ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 3 9 6 / C& RL N e w s ■ M a y 1999 W a s h i n g t o n H o t l i n e Lynn E. Bradley N RC r e p o r t e n c o u r a g e s f lu e n c y w it h in f o r m a t io n t e c h n o lo g y T h e e x p l o s i v e g ro w th o f in fo r m a tio n t e c h n o l ­ o g y is h a v in g a p r o fo u n d im p a c t o n o u r liv es, a c c o r d in g t o t h e N a tio n a l R e s e a r c h C o u n c il (N R C ). W h e t h e r a c a d e m i c lib ra ria n s , a c c o u n ­ tan ts o r a s s e m b ly lin e w o rk e r s , p e o p le a re u sin g t e c h n o lo g y s u c h a s c o m p u te r s , th e In tern et, a n d e le c tr o n ic c o m m e r c e in d iffe re n t w a y s a n d w ith v a ry in g le v e ls o f sk ill a n d u n d e r s ta n d in g . In re ­ s p o n s e , th e C o m p u te r S c ie n c e a n d T e le c o m m u ­ n ic a tio n s B o a r d ( C S T B ) o f N R C r e c e n t ly a n ­ n o u n c e d t h e r e l e a s e o f a n e w r e p o rt, “B e in g F lu e n t w ith In fo r m a tio n T e c h n o l o g y ,” fu n d e d b y th e N a tio n a l S c ie n c e F o u n d a tio n . T h e s tu d y c o m m i t t e e , c h a i r e d b y L arry S n y d e r f r o m t h e U n iv e r s ity o f W a s h i n g t o n , s o u g h t t o u n d e r s t a n d w h a t p e o p l e n e e d t o k n o w in o r d e r t o u s e i n f o r m a t i o n t e c h n o l o g y e f f e c t i v e l y t o d a y a n d t o a d a p t t o t o m o r r o w . A lth o u g h t h e r e p o r t is m a in ly f o c u s e d o n t e c h ­ n o l o g y , it c o v e r s a b r o a d r a n g e o f lit e r a c y is ­ s u e s th a t a r e o f c o n c e r n t o lib ra r ie s a n d lib ra ry e d u c a t i o n , s u c h a s w h a t in f o r m a t io n w o r k e r s a n d u s e r s o f t h e f u t u r e n e e d t o k n o w . T h e s tu d y a l s o a p p r o a c h e d t h e p r o b l e m o f u n d e r ­ s t a n d i n g i n f o r m a t i o n t e c h n o l o g y f r o m t h e s t a n d p o in t o f “f l u e n c y .” F lu e n c y re q u ir e s a d e e p e r u n d e r s ta n d in g o f h o w c o m p u te r s w o r k a n d m a s te ry o f t e c h n o l ­ o g y fo r in fo rm a tio n p ro c e s s in g , c o m m u n ic a tio n , a n d p r o b l e m so lv in g . D e v e lo p i n g f lu e n c y is a life lo n g le a rn in g p r o c e s s th a t re q u ire s p e o p l e to c o n tin u a lly b u ild o n t h e ir k n o w le d g e o f in fo r­ m a tio n t e c h n o l o g y t o a p p ly it m o r e e ffe c tiv e ly in th e ir liv e s. F lu e n c y is a l s o c h a r a c t e r iz e d b y d ifferen t lev els o f so p h istica tio n in a p e r s o n ’s u n ­ d ersta n d in g a n d u s e o f te c h n o lo g y . A lth o u g h f lu e n c y is a c h ie v a b l e f o r m o s t p e o p l e r e g a r d le s s o f g ra d e le v e l o r e x p e r i e n c e , th e re p o rt’s fra m e w o rk fo r d e v e lo p in g it fo c u s e d o n c o lle g e students, b e c a u s e institutions o f h igh er le a r n in g h a v e t h e m o s t e x p e r i e n c e c r e a tin g c o u rs e s a b o u t c o m p u te rs a n d related inform ation sy stem s. C o lle g e s a ls o se r v e a larg e c o n s titu e n c y w ith a b r o a d r a n g e o f in te re s ts a n d s p e c ia liz a - Lynne E. B