Abstract:

Based on his original vision of Information Literacy(IL) and indepth analysis of its continuing relevance to the economic, political and social changes of the 21st  Century, the author looks into the next 40 years of IL. First, the author described how his 1974 proposal to the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science(NCLIS) explained that the then emerging Information Service Environment was producing information services requiring user training in computer searching. By his understanding of the users’ need for information skills, he creatively coined the phrase Information Literacy, which triggered a worldwide IL movement over 40 years. In this part, the author also explained that current Internet experience proves that there is still a need for the development of information search skills, which could be regarded as a new step for IL, and referred to as Action Literacy (AL). Second, using Greece, Britain, and the States as examples, the author analyzed how information asymmetry has been resulting in the inequality which is currently corrupting the economy and democracy of individual countries, and held that facing this challenge, AL is able to provide the solutions to it as empowered by their improved capability to find good information through universal IL training, people will be able to control the switches to information so to know how to address this underlying problem. In the last part of this keynote speech, the author emphasized that the IL movement must now turn its attention to the application of IL skills in different sectors. In his point of view, to date IL efforts have emphasized academic versions of IL rather than reallife, takeaction, or AL. It now comes a demand for action by IL advocates, experts, librarians, educators and information businesses to focus on extending IL training on the universal basis, actually a system of AL. The author thus introduced his current work with the public library system in his home county, establishing the Action Literacy Coalition(ALC) to provide the means for all involved to coordinate their efforts, to develop local AL training events and also a network through which to share the experience and forward thrust of local organization at home and around the world. This speech concluded that in the long run it would be a global plan to engage members of the public around the world in a program of AL. The focal point of the effort is public libraries.

Keywords: Information literacy, Action literacy, Action literacy coalition