Several days after the devastating terrorist attacks in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania, an e-mail was widely distributed and reforwarded across the Internet. You may have received it.
It contained alleged predictions by French Renaissance writer Nostradamus, foretelling the attack on the World Trade Center towers. The e-mailed quotes cited predictions made in the year 1654 AD.
Unfortunately, Nostradamus died almost a century earlier in 1566 AD. The predictions were not quotes from Nostradamus. They were fabricated – a misguided hoax that alarmed an already jittery public.
Not all misinformation following the attacks was so innocently propagated. As a nation mourned and reached out to the victims with unprecedented charitable giving, scam artists hit the phone lines, soliciting donations for less-than-charitable motives. Free-giving Americans were warned to avoid phone solicitors and give directly to legitimate charitable organizations.
These instances and others point to how critical it is for us to be able to accurately assess the universe of information available at our fingertips, select that which is reliable and discard the irrelevant.
That’s why the Washington State Library has launched a statewide public information campaign to help inform people about the vast array of information sources available through which library staff can help people navigate. The program is called the “Information Literacy” campaign.
The Internet has opened up a world of information previously inaccessible to most people, but this “curse of plenty” can overwhelm people who don’t have the time to visit the thousands – even millions – of Web sites typically returned by an Internet search engine.
Verifying the legitimacy of information on the Internet can be equally challenging. Libraries, both public and private, can be an invaluable resource for anyone searching for information on most any topic.
Many library resources are available online via the Internet. Libraries do not compete with the Internet. Libraries use the Internet as a major resource and often pool their expertise with the rest of the information-technology world. Our hope is that this campaign will help people understand the power of that partnership when they search for information.
Library professionals are trained to help people zero in on the information they are looking for and assess its accuracy and reliability. Their expertise is an invaluable tool in today’s information-rich world. Libraries are today, even more than before, the place to go when you really need to know.
Visit www.librarysmart.
com to learn more about this campaign. It’s an excellent resource for kids and parents, teachers and students and anyone looking for smart information.
