Present:

Marilyn Ardone, Creative Media Solutions
Patricia Breivik, Chair, National Forum on Information Literacy
Abbie Botts, National School Boards Association
Christopher Burns, independent consultant
Joan Challinor, National Commission on Library and Information Science
Al Frascella, National Council for Social Studies
Craig Gibson, Association of College and Research Libraries
Lacy Hawthorne, American Association of Higher Education
Judith Matz, Association of Research Libraries
Jean McConnell, Institute for Museum and Library Services
Sheila McGarr, National Library of Education
Ruth Small, Syracuse University/School of Information Studies
Kathin Smith, Council on Library and Information Resources
Bob Willard, National Commission on Library and Information Science

1. Information Literacy in the Enhancement of Business and Industry Success

Christopher Burns, an independent consultant who has previously worked with
both government and business, address the topic of the use and misuse of information in the private sector.

A complete transcript of this presentation is available .   The following is a summary of that presentation and the discussion which followed.

Chris pointed out that information is the most powerful force in our society, with the potential for both good and ill uses. He especially focused on the dangers of “information mistakes”, the misunderstandings arising from lack of sound decision-making even when information is available.

Chris spoke of how increasing amounts of information, related to decision-making, can be plotted on a graph, and that such a graph showing an “increasing amount of information” is especially revealing in diagnosing information mistakes made even by experts. Along this upward curve of increased information availability, there is a “caution zone” where even experts must avoid becoming overconfident in making decisions—either because of incomplete data, or because of misunderstanding or misinterpretation of readily available data.

Chris illustrated his points by highlighting four case studies: (1) the Three Mile Island near-disaster; (2) the Space Shuttle Challenger catastrophe; (3) the Vincennes episode, in which an Iranian civilian airliner was shot down over the Persian Gulf; and (4) the Betsy Lehman case, which involved medical misdiagnosis.

Some lessons to be drawn from these cases: one of the great powers and dangers of information is that it allows us to operate in a world we can’t see; data and analysis aren’t the problem (mistakes are made in the presence of information); warning indicators and systems safeguards are often ignored; and of course, data itself may be wrong.

There is also the matter of “virtual truth”: information is a model of reality; there is the issue of “ground truth” (reality check with satellite imaging); and there is an “infobubble” phenomenon involving language (technical/specialized vocabularies), concepts (cognitive dissonance), and disputes about truth (different standards for truth in different fields and communities).

Chris pointed out Herbert Simon’s concept of “uncertainty absorption”: everyone ‘trims out’ information that doesn’t fit within a frame or mental model.

What do skillful executives do to counteract the dangers of information use and information mistakes? They check for “ground truth”; they listen for unpleasant noise; and they respect uncertainty.

Discussion of Chris’s presentation:

--Gender issues and information executives: women supervisors may approach an information problem with different eyes

--Political pressures (as in the Challenger incident) may override good judgment relating to an information decision. Edward Tufte’s research is relevant here: the visual display of information may make an enormous difference to a decision-maker (the visual information on the O-rings on the space shuttle did not help decision-makers make a sound decision about the launch).

--What are strategies for neutralizing “noise” in the information environment? Advertising practices don’t help because they typically begin with what the customer already believes and add to what the customers already believe.

--Who will teach information use/evaluation? There needs to be a “small curriculum” for business and professionals relating to the dangers of information misuse.

--Should there be professional liability issues in various professions for executives and managers? Should companies have self-assessment instruments for their executives relating to information competence? ISO 9300 is an international standard for “Quality Control for Information”

--The NASB (National Association of Small Businesses) is interested in publishing articles in their newsletter on guidelines for evaluation and use of information.

--There is a lack of research on information literacy in the workplace in the United States.

--Relating to the day’s discussion topic, Chris Burns recommended a book: Living Systems, by James Greer Miller
 

2. International Leadership Conference on Information Literacy

This conference, co-sponsored by NCLIS, the World Bank, and UNESCO, has been tentatively scheduled for spring 2002 in Prague, The Czech Republic.

The International Association of Service Learning has already planned a conference in Prague in spring 2002 and the International Leadership Conference on Information Literacy will be linked with it.

Representatives from 23 countries have committed to attend and almost 30 papers have been commissioned.  Conference papers will be clustered on the following topics: Learning; Policy Issues; Economic Development; and People/Cultural Issues. More papers are currently needed on business and information literacy.
 

Note: Since the conference has been postponed until the fall; papers are being received in March for publication prior to the conference.  For more information on the conference, including paper abstracts, consult the conference webpage at:  http://www.nclis.gov/libinter/infolitconf&meet/infolitconf&meet.html .
 

3. Approval of Summary of October 12, 2001, meeting

The meeting summary was approved as written.
 

4. Member reports

Patricia welcomed two new member organizations:  Association of Research Libraries and the Council on Library and Information Resources.

National Library of Education—Sheila McGarr

Sheila mentioned the Gates Foundation Award (Access to Learning Award), an award jointly sponsored with the Council on Libraries and Information Resources (CLIR).

The Council on Library and Information Resources—Kathlin Smith

CLIR is just beginning to consider how it might be more involved in information literacy.  One area being considered is in promoting research on this issue.

Institute for Museum and Library Services—Jean McConnell

February 1 is the deadline for IMLS grants.
First Lady Laura Bush is currently promoting a $10 million initiative to recruit a new generation of librarians.

National School Boards Association—Abbie Botts

The Education and Technology sections of NSBA works with practitioners on technology and information literacy issues.

NSBA is sponsoring a “Technology Plus Learning” conference. NSBA also sponsors a Technology Leadership Network involving 500 school districts.

