An older presentation on information literacy. Quite different from the direction the new Information Literacy Framework went. Some decent and thought-provoking content I think, based on ideas from the philosopher Michael Polanyi.

1. Authority and the Arts of
Information Literacy: on Dynamic
Mapmakers and Maps
Hampden-Turner, Charles. Maps of the Mind. New York: Macmillan, 1981.
Nathan Rinne
February 2008

2. danah boyd: education must
change…
 “Marketers are effectively
leveraging networks of
information flow to traffic
goods while educators are
primarily lambasting the
networked technologies that
mediate information flow”.
 “As media opens up a culture
of osmosis and makes
pulling information fun,
youth are increasingly
disconnected from the world
of [educational] push”.
www.danah.org/
boyd, danah. 2007. "Information Access in
a Networked World." Talk presented to
Pearson Publishing, Palo Alto, California,
November 2.
http://www.danah.org/papers/talks/Pearson2007.html
.

3. Good teachers: Guide discovery >
“Dictate Information” (Push)
 Living to see the “light bulbs go on in their
heads”
 As they discover:
 increasingly greater, more complex contexts…
 …of the facts and ideas that get them thinking,
interested, engaged…
 Like teachers, libs also about: “promoting and
supporting student learning and achievement.”
Logan, Debra Kay “Putting Students First.” American Libraries Jan./Feb. 2008 (39 (1-2): 56-59).

4. Siren song?
Odysseus & the Sirens, Athenian red-figure
stamnos C5th B.C., British Museum
 [The internet] appeals first, beguilingly, to our wants -
immediate gratification and quick mental associations -
long before it engages the need for the slower processes
of deliberative and critical thought… We have a lot of work
to do to help our users become more critically aware of
the difference between a vague information want,
superficially met, and a more focused information need
that is deeply satisfied. So far, we seem to have focused
more on marketing our image than actually providing
indispensable service."
Isaacson, David. "BackTalk: What's Still Wrong with Reference." Library Journal 15 Nov. 2007

5. Fragmentation /
De-contextualization
http://ossiane.blog.lemonde.fr/2005/03/03/2005_03_glifraction_/
 Library-related illustration of this:
…The fact that that article on single mothers appeared in The
National Review or The New Republic gives you key
information about potential bias on the part of the author. In
the past, when you had to physically leaf through the
book or journal to find the information you wanted, you
were exposed to additional visual information that helped
you understand the context of the information. Now the
students I work with seem to view information as these
disembodied, discrete snippets, floating free in space,
with no ties to anything else.
Thomas, Kirsti S. 13 December 2007. Online posting. AUTOCAT Discussion Group. 13
Dec. 2007 <http://listserv.syr.edu/archives/autocat.html>

6. Guidance in “info lit”
indispensible
 “Google Generation” (those born after 1993): computer
literate, but not information literate. A recent study found:
 Young people don’t develop good search strategies to find
quality information.
 They might find information on the Internet quickly, but they
don’t know how to evaluate the quality of what they find.
 They don’t understand what the Internet really is: a vast
network with many different content providers.”
Goodall, Hurley. "Computer Literacy Doesn't Mean Information Literacy, Report Says.” [Weblog
entry.] The Chronicle of Higher Education: the Wired Campus. 16 Jan. 2008. (
http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/2670/computer-literacy-doesnt-mean-information-literacy-report-s
). 16 Jan. 2008.

7. Spurned: Why do I make you
anxious?
 “…weak dispositions
toward critical
thinking were
associated with high
levels of library
anxiety”
Critical Thinking Disposition and Library Anxiety: Affective Domains on the Space of
Information Seeking and Use in Academic Libraries. By:
Nahyun Kwon; Onwuegbuzie, Anthony J.; Alexander, Linda.
College & Research Libraries, May2007, Vol. 68 Issue 3,
p268-278, 11p, 3 charts; (AN 25301285)
http://www.scarecrowpress.com

