Coping with Information

So much has already been written about everything that you can't find out anything about it. -- James Thurber

Okay, I think we can agree that with the huge amount of information available today, the ability to successfully locate and retrieve specific information is critical. In fact, it has been identified as a component of information literacy (Association of College & Research Libraries, 2000; Wisconsin Association of Academic Librarians, 1998). There is a vast body of literature written on information retrieval, and it includes many fields of study, including information seeking behavior, human-computer interaction, and artificial intelligence, to name a few. Effective information also retrieval relies heavily upon the techniques used in the organization and indexing of the stored information. A study of information retrieval reveals the skills and abilities needed to understand how information is stored, how it is searched and analyzed, and how it is accessed.

References

Association of College & Research Libraries. (2000). Information literacy competency standards for higher education. Retrieved March 26, 2008, from http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlstandards/informationliteracycompetency.cfm

Wisconsin Association of Academic Librarians. (1998). Information literacy competencies and criteria for academic iibraries in Wisconsin. Wisconsin Library Association. Retrieved March 26, 2008, from http://www.wla.lib.wi.us/waal/infolit/ilcc.html