If you are a student or teacher at any educational level, you will have heard the phrase “Information Literacy.” What is it? How can you use it to enhance learning or improve your life? According to The American Library Association's Presidential Committee on Information Literacy:

To be information literate, a person must be able to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information…..Ultimately, information literate people are those who have learned how to learn. They know how to learn because they know how knowledge is organized, how to find information, and how to use information in such a way that others can learn from them.

4th Annual Banned Books ReadOut!

Hultquist Library Pit

Wednesday, October 3, 12 noon

Listen to JCC students, faculty, administrators, and staff read passages from their favorite banned books.

If video does not display, connect to Bill Moyers on Banned Books Week from BillMoyers.com on Vimeo.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

While most people believe in our basic freedoms, controversy does exist in regard to where the limit is. For example, should those who use hate speech or burn the flag be protected under the First Amendment?

Philadelphia’s Pennsylvania State House, now known as Independence Hall, has witnessed the drafting of the Declaration of Independence, the signing of the Articles of Confederation, and its walls heard the debate over the future U.S. Constitution, which was signed on September 17, 1787. During the discussion on adopting the document, some argued that it would lead to tyranny by the central government, so on September 25, 1789, the First Congress of the United States proposed twelve amendments to the U.S. Constitution that would protect the individual rights of the citizens of the country. Ten of those twelve were accepted and became the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, also known as the Bill of Rights.

Photo by Lindsey E. Kaufman

In support of the right to choose books freely for ourselves, the ALA and the Hultquist Library are sponsoring Banned Books Week (September 30 – October 6, 2012), an annual celebration of our right to access books without censorship. This year's observance commemorates the most basic freedom in a democratic society—the freedom to read freely—and encourages us not to take this freedom for granted. The Hultquist Library and thousands of libraries and bookstores across the country will celebrate the freedom to read by participating in special events, exhibits, and read-outs that showcase books that have been banned or threatened.

What is CQ Researcher?

CQ Researcher is unlike most of the other databases you have used – it doesn’t contain articles from journals, magazines, books or newspapers. Instead, it is a collection of self-contained, in-depth reports. Each report offers an analysis and background information on a particular current issue. The reports are written by journalists and offer a non-biased, objective narrative of each topic. New reports become available on a weekly basis.

Where can I find it?