8. A key: info lit is connected
to authority and expertise
http://skinnymoose.com/network/category/blog-tips/
 Part of being human means becoming
authoritative experts / guides / mentors re:
something (this or that)
 Authority: …4a. An accepted source of expert
information or advice: a noted authority on birds; a
reference book often cited as an authority… 7.
Power to influence or persuade resulting from
knowledge or experience…
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

9. A key: info lit is connected to
authority and expertise
 Expertise: 1. Expert advice or opinion. 2. Skill
or knowledge in a particular area.
 Elite: 1a. A group or class of persons or a
member of such a group or class, enjoying
superior intellectual, social, or economic status.
b. The best or most skilled members of a group:
the football team's elite.
 Practitioner
 Specialist, etc.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

10. Past AASL “info lit” standards and
[questioning] authority
(1) accesses it efficiently and effectively
(2) evaluates it critically and competently
(3) uses it effectively and creatively
(4) pursues it related to personal interests
(5) appreciates and enjoys literature and other creative
expressions of information
(6) strives for excellence in information seeking and knowledge
generation
(7) recognizes the importance of information to a democratic
society
(8) practices ethical behavior in regard to information and
information technology
(9) participates effectively in groups to pursue and generate
information.
“Information Literacy Standards for Student Learning”, American Association of School Librarians and
Association for Educational Communications and Technology (from Information Power: Building
Partnerships for Learning, 1998)

11. New AASL “info lit” standards and
[questioning] authority
 “
AASL Unveils New Learning Standards for School Library Media Progra
”:
 1.1.7: Make sense of information
gathered from diverse sources by
identifying misconceptions, main
and supporting ideas, conflicting
information, and point of view or
bias.
 1.2.4: Maintain a critical stance by
questioning the validity and
accuracy of all information.
http://www.ala.org

12. New AASL “info lit” standards and
[questioning] authority
 2: Draw conclusions, make
informed decisions, apply knowledge
to new situations, and create new
knowledge.
 2.2.2 – Use both divergent and
convergent thinking to formulate
alternative conclusions and test
them against the evidence…

13. New AASL “info lit” standards and
[questioning] authority
 2.2.3. – Employ a critical stance in
drawing conclusions by
demonstrating that the pattern
of evidence leads to a decision
or conclusion…
 2.3.1 – Connect understanding
to the real world.

14. New AASL “info lit” standards and
[questioning] authority
 4.2.3 – Maintain openness to new
ideas by considering divergent
opinions or conclusions when
evidence supports change…
 4.3.2 – Recognize that resources are
created for a variety of purposes.

15. Can librarians lead this charge?
http://www.njlibraries.org/
 The findings identify UK English academics' conceptions of
information literacy and show them to be both similar to and
significantly different from conceptions described in previous
research and librarian-generated frameworks and
standards….The research implies that disciplinary differences in conception of information literacy are
significant and suggests further research to assess disciplinary conceptual differences. Practical implications - Librarians
working with English faculty on information literacy need to be aware of differences in conception between themselves and
academics to work effectively. The paper also highlights the significance of information literacy in English faculty's teaching
and research practices and this relevance suggests that information literacy should be integrated into course and
curriculum design. Originality/value - The paper fills a major gap in literature on information literacy by focussing on
conceptions of lecturers, thereby counterbalancing the abundance of work produced by librarians. The paper illustrates the
complexity of English academics' conceptions of information literacy and informs academics' use and
understanding of information literacy.
 A phenomenographic study of English faculty's conceptions of information literacy. By: Boon, Stuart;
Johnston, Bill; Webber, Sheila. Journal of Documentation, 2007, Vol. 63 Issue 2, p204-228, 25p, 5 charts;
DOI: 10.1108/00220410710737187; (AN 24988597)

16. New and improved?
 “‘I have come to wonder: Are the new
[AASL] standards a step forward to a
more holistic and comprehensive view of
learners, or a misstep that will serve to
marginalize our profession?’ asks Sharon
Grimes, supervisor of library information
services for Baltimore County Public
Schools.”
Whelan, Debra Lau. “New AASL Standards: More to Come.” School Library Journal. 22 Jan. 2008
(http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6524450.html) 22 Jan. 2008.

