Mashups and Wikis and Blogs...Oh My!

In the May 12, 2011 blog (http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hinchcliffe) post titled "How social media and big data will unleash what we know," Dion Hinchcliffe states that modern day social media "generates more information in a short period of time than was previously available in the entire world a few generations ago." While this statement may be true, it does not necessarily mean that all of that information is the correct information. As Hinchcliffe notes, users must "make sense of" and understand the information that is being produced. This overwhelming amount of available information makes our information skills all the more important. Also, librarians need to not only use their own info literacy skills but should also make an extra effort to teach others how to use those skills. I am reminded of one or two readings that I read as part of LSC 528 a couple years ago, which focused on reinforcing these skills with young adults. It is still important, of course, to teach information literacy skills to youth; however, Hinchcliffe's blog post demonstrates that it is just as important now to also teach these skills to adults. Librarians, especially those that interact with a wide age range of patrons, must be aware of this teaching need and how to fill it.