Information Studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Information Studies - Essay ExampleBased on my readings, information literacy is the ability to know what information is needed to solve a problem, the skill to organize that information, and the erudition to know that a source of information is credible with the knowledge of where to look elsewhere. The concept of information literacy, then, is related to to the epistemological problem of what is knowledge and what are the credible sources of knowledge, using modern terminology and more virtual(a) goals.For the Educational Testing