17. Questions:
 Are these new AASL guidelines
better?
 Should librarians help lead this
charge?
 If so, how can we make it
compelling, exciting?
Let’s dive deep!

18. First, what are some of those
English teachers concerned about?
 That standards don’t address “neomillennial
learning styles”?
 [the] “emerging Web 2.0 paradigm” of
“immersive environments” and dynamic
information promise (or threaten?) to
upend traditional pedagogies and even
the way students learn…
The ECAR (Educause Center for Applied Research) Study of Undergraduate Students and Information
Technology, 2007″, discussed on the Inside Higher Ed blog:
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/09/17/it

19.  That standards don’t adequately address the
importance of “active learning”?
 The implication is less of an emphasis on the
“sage on the stage” and a linear acquisition
process focusing on a “single best source,”
focusing instead on “active learning” that
comes from synthesizing information from
multiple types of media.
“The ECAR (Educause Center for Applied Research) Study of Undergraduate Students and
Information Technology, 2007″, discussed on the Inside Higher Ed blog:
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/09/17/it

20. That standards don’t address the need for students to teach
themselves?
 …education’s job, in the 1950s and ’60s, was to prepare students for a future
that was static and predictable… I believe that we no longer live in those
times. I believe that we need schools where students teach
themselves. We must assure that they become literate, but that it is a
literacy to learn — learning literacy. We should assure that they are gaining
a common context for themselves, who they are, what they are, where
they are, when they are, and that they appreciate the ways that their
environment impacts them and how they impact their environment —
and that they learn these things through their developing learning
literacies.”
 Quoted from the blog 2 Cents Worth in the blog of the Shifted Librarian,
Tuesday, September 11, 2007,
Teaching Information Literacy Is No Longer “Static and Predictable”

21.  No.
 No.
 No.
(not directly at least) -
1) Standards attempt to address these
issues in their own way…
2) There are deeper philosophical
issues.

22. What English teachers* really want
More full recognition that:
 “We know more than we can tell” (Michael Polanyi)
 The importance of impressions, intuition, anecdote
(qualitative “measures” “count”!)
 “Replicability” is not always achievable nor desirable!
 “Inquiry into problems; critical thinking” > “Informational
reports”
 Citation as aid to framing questions, establishing currency and
credibility, advertising allegiances, and exploring
disagreements and open questions > citation to avoid
plagiarism (Rold Norgaard)…
*or, more generally, humanities scholars.

23.  Structured ways of exploring issues of
purpose / meaning
 The importance of artisanal research (work
by single scholar)
 There are disciplines not merely aiming for
“more rapid convergence”, but
divergence, i.e. “comprehensiveness and
richness” (Andrew Abbot).
Interesing article: Norgaard, Rold, “Writing Information Literacy in the
Classroom: Pedagogical Enactments and Implications”, Reference & User
Services Quarterly, vol. 43, no. 3, Spring 2004

24. Explaining key concepts:
Convergent thinking
http://www.uclan.ac.uk/psychology/Psychology/defining.htm
 Think bicycle
 “Various solutions are offered which gradually and
increasingly converge until, finally, a design
emerges which is ‘the answer’ – a bicycle – an
answer that turns out to be amazingly stable over
time… because it complies with the laws of the
Universe – laws at the level of inanimate nature.”
Schumacher, E. F. A Guide for the Perplexed. New York: Harper & Row, 1977, 121.

25. Divergent thinking: think education
“What is the best method of education?”
 If discipline and obedience are a good thing, “it can be argued with perfect
logic that if something is a ‘a good thing’, more of it would be a better thing,
and perfect discipline and obedience would be a perfect thing… and the
school would become a prison house.”
 If freedom in education is a good thing, “more freedom would be an even
better thing, and perfect freedom would produce perfect education. The
school would become a jungle, even a kind of lunatic asylum.”
 These problems are not unsolved, but insoluble (“Divergent problem par
excellence”)
Schumacher, E. F. A Guide for the Perplexed. New York: Harper & Row, 1977, 122, 123.

