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A librarian on bit literacy... almost
In the Washington Post today, A Librarian's Lament:
...literacy today is defined less by how English departments or a librarian might teach Wordsworth or Faulkner than by how we find our way through the digital forest of information overload.
The author is close to describing bit literacy. What he's missing is the result: by becoming bit literate, you're in control of your bits and have more time to become literate in the traditional (librarian's) sense - reading actual paper-based books, without the stress that comes from constant overload.
Bit literacy allows you to manage information better in order to have more time for more important things.
(My new book, Bit Literacy, arrives in May. -mh)
As a former public and academic librarian (and a current librarian without the word in my title) this sort of thing pains me. The idea that people should be taught how to get information trapped only in one container seems the opposite of what librarians are charged with doing. I love information. I love good stories. I love connecting people to both, but I don't see why I shouldn't connect people to the most relevant info and enjoyable stories based on their container.
Should people be teaching kids a love of books? SURE. But a healthy curiosity and love of learning, as well as an excellent sense of credible source material would most definitely make kids book lovers too. If kids can't FIND interesting information do you really expect them to read it?
As my library school professor said, "CONTENT, not container."
I don't think bit literacy just allows you more time to read "real" books, it also allows you to FIND them.