My name is John LaDue and I teach information literacy. What is information literacy? In short, it’s the ability to recognize when you need information, then find that information, evaluate its credibility, then apply it to your need. For me, the real focus is on the evaluation step. Finding information is easy; finding good, quality information can be hard.
And it’s not just when you go out seeking information, sometimes information seeks you out. We are constantly bombarded with advertisements, public relations campaigns, social media bots, and more. Understanding who is creating the information you encounter, who is promoting it, and who benefits from the way it is presented is the first step to truly understanding information and its role in modern society.
I frequently create lectures and workshops for our students and have decided to adapt those materials for a general audience and maybe add a few things beyond that. There will be articles, videos, and interactive tools that I hope will help you understand the role that information plays within a capitalist system, such as the United States.
I’m also going to add recommended resources, some of the things I have learned from along the way. I still remember the first time I taught a media literacy session. After it was over, someone asked if I had read Michael Parenti and I had not at the time. After reading “Inventing Reality,” I realized I could’ve saved myself a lot of time if I had read that first.