Allison Druin, Associate Dean for Research, iSchool
Recently, The Future of Information Alliance (FIA) was launched with a week of events, meetings, and talks. Hundreds of participants from every College at the University of Maryland came together with three innovators we call “Visiting Future-ists” from Google, Microsoft and Twitter, which were joined by 10 faculty speakers with backgrounds ranging from theatre to computer science to business, and 10 Founding Partners which included, the Library of Congress, the National Archives, the U.S. National Park Service, National Geographic Society, the Smithsonian, the Newseum, WAMU 88.5, and more! This equation offered energizing discussions and some important questions for the future. It’s been hard for me to share my thoughts about the Alliance, perhaps because I helped to launch this alliance (with Ira Chinoy, Journalism Associate Professor) and I’ve seen so much and so little of what happened.
However, without my asking or realizing it, many of our FIA participants were summarizing the many talks they experienced throughout the week in their own blog postings and tweets. One excellent summary comes from the iSchool’s Alexandra Moses, a part-time Master’s student in the School Library Media Program. As it happens before coming to the iSchool she was journalist for 15 years, 6 of which she worked for the Associate Press. She now works as a graduate assistant on Dr. Ann Week’s IMLS funded project which studies the current roles and responsibilities of district library supervision offices in U.S. school districts. She took time out of her busy research activities to be a part of the Future of Information Alliance Launch Week. Below is Alexandra’s summary in which she used Storyify to select a variety of tweets from the #FIAumd twitter feed:
UMD's iSchool and journalism school tackled the future of information, with prominent guests Dan Russell (Google), Marcy Czerwinski (Microsoft) and Abdur Chowdhury (formerly of Twitter). Turned out the future sparks a lot of debate.
Central to the week's discussions – which included privacy, access, transparency, politics and health – was the overarching theme of information literacy:
“RT @justgrimes: So good to hear someone from Google (@dmrussell) really hammer home the importance of "information literacy" #fiaumd
“Improving Web search skills critical, information experts say... and interaction research group at Microsoft. But widespread adoption of those tools could be hindered by privacy concerns, she said. ...
“Your best internet connection is a librarian" #DanRussell -- Can we get Google to engrave that in stone? #FIAumd
But information literacy is complicated and covers a lot of ground:
“Underlying search technology and content is constantly evolving; what you know now will go stale rapidly. #fiaumd
“Russell's point, I think, is that we're in the perpetual position of being novice users--what we know today is obsolete tomorrow. #fiaumd
“A troubling image of how little we know about the food that we consume. Faith in the industry or just lack of food-info literacy? #fiaumd
Dana Rotman <https://twitter.com/#!/danarotman>
“RT @alexandram: Global food chain is highly segmented & little information flows between the segments (Buchanan). Eek, that's scary. #FIAumd
Of course, it's hard to get information if it's not there:
“Want your information out there? Start a blog, use social media says @Abdur #FIAumd
Or is the problem really that there's too much information?
“"A major part of the problem is it's too easy to publish" says Google's Dan Russell on the quality of information on the web. #FIAumd
Then there's those sticky issues of access...
“Jaeger emphasizing that access isn't just about selling the hard line, it involves literacy, power, bodies, and political context. #fiaumd
“RT @ebonsign: Lopsided participation/access ex.: 70% of Latinos who speak English use the Web. Only 30% who doNOT speak English use it. #FIAumd
“RT @LibrariansFTW: RT @stineeckert: #FIAumd Just teaching digital literacy won't do if people don't have Internet access to begin with or can't afford it...
“The 800 lbs gorilla is should we trust private corporations to provide "access. #PaulJaeger #FIAumd
... and privacy:
“The futurists at #FIAumd are talking about educating the public about privacy issues -- how are we doing this with our kids in schools?
“RT @harveyonline: Czerwinski: Dark side of research: Corporations and governments know a lot about you! How will consumers protect their privacy? #FIAumd
“RT @pjrey: Dan Russell - Real anonymity requires high tech literacy. Ability to cloak IP, etc. #FIAumd
“what are the privacy implications of using things like galvanic skin response sensors in the classroom environment? #fiaumd
Transparency and neutrality of information and technology were hot topics. Some questioned whether they were really a goal:
“Dan Russell says Google and other companies try to provide as much transparency as possible. #eyeroll #FIAumd
“Afraid that the folks who say tech=neutral come out on top, and say race doesn't matter, or pull yourself up by the damn bootstraps #fiaumd
“Information has value when it is controlled. Corporations have vest interest in controlling info as much as possible to max value. #FIAumd
“Users should have more control over their user experiences online rather than corporations deciding what it should be. But how? #FIAumd
“RT @dynamicsymmetry: We often talk about protesters/dissidents using tech while forgetting that tech is also tool of state power. Sometimes both at once. #FIAumd
And some also pondered technology's impact on information and culture:
“Does culture ever really 'die'? That seems to presuppose culture as an external construct beyond its own component people. #fiaumd
“RT @LibrariansFTW: @dmrussell: School librarians under increased pressure to go away. Who's going to teach our kids abt tech & implications? #FIAumd
“Abdur Chowdhury: Technology is not killing culture. It has no agenda. If culture is dying, it's people who are responsible. #FIAumd
But most agreed that technology has powerful potential to change lives:
“Improving education, and alleviating poverty. What is the role of information and technology in this endeavor? #fiaUMD 50.usaid.gov/learning-out-...
“.@abdur last Q to audience: "how are we all working together to make the world a better place?" #FIAumd
“RT @FIAumd: #FIAumd @abdur Chowdhury mentions Foldit, game for the public to help figure out AIDS/HIV by University of Washington engr.washington.edu/news/t...
“RT @ebonsign: .@abdur Asks us to think about ways to use our phones to bring human beings together. Humans are sensors + sharers. #FIAumd
“RT @LibrariansFTW: #PaulJaeger: Social media becoming central to political participation, central to human rights, education, voice, representation #FIAumd
It all came down to this: The future of information relies on the people who create, use it and rely on it.
“"If information is not indexed by anyone, then we're kinda stuck" -- even Google needs the "human element" says @dmrussell #FIAumd
“#FIAumd is excellent example of potential collaborators for school librarians, need to reevaluate perceptions of who our stakeholders are
“@abdur @dmrussell - How do we keep the love of learning? It's not about technology, but about the people. #fiaumd
“ooooh. RT @james3neal A NodeXL event graph from #FIAumd (HT @adruin | @smilex3md). http://yfrog.com/nvzmmhkj #UMD
Already, the conversation is exploding. So what next?
A Post-Script, Allison Druin:
It is apropos that the Future of Information Alliance was summarized by many people from many points of tweeting views. We know our technologies are supporting a future for users that is distributed yet collaborative. Therefore, let me thank the many tweeters that Alexandra points to: @researchwell, @lkexlibris, @danarotman, @bethcron, @Maddie_Marshall, @vanirvinmorris, @mmsubram, @DrewGrossman12, @dynamicsymmetry, @karikraus, @Greene_DM, @pjrey, @alexandram, @wyndeth, @faeshale, @tedknight85, @ahnjune, @mereastew, @HartDanger, @AnnieSeiler, @sdmoeller, @LibrariansFTW, @jasoncyip, @stephestellar
To continue to follow the Future of Information Alliance discussions, events, and activities, you can follow at #FIAumd
