworthiness, accuracy, content etc and then use it to increase their knowledge.
So broadly I am looking at ‘Information society’ as the ways in which the information landscape we have been looking at is evolving, the way users go about accessing and using information and the factors that influence it. I thought aspects of each definition I read about during this module were relevant in some way. What is clear is that there is so much access to information now. So much information is at our fingertips, but we need to have the skills to be able to evaluate this information and use it appropriately. How we go about accessing information has changed a lot in the recent past, for example Facebook and Instagram have a big impact on where we actually get our news and information from, not to mention how we are being tracked by third parties. I came across a University of Melbourne report on technologies that companies use to track consumers (McKay, 2019). The report states:
“Data on consumers is more readily available than at any time in history. It is being gathered, analysed and used to steer consumer choices at an unprecedented scale. Cookies, in-home audio recordings, in-home cameras on televisions and other Internet of Things (IoT) devices, captured images of consumers’ faces merged with identifying data from their phones, consumer location merged with purchase history, and the intimate details of their lives shared on social media are all accessible to and potentially used by marketers and sellers of all kinds.” (p. 2.)
So then, as we were asked to reflect earlier in this module, who/what is driving where we are accessing this information from – the technology or the user? What I have got out of this module so far is that information is constantly evolving.
There are many ways to access information, and it can be tricky to actually work out where this information comes from. This is where the role of the Teacher Librarian in absolutely crucial, as it is our role to teach the important aspects of the information process. We also drive what we value as important to our library collection – I am also learning in ETL 503 about our role in collection development and management, and our collections are not just physical books. We have many different formats and modes of delivery that are not just limited to the 4 walls of our library space. Being able to locate, provide and present trusted information to our teachers and students is such an important part of the role of the TL.I work in a primary school library and some useful bits and pieces I already use come from Common Sense Media, Kathleen Morris and a graphic on the Information Process from the NSW DET, all of which I have linked in the reference list below.
REFERENCES
https://online.det.nsw.edu.au/mediaLibrary/Docs/1/9b151a47-f32b-47a4-845c-7235f8352ce5.pdf
Filucci, S. (2017). How to spot fake news and teach kids to be media savvy. https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/how-to-spot-fake-news-and-teach-kids-to-be-media-savvy
McKay, D. (2019) State of the Art in Data Tracking Technology. https://cis.unimelb.edu.au/news/data-tracking-report-2019/state-of-the-art-in-data-tracking-technology-2019.pdf The University of Melbourne, Consumer Policy Research Centre
Morris, K. (2019) Research skills. Primary Tech: helping teachers create digitally literate learners. http://www.kathleenamorris.com/research/