26. Limits of convergent thinking…
 “Convergent problems relate to…where
manipulation can proceed without hindrance and
where man can make himself ‘master and
possessor,’ because the subtle, higher forces –
which we have labeled life, consciousness, and
self-awareness – are not present to complicate
matters. Wherever these higher forces
intervene to a significant extent, the problem
ceases to be convergent”
Schumacher, E. F. A Guide for the Perplexed. New York: Harper & Row, 1977, 125.

27. Key issues here:
authority and real-life evidence.
 “we need schools where students teach
themselves”
 Yes. No. (divergent )
 Key questions for us:
 How do we reconcile authority – and seemingly different
views of it – with this kind of statement?
 Is all “pattern recognition” valid?: Is it reasonable to think
that we can always creatively “synthesize information” any
way we intuit?
 What is the key to linking our intuitions with new
procedures and new relationships to be discovered?

28. Libs say: Use these first!

29. How do we create an appetite
for these things? Should we?
 People hungry, but where to eat?
 Lots of places “selling” their food –
good and bad…
 Can we develop a recognition of,
and desire for, good food?
 How do we acknowledge what’s good
about the web, while not
unintentionally drawing attention away
from the treasures of the past?

30. We had previously established….
Google great (for quick facts), but…
 In life we value the
“tough investigation search”
… where we need to examine
 the wider context of particular
facts
 how some facts might even be
understood differently given this
or that “frame”…
(how other facts might alter the
whole picture)

31. I.e. helping us to see more of
the “whole elephant”
Or…
 “covering all the bases”,
 “interrogating all potentially
relevant sources”,
 “NOT ‘good enough’” searching
This is related to the
value of, and help
offered by, expert
authorities (across
disciplines)
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16379/16379-h/16379-h.htm

32. Google great, but …
 A Google search for “Biology” buries this excellent article…

33. ...in 15 seconds
 Require people to edit under real
names
 Verified experts given additional
weight in disagreements
 When articles get really good, experts
vet and approve them.
Johnson, Mike. “Citizendium in fifteen seconds.” [Weblog entry.] Citizendium Blog. 20 Nov.
2007. (http://blog.citizendium.org/2007/11/20/citizendium-in-fifteen-seconds/). 20 Nov.
2007.

34. The way through the thicket…
 Pretty deep stuff…suffer my getting
philosophical here…
 Google needs some “person-
power” not just in initially creating
their popularity algorithms, but at every
step along the way…
 Because…

35. Knowledge is cultivated by, and inseparable
from, prepared (educated) persons
 “…information literacy can easily be reduced to
a neutral, technological skill that is seen as
merely functional or performative [if you say “I
resign” then saying it performs the act of resignation].”
Norgaard, Rold, “Writing Information Literacy in the Classroom: Pedagogical Enactments
and Implications”, Reference & User Services Quarterly, vol. 43, no. 3, Spring 2004
 Information literacy is a very human and
personal, not mechanical or merely
performative process…

36. Bridging science and humanities
 The scientist-turned-philosopher Michael
Polanyi (Personal Knowledge, 1958) said:
 knowledge is fundamentally personal
(“subjective” in this sense).
 true knowing involves… "passionate
and personal commitment.”
 Since knowledge is personal, we must
speak of "personal knowledge“,
"embodied knowledge“, "knowledge
as performance“, etc.
 Yet… increased “objectivity” is the
accomplishment of personal
subjects, who, having been guided
apprentices, willingly dedicate
themselves to making contact with the
external world.
Hampden-Turner,
Charles. Maps of
the Mind. New
York: Macmillan,
1981.
http://www.missouriwestern.edu/orgs/polanyi/

