Learning in the Library of Babel

Information literacy isn’t simply the capacity to find and use information, as if it’s a consumer transaction. It’s a years-long process of developing habits of curiosity, a respect for evidence, a grasp of the ethics of inquiry, the confidence for students to think for themselves, and a chance to develop a voice that will help them share ideas to make the world a better place. We’ll explore how this kind of learning in a fast-changing information environment can help USF graduates succeed in their lives and participate in fashioning a more humane and just world. A talk given at the University of San Francisco, October 2015.

21. Image credits Circular “every avenger” visualization – Jer Thorp Library “palace of ambiguity” – Matthew Petroff Shopping cart – Caden Crawford Birch forest – Mercury Dog Stuttgart Library (stand-in for Library of Babel) – Steffen Ramsaier Facebook connections visualization (trails of association) – Kenneth Freeman Information wants to be free padlock – walknboston Information wants to be expensive locked door – Aris Gionis Telephone exchange – Wikimedia Librarians (“blind them with library science”) – New York Public Library Circular Twitter visualization – Daniel Visualization of alumni professions – Carleton College Chicken Chicken Chicken article – Isotropic APA flowchart – American Psychological Association Aircraft worker – Library of Congress Pinwheel as a star is born - NASA This talk was given by Barbara Fister at the University of San Francisco, Oct. 2015 Text is available at barbarafister.com/USF.pdf