Information literacy is the ability to recognise an information need, source and evaluate the information, then apply, diseminate, store and dispose of it as needed. Ask your garden variety librarian to find documentation concerning problem XYZ on system D and they'll not only be able to find it, they'll be able to tell you how they did it, so you can do it yourself next time.
The Linux snobs mentioned (and any other computer snobs) are not capable of this. They have no real idea of how they acquired their knowledge, no real idea of how to gain more knowledge efficiently, and would flounder outside their area of expertise. They are obselete relics of a less information rich time.
They have no real understanding of information requirements, and indeed will give source code explanations to someone who's just beyond point-and-click, wasting both the asker and the answerer's time.
The worst part is, it undermines the point of open source: information freedom. If someone has gone to the trouble of pin-pointing their information need, it's only courtesy to respond to that need. If it's most efficient to point to an FAQ, a forum thread or a documentaton list, do that (even just a better place to ask the question again). If it's more efficient to answer yourself, do that. They'll be able to move onto the next phase of inquiry, because you've given them a gateway into knowledge. Everybody wins, including the ideal of open-source.
But if you are obstructive to an inquirer via rudeness, info-undersupply or information oversupply, then you've rendered their information sourcing unproductive, and anyone intelligent would move on to another OS/information source where their inquiries will meet with success. Congrats, you've made yourself and your knowledge useless to other people.
Conversely, if someone posts vague, unresearched questions like 'How do I use Linux?' or 'Why did I crash?' they are making a thoughtless inquiry. Feel free to reply saying that's too vague and/or tell them to ask google. You get to be obliquely insulting and helpful at the same time, and use both your and their time efficiently, since hopefully they'll go away until they've got a more suitable question. RTFM requires no thought, no knowledge, no understanding and no social skills.
Not being able to give an answer appropriate to the question is a sign of information illiteracy. Being a guru isn't just about knowing everything, it's knowing how to learn everything, and therefore how to teach.
(And I believe that puts in one place a lot of things other replies have touched on)
Re:The rats didn't deserve this
on
Slacker or Sick
·
· Score: 1
I've heard of exercise. It's that thing I do, every day I work and three nights a week. Excepting when my wrist hurts and/or I feel exhausted, and so go to sleep, which is something I do every night for 8-9 hours. I did mention I was monitoring that.
Also, you seem to mis-understand my sentiment. I do not wish animals to be killed for science, and I wasn't aware that any rats had been killed for this study for that matter. I was simply grateful the study had been done as I see great potential benefits from it. Since the rats had been discomforted for that benefit, I wished to thank them for their part in it, however indirectly.
Please understand my position. I'm a library assistant and RSI is endemic to my profession, notable by the volume of relevant literature:
http://lib.ucr.edu/ergolib/printreading.html
A lot of my colleages suffer from/have suffered from RSI injuries, and so this study has been of interest to them. We are all aware of the dangers of aquiring a life-long disability associated with this profession. We all wish to avoid those dangers, and understanding how RSI can induce definite and measurable symptoms -before- sustaining a lasting injury is a great boon.
I'm sending the article to my Workplace Health and Safety Officer, as a potential new factor for calculating the production down-time of a repetitive strain injury, and as a potential future way to detect RSI.
I'm also sending it to my lecturers at university where I study librarianship. From past experience they'll be interested in sharing this article with my fellow students, since they try very hard to prepare us for the reality of life as information professionals. (I'm getting ALIA*1 certified. All computer geeks know the importance of certification when trying to getting employed:D)
If I were geographically proximious I'd volunteer to be part of the human trials. It really is not an inane study from my point of view.
---
*1 http://www.alia.org.au/
PS: You implied that Dr Ann Barr and Dr Mary Barbe were pseudo-scientists. That wasn't very nice.
Re:The rats didn't deserve this
on
Slacker or Sick
·
· Score: 1
As someone who has RSI, I feel it was a worthy study.
My relief at hearing that RSI could cause fatigue-type symptoms is incredible. After constantly monitoring my sleep and nutrition, only to still feel.. lazy.. despite being young, enjoying my job and having a good work ethic. It worried me. If there is a good reason for my excessive exhaustion, I have a path to health.
Thankyou rats, your pain has already benefitted someone.
Surely touch-screen tech isn't dead with PDAs? Is it still a viable interface, or too powerhungry/fragile?
I-pod may have honed the profitable art of doing one thing well, but surely touchscreens give the ability to have a completely customisable interface, making it potentially superior.