37.  "into every act of knowing there
enters a tacit and passionate
contribution of the person knowing
what is being known."
(Michael Polanyi, Personal Knowledge, 312).
 "the object of his pursuit is not of his
making. His acts stand under the
judgment of the hidden reality he
seeks to uncover.”
 The scientist's knowledge comprises
"personal judgments exercised
responsibly with a view to a reality
with which he is seeking to establish
contact."
(Michael Polanyi, Meaning, 194).
http://www.amazon.de/Personal-Knowledge-
Towards-Post-critical-Philosophy/dp/0226672883

38. Getting PERSONal: MyAssumptions.
YourAssumptions?
 We exist! (or: “I exist. You exist” [kind of like "I'm OK. You're OK“])
 We share a world out there.
 Despite all the messiness, there is some order out there to be
discovered (particularly in the minds of other persons).
 It makes sense (is worthwhile) to try to learn about this world
 Our "epistemological equipment" (senses and reason) also "makes
sense", so we can rely on it to learn about the world out there.
 Our experiences of reality are analogous to other healthy persons
(i.e. those who have received appropriate socialization - love).
 People universally endowed with at least some shared concepts: e.g.
“thirsty”, “clouds”, “tears”, “sad”, “food”, “mother”, “father”, etc.

39. Skeptical about skepticism
 1.2.4: Maintain a critical stance by
questioning the validity and accuracy of
all information.
 Note: We can question these basic
assumptions, but in the very process of
questioning them, we see that they are
“part and parcel” of our inquiry!

40. Claim: Various disciplines create
mental maps
 Based on these and other common assumptions…
 Without fail,
 individual persons develop all kinds of mental maps
 …to understand this or that, and to helping them accomplish
particular purposes
 these conceptions are often supported by larger “world-
studying” groups (“research” in the best sense)
 …that will vouch for, and defend their validity (disciplinary
spheres).
 In each case, persons are concerned to form mental-maps to
accurately represent the world out there, i.e. the persons
who form them are invested in knowing truth.
 Note: Real science, for example, is actually frontier-based – the exact
cookbook “methodologies” can not encourage the personal discovery
aspect (the guesswork).

41. Empiricism? Not empirical enough!
 Those who, for example, practice the
hard sciences, utilizing the scientific
method, obviously do not have a
monopoly on “empirical studies” per
se. (empirical = based on experience
and observation)
 Different groups represent specific
views about how evidence-based
study is best done within their
disciplines.

42.  Speaking of the tendency to rigorously apply
the scientific method to all subjects and
disciplines (forms of empiricism /
positivism), one has said:
 “What we have to deplore… is not so
much the fact that scientists are
specialising, but rather the fact that
specialists are generalizing.”
Schumacher, E. F. A Guide for the Perplexed. New York: Harper & Row, 1977, 5.
 Polanyi: An overly objective approach to
science is irrational

43. People need mapmaking
 …Mapmaking is an empirical art that employs a
high degree of abstraction but nonetheless
clings to reality with something akin to self-
abandonment. Its motto, in a sense, is “Accept
everything: reject nothing.” If something is there,
if it has any kind of existence, if people notice it and
are interested in it, it must be indicated on the
map, in its proper place…
…What is the value of a description if it omits the
most interesting aspects and features of the object
being described?
Schumacher, E. F. A Guide for the Perplexed. New York: Harper & Row, 1977, 7, 118.

44. Distinctions about information
literacy in disciplines
 “…information literacy’s connection to
community – that is, the ongoing social and
disciplinary practices on which any information
literacy must depend and in which it must take
root. The arts of information literacy vary
according to the discipline and the ways
that a particular discipline makes and
communicates knowledge. Our instruction
should likewise always reinvent itself to
acknowledge those nuances.”
Norgaard, Rold, “Writing Information Literacy in the Classroom: Pedagogical
Enactments and Implications”, Reference & User Services Quarterly, vol. 43,
no. 3, Spring 2004