The NCSS is involved in many activities based on the premise that social studies create effective citizens; the NCSS has created standards and curriculum guidelines that promote critical thinking and intelligent use of information.

American Association of Higher Education—Lacy Hawthorne

The AAHE’s current projects include (1) an assessment of students’ information literacy skills through portfolio evaluation, and (2) the National Conference on Higher education, to be held in Chicago, March 16-19. The theme is “Learning in Context”, with a focus on building “communities of practice.” Information about the conference can be found at: www.aahe.org/nche/

Creative Media Solutions—Marilyn Ardone

Marilyn described the SOS project (SOS stands for Situations, Outcomes, and Strategies for Information Literacy Instruction). SOS is a multimedia tool that allows teachers to pinpoint information literacy skills for subject and grade levels. The prototype is now available. Syracuse University will now take on sponsorship of the project.

Syracuse School of Information Studies—Ruth Small

Ruth described a grant from the Robin Hood Foundation, through which money is being given to renovation of 650 elementary school libraries; books and technologies are also donated. 650 teachers in New York City are to be reeducated as school librarians as part of the “Reinventing Urban School Libraries” project, through a combination of on-site and distance learning.  This program will be linked with the SOS program developed initially by Creative Media Solutions; if funding becomes available, the librarians-in-training will be trained about information literacy using SOS.

National Commission on Library and Information Science—Bob Willard

Budget appropriations for NCLIS: the original idea from the Bush administration is to “zero out” the agency and fold its functions into other agencies. There has already been a 33% decrease in the NCLIS budget.  this has happened before and then the budget has been reinstated.

However, there are a number of NCLIS initiatives that will need to continue including (1) the Library Statistics Program; (2) the NCLIS hearing on the impact of school libraries on student learning; (3) the partnership with UNESCO for the International Conference on Information Literacy; and (4) a briefing on the role of public libraries in responding to emergency preparedness.

The agency’s new budget will be revealed in February 2002.

Announcements by Patricia Breivik:

INFONORD held a conference in October 2001 in Helsinki. Patricia was A guest speaker on information literacy, and she will also be writing an article for the group’s 25th anniversary publication.  This organization has also just commissioned a committee to provide aggressive leadership in promoting information literacy.

Australia has funding to set up a group comparable to the National Forum on Information Literacy in the U.S.

Charles Talbott, head of the High Skills Community Initiative (and who previously lead a discussion at a Forum meeting), has said there this initiative will see a name change under the Bush administration.  Talbott has reported that the U.S. Department of Education is making major funding available for Community Technology Centers, under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

Hannelore Rader has reported from her trip to China that there is interest from that country in having representation at the International Leadership Conference on Information Literacy.

Patricia reported that a person from Nepal contacted her for information literacy materials. This person has planned a workshop on information literacy for April 2002 in her country.

5.         ARL Learning Outcomes Assessment Project – Judith Matz

The Association of Research Libraries represents the leading research institutions in North America.  Our mission is to shape and influence the forces that affect research libraries in the process of scholarly communication. ARL presently has 123 member institutions of which 113 are university libraries.  We represent the institutions, not the librarians at those institutions.  ACRL is the organization for the librarians at college and research libraries.

ARL has long had a statistics measurement program.  Since the 1960s we have been collecting and measuring input data--library collections, expenditures, and staffing.  More recently ARL has become interested in outcomes--in assessment measures--how well libraries are performing in areas of importance to their institution, how well they're supporting the mission of their university.

This quest led, in 1999, to a retreat where several ARL leaders discussed the need for new tools to measure and describe research libraries and their services.  As a result of the retreat, and the draft papers that followed, ARL created the New Measures Initiatives, that focused attention on a number of specific topics to measure and describe the library's contribution to teaching and learning and to research.

One of the New Measures Initiatives is higher education outcomes assessment and an investigation of the role libraries can play in campus learning outcome activities.  To begin looking at how libraries contribute to learning, ARL hired Kenneth Smith, Professor of Economics at the University of Arizona, as a consultant.  He drafted a white paper, "New Roles and Responsibilities for the University Library:  Advancing Student Learning through Outcomes Assessment," that outlines a strategy for involving research libraries in campus assessment activities.

To follow up to the activities proposed by Ken Smith, ARL is working to define a course of action for libraries to promote and assess student learning outcomes.  Last summer ARL set up the Learning Outcomes Working Group, composed of 12 institutions, to identify potential projects.  This group just had its third meeting last week at the ALA Midwinter Meeting:

-- Look at what standardized tests are presently being used on campuses and whether there are outcomes and measures in place we can use. Our initial results indicate that little is being done in a formal way on most campuses to assess learning outcomes.  The exception is the accreditation measurements for professional schools that seem to be quite explicit.

-- We are considering whether to get data from the College Student Experience Survey and whether ARL could add questions to national surveys that reflects students' experiences with libraries.

--Asking whether ARL can build on the work of national groups such as NPEC to develop standardized definitions.

-- We are working on trying to identify where in our institutions departments have identified learning outcomes, and how libraries can design activities to help faculty achieve these outcomes.  We're trying to help our colleagues by giving them the tools and strategies to have conversations with faculty on their campuses.

6. Definitions of Information Literacy

Forum members held a brief discussion on varying conceptions and definitions of information literacy.  They confirmed the definition of information literacy contained in the first national report on information literacy, but suggested that the second “the needed information” could be dropped.  The definition then would read:

To be information literate, a person must be able to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively.
 

7. Calendar/Next meeting

The next meeting of the Forum will be on May 17, 2002. The lead discussion topic will be: “Information Literacy and Service Learning,” and the visiting expert will be Dr. Louis Albert who is the Vice Chancellor for Education Services at Evergreen Community College and who for many years before that represented American Association for Higher Education on the Forum.