Slashdot Mirror
Information literacy is the ability to recognise an information need, source and evaluate the information, then apply, diseminate, store and dispose of it as needed. Ask your garden variety librarian to find documentation concerning problem XYZ on system D and they'll not only be able to find it, they'll be able to tell you how they did it, so you can do it yourself next time.
The Linux snobs mentioned (and any other computer snobs) are not capable of this. They have no real idea of how they acquired their knowledge, no real idea of how to gain more knowledge efficiently, and would flounder outside their area of expertise. They are obselete relics of a less information rich time.
They have no real understanding of information requirements, and indeed will give source code explanations to someone who's just beyond point-and-click, wasting both the asker and the answerer's time.
The worst part is, it undermines the point of open source: information freedom.
If someone has gone to the trouble of pin-pointing their information need, it's only courtesy to respond to that need. If it's most efficient to point to an FAQ, a forum thread or a documentaton list, do that (even just a better place to ask the question again). If it's more efficient to answer yourself, do that. They'll be able to move onto the next phase of inquiry, because you've given them a gateway into knowledge. Everybody wins, including the ideal of open-source.
But if you are obstructive to an inquirer via rudeness, info-undersupply or information oversupply, then you've rendered their information sourcing unproductive, and anyone intelligent would move on to another OS/information source where their inquiries will meet with success. Congrats, you've made yourself and your knowledge useless to other people.
Conversely, if someone posts vague, unresearched questions like 'How do I use Linux?' or 'Why did I crash?' they are making a thoughtless inquiry. Feel free to reply saying that's too vague and/or tell them to ask google. You get to be obliquely insulting and helpful at the same time, and use both your and their time efficiently, since hopefully they'll go away until they've got a more suitable question. RTFM requires no thought, no knowledge, no understanding and no social skills.
Not being able to give an answer appropriate to the question is a sign of information illiteracy. Being a guru isn't just about knowing everything, it's knowing how to learn everything, and therefore how to teach.
(And I believe that puts in one place a lot of things other replies have touched on)
I've heard of exercise. It's that thing I do, every day I work and three nights a week. Excepting when my wrist hurts and/or I feel exhausted, and so go to sleep, which is something I do every night for 8-9 hours. I did mention I was monitoring that.
:D)
Also, you seem to mis-understand my sentiment. I do not wish animals to be killed for science, and I wasn't aware that any rats had been killed for this study for that matter. I was simply grateful the study had been done as I see great potential benefits from it. Since the rats had been discomforted for that benefit, I wished to thank them for their part in it, however indirectly.
Please understand my position. I'm a library assistant and RSI is endemic to my profession, notable by the volume of relevant literature: http://lib.ucr.edu/ergolib/printreading.html
A lot of my colleages suffer from/have suffered from RSI injuries, and so this study has been of interest to them. We are all aware of the dangers of aquiring a life-long disability associated with this profession. We all wish to avoid those dangers, and understanding how RSI can induce definite and measurable symptoms -before- sustaining a lasting injury is a great boon.
I'm sending the article to my Workplace Health and Safety Officer, as a potential new factor for calculating the production down-time of a repetitive strain injury, and as a potential future way to detect RSI.
I'm also sending it to my lecturers at university where I study librarianship. From past experience they'll be interested in sharing this article with my fellow students, since they try very hard to prepare us for the reality of life as information professionals. (I'm getting ALIA*1 certified. All computer geeks know the importance of certification when trying to getting employed
If I were geographically proximious I'd volunteer to be part of the human trials. It really is not an inane study from my point of view.
---
*1 http://www.alia.org.au/
PS: You implied that Dr Ann Barr and Dr Mary Barbe were pseudo-scientists. That wasn't very nice.
Bad call. RSI is a librarian's constant foe.
As someone who has RSI, I feel it was a worthy study.
.. lazy.. despite being young, enjoying my job and having a good work ethic. It worried me. If there is a good reason for my excessive exhaustion, I have a path to health.
My relief at hearing that RSI could cause fatigue-type symptoms is incredible. After constantly monitoring my sleep and nutrition, only to still feel
Thankyou rats, your pain has already benefitted someone.
Surely touch-screen tech isn't dead with PDAs? Is it still a viable interface, or too powerhungry/fragile?
I-pod may have honed the profitable art of doing one thing well, but surely touchscreens give the ability to have a completely customisable interface, making it potentially superior.