45. Two crucial truths that balance us.
 Again: Is all “pattern recognition” valid?: Is it reasonable to think that we
can creatively “synthesize information” any way we intuit?
 Reality not infinitely malleable:
(i.e. “it can’t be carved up just any way”- David Weinberger)
 [Even] in library-based work [historians, English literature, etc],
there is “a taste for reinterpretation that is clever and insightful
but at the same time founded in evidence and argument.”
 We need complex maps:
 “Meaning has an extraordinary multiplicity that cannot be
easily captured by the rigidly limited vocabularies of variables
and standard methods”
Quotes from Andrew Abbot, “The Traditional Future: A Computational Theory of Library Research” [pre-
print])

46. “Life bigger than ‘logic’” ; but not maps
 “Justice is a denial of mercy, and mercy is a denial of
justice. Only a higher force can reconcile these
opposites: wisdom. The problem cannot be solved, but
wisdom can transcend it. Similarly, societies need
stability and change, tradition and innovation, public
interest and private interest, planning and laissez-faire,
order and freedom, growth and decay. Everywhere
society’s health depends on the simultaneous pursuit of
mutually opposed activities or aims. The adoption of a
final solution means a kind of death sentence for man’s
humanity and spells either cruelty or dissolution,
generally both… Divergent problems offend the logical
mind.”
Schumacher, E. F. A Guide for the Perplexed. New York: Harper & Row, 1977, 127.

47. Can’t touch this: very personal maps
 “…If something is there, if it has any kind of existence, if
people notice it and are interested in it, it must be indicated
on the map, in its proper place”.
 I know - am confident and convinced that - my mom and
dad love me
 Valid knowledge – and a controlling assumption in my life.
 Not suitable / appropriate / possible to do “rigorous analysis” – so
can’t “prove” it to you.
 For my own “purposes”, I don’t need to verify it with two
witnesses.
 If I thought I needed to for no reason other than to question
the assumption, would that be appropriate / wise?
 I won’t begin to question this unless you can persuade me
to do so (question) with evidence.

48. There is “Authoritative art”
 Great literature, for example, resonates…
Stephen King on Harry Potter:
“There's a lot of meat on the bones of these books —
good writing, honest feeling, a sweet but
uncompromising view of human nature...and hard reality”
 Great literature keeps us “factually honest” with the real
world – the human condition… Artists connect with reality in
jarring ways…
 I see myself in [this, that character]… I feel like I am
beginning to understand this, that person / culture, etc.
 Interesting “aside”: men don’t read much fiction, but more
boys than girls have read Harry Potter.

49. There is “Authoritative
science”
 Unlike fable, “which has burrs and feet and claws
and wings and an indestructible sheath like weed-
seed and can be carried almost anywhere and take
root without benefit of soil or water”…
 “Verifiable [repeatable, testable]
knowledge makes its way
slowly, and only under
cultivation.”
Stegner, Wallace. Beyond the hundredth meridian. Penguin
Books, 1992. p. 134.

50. In a sense, all authorities / experts
in the arts and the sciences are…
 Discoverers
 Explorers
 Voyageurs
 Adventurers
 Investigators
 Detectives
(Pick your metaphor…)
 Map-makers (for self, others, etc.)

51. Maps also inform and
fascinate
 In maps, a purpose is always implied
 Of course maps also…
 …may simply inform us about the
existence of fascinating objects out
there
(Of course, many “Enlightenment maps” claimed to only be about this, i.e.,
they were de-personalized [“purely objective”] and about “science for
science’s sake”, thereby claiming to be, in some sense at least, “de-
purposed”)

52. Reconciling: art and science,
heart and head, “content” and
“process”
Experts are… http://www.britishcouncil.org/northernireland-society.htm
 Apprentices who deal with/have *dealt seriously with* the master
mentors who have gone before them (trust, reception of instruction)
 And have exhibited
 curiosity (“problem solving”, simple “child-like wonder”, etc.)
 intuition (tacit knowledge: “we know more than we can tell”)
 inner reflection (not precluding natural giftedness)
 dedication (“light at end of tunnel” because of “fiduciary
framework”)
 and “on-the-ground” effort (“leather-foot journalism”)
 …regarding their contact with the world out there (in all of its
seemingly static and changing, immutable and mutable aspects…)
 They believe that meaningful new discoveries can/will be made.
 They have done so in ways - and for purposes - recognized as valid
/ reasonable (ethical! – some things always “beyond the pale”) in the
eyes of others around them…
 Sometimes people can represent, translate, or “map” knowledge for
*others* in a creative, helpful fashion.