ra d le y is d ep u ty e x e cu tive d ire cto r o f ALA's W ashington Office; e-mail: leb@alawash.org t io n s t o w h i c h in fo r m a tio n t e c h n o l o g y c a n b e applied. T h e re p o rt g o e s o n t o sta te th a t s u c c e s s fu lly t e a c h in g h o w t o u s e in fo rm a tio n t e c h n o lo g y e f­ fe c tiv e ly w ill re q u ire a s e r io u s re th in k in g o f th e e n tir e c o ll e g e c u rric u lu m . R a th e r th a n h a v in g in d iv id u a l in s tru c to rs re v ie w c o u r s e c o n t e n t o r a p p r o a c h , a c a d e m ic d e p a rtm e n ts s h o u ld e x a m ­ in e h o w stu d en ts w ill o b ta in t h e n e c e s s a r y c a p a ­ b ilitie s b y t h e tim e th e y g ra d u a te . T h e c o m m itte e f o u n d th at th e r e a r e th re e e s ­ sen tia l a n d in terrelated c o m p o n e n ts f o r u s in g in­ fo rm a tio n t e c h n o lo g y e ffe c tiv e ly : • Intellectual capabilities— th e ap p licatio n and in te r p r e ta tio n o f c o m p u te r c o n c e p t s a n d sk ills u s e d in p r o b le m s o lv in g . E x a m p le s in c lu d e th e ability t o d e fin e a n d clarify a p r o b le m a n d k n o w w h e n it is s o lv e d ; t o u n d e r s ta n d th e a d v a n ta g e s a n d d isad van tages o f a p p a re n t so lu tio n s t o p ro b ­ lem s; a n d to c o p e w ith u n e x p e c te d co n se q u e n ce s, a s w h e n a c o m p u te r s y s te m d o e s n o t w o r k a s intend ed . • C o n c e p ts — th e fu n d a m en ta l id ea s a n d p ro ­ c e s s e s th at su p p o rt in fo rm a tio n te c h n o lo g y , s u c h a s a n a lg o rith m ; h o w in fo rm a tio n is r e p re s e n te d digitally; a n d th e lim itation s o f in fo rm a tio n t e c h ­ n o lo g y . U n d ers ta n d in g b a s ic c o n c e p ts is im p o r­ tant, th e rep o rt says, b e c a u s e te c h n o lo g y ch a n g e s rap id ly a n d c a n r e n d e r sk ills o b s o le te . • Skills— abilities that a re a s s o c ia te d w ith p ar­ tic u la r h a r d w a re a n d so ftw a re sy s tem s. Skills r e ­ q u ire m e n ts w ill c h a n g e a s te c h n o lo g y a d v a n ces , b u t c u rre n tly th e y in c lu d e u s in g w o r d p r o c e s ­ so rs , e -m a il, th e In te rn e t, a n d o t h e r a p p r o p ria te in fo r m a tio n t e c h n o l o g y to o ls e ffe c tiv e ly . T h e p rep u b licatio n v ers io n o f this rep o rt (su b ­ je c t t o fu rth e r e d ito r ia l c o r r e c t i o n ) is a v a ila b le o n t h e W e b a t h ttp :/ / w w w 2 .n a s .e d u / c s tb w e b . T h e fin a l v e r s io n w ill b e a v a ila b le o n l in e a t th e s a m e address, a n d in b o o k form , b y J u n e th ro u g h t h e N a tio n a l A c a d e m y P r e s s ( p h o n e : 8 0 0 - 6 2 4 - 6 2 4 2 o r h ttp :/ / w w w .n a p .ed u ). N o te T h is r e p o r t is b a s e d o n a n A p ril 8 p u b lic a tio n a n n o u n c e m e n t f r o m t h e N a tio n a l R e s e a r c h C o u n c il. F o r m o r e in fo r m a tio n , c o n t a c t B o b L u d w ig , m e d ia r e la tio n s a s s o c ia t e , a t 2 0 2 - 3 3 4 - 2 1 3 8 ; e-m ail: n e w s @ n a s .e d u . ■ mailto:leb@alawash.org http://www2.nas.edu/cstbweb http://www.nap.edu mailto:news@nas.edu C& RL N e w s ■ M a y 1999 / 3 9 7