53. Sometimes “popularizing” in
amazingly creative, age-appropriate
ways!
Subjects:
 Physics ; Relativity (Physics)
 …In his bedroom
one rainy
afternoon, he
embarks on a
philosophical
journey that will
take him to the
furthest reaches of
the universe!

54. Valid “mental-maps” (detail)
Also note:
 1) Some maps can not be adequately described by
words or pictures alone but demand other kinds of
“communicative settings” (the art of riding a bicycle,
reading an x-ray, choosing the proper wood for a cello)
(i.e. some highly developed knowledge is tacit, defying
all attempts at formalization, and is picked up
unconsciously from apprentices who simply trust their
master mentor’s way of doing things)
 2) There are “multiple intelligences”. Corollary: we
trust people for some things but not others…
(may be totally competent in one area and seem to us
“mentally ill” in another area)….

55.  3) All of us are “experts” (“elites” in this sense) in this
or that area, this or that sense…(Expertise exists not
only in "degreed" persons)
 4) Since we share a common world, there is
interdisciplinary overlap (with the real corresponding
possibility of knowledge from here building on
knowledge from there)
 5) Paradigm shifts happen (break offs occur in
disciplines)
 6) One would certainly be wrong to think that we, in our
“objectivity”, can act in such a way that we do not impact
the world
 7) One person can use another person’s map for
purposes for which the mapmaker never intended or
foresaw.

56. Celebrate the playing field
 “the key to communicating the relevance
of information literacy is to convey the
broad intellectual playing field on which
it moves”.
Norgaard, Rold, “Writing Information Literacy in the Classroom: Pedagogical Enactments and
Implications”, Reference & User Services Quarterly, vol. 43, no. 3, Spring 2004
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Allianz_Arena_Playing_field_panorama.jpg

57. Beyond “narrow expertise”:
Life’s great questions
http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks
/philosophy/socrates.htm
 Socrates: “the ignorant [do not]
seek after wisdom; for herein is the
evil of ignorance, that he who is
neither good not wise is
nevertheless satisfied with
himself”.
 “Grasping for the Totality”: all, at
some level, have felt / feel the need
to explain the world in a way that
brings coherence to the “facts of
life” (truths)

58. Universal maps –
the road to defragmentation
 We are constantly trying to
 organize
 define
 state
…what is true.
 Seem to want…
 a conception of the world that makes sense of it all
 something by which we may “grasp the Totality”
 Not just maps of truth, but of Truth
 A holistic “Uber-map”

59. …a thousand Uber-maps bloom
 These may come in the form of:
 Myths, epic poems/songs, narratives
 Philosophies (ethical, naturalistic, rationalistic,
postmodern, political [Nationalism, others], etc.)
 Reality as Geometrical /Mathematical/
”Elegant”
(“Abstract transcendental realm of perfect mathematical
relationships”-Davies)
 Religion, Systematic theologies, etc.

60.  These, further
 influence the way we view the cosmos /
world
 …and particular aspects of it,
 are to a large degree inherited,
 change over time, all the time

61. On dual T/truth maps (detail)
 Due to the fruit of our critical thinking /
exploration… our conceptions in the
case of t/Truth maps may
 stay relatively stable,
 evolve into something very different, or
 be gradually refined and nuanced
 Doubt is always with us…
 “Conversions” may be gradual and
sudden.

62. On dual T/truth maps (detail)
 Our tacit or explicit Truth map affects our
truth maps and are to some extent affected
by them.
 Some Truth maps may make arriving at
some truth maps more difficult (or
impossible) and vice-versa.
 We are all ideologues – what kind of
ideologue are you?
(the role of evidence and experience in map-
refining in individuals)

63. Emaciated / Impoverished uber-maps
 Some “Uber-maps” strongly imply
that there is nothing intrinsic about
beauty, justice, and meaning, for
example – i.e. beauty, justice, and
meaning are only something that
I/we (and those we choose to
associate with) create / make /
determine.

64. American democracy –
the right to be wrong
AASL Guidelines: http://www.randomhouse.com/teens/firstamendment/resources.html
3.3.6 – “Use information and knowledge in the service of
democratic values.”
 American democracy = Strong convictions
(faith/conscience) and strong civility (political)
 We are all ideologues – what kind of ideologue are you?:
 Can we fundamentally disagree with someone and still
consider them a person of equal, intrinsic value –
regardless of how others might evaluate them – with whom
we are determined to share a common society / life?

65. Objections to “T/truth maps”
“Map”: “Nice, but…” (meta-ing)
 Question: But how does this explanation not
qualify as a “Universal Map” – how am I not
suddenly the objective observer / God?
 Fact: There will always be an element of trust
involved in authority – who do you trust?
(the Web 2.0 folks say: openness, transparency, trust…)
 Answer: You don’t need to trust me here… Test
me! This is not “secret knowledge”
(I think undistorted communication within free and open
encounters in which one may argue one's case before others –
and have it tried, tested, and contested – are desirable).

66. Loose ends: the big
library connection
Original focus of the library movement:
 “to deliver the best books by the best
authors to a public, who by reading them
would become mentally cultivated.”
 Not giving books to people because they
“can do something with it” (practical use),
but because of “what a book would do to
them.”
Francis Miska, “The Genius of Cataloging”, audio program.

67. Loose ends: the
cataloging connection
Responsible to promote
information literacy:
 …assisting school media centers to create an
“educationally purposeful space”
 …where age-appropriate idea exploration can be
encouraged and nurtured (helping students to
form meaningful and responsible [grounded in
evidence] “mental maps” of persons, places,
things, ideas and their connections)
 …in part by striving for comprehensive access
to specific library materials though the use of
cataloging practices, and by other, additional
means.

68. Loose ends: the
reading connection
 Reading, [Pierre] Bayard
[, the author of “How to
Talk About Books You Haven't Read”] says,
is as much about mastering a system of
relationships among texts and ideas as it
is about reading any one text in great
depth.
Kirschenbaum, Matthew, “How Reading is Being Reimagined”, The
Chronicle of Higher Education, Dec. 7, 2007
 One might better call this “Reading”,
“information literacy”, or, “knowledge”.

69. Loose ends:
Laying foundations for creativity
 NOT so much: ‘If you want truly to
understand something, try to change it.’
- Kurt Lewin
 Rather like John Dewey:
Critical inquiry that attempts to
understand the world and changing the
world go hand in hand…
(One can even be “conservative” for the sake of
being “radical”)

70. In sum (wrap-up?)
 Authorities / Experts who make contact
with reality and their various “maps” are
valuable to us.
 Creating new knowledge presumes
foundational content, personally received
(some “old understandings” made fresh).
 Libraries are part and parcel of this
enterprise. We “map the maps”.
“Information Literacy” goes deep.

71. Practically speaking - why start with
databases, other library resources?
 Some of the top expert knowledge
(get paid because they *know* that, how…)
 Variety of informed perspectives
([mostly] accurate facts, different *frames*)
 Enjoyable to read
(good writing, rhetorical skills)
 Eye to the “common good”
(Respectful persuasion ^, Name-calling v )
 Beyond keywords, popularity algorithms, and
“concordance” indexing
(More powerful searching tools, controlled vocabularies,
etc.)
Libs try to collect the best of the best and influential works.
(though yes, even we have outdated, contradictory, biased, and even
deliberately inflammatory materials [e.g. “Mein Kampf”] on our shelves!)

72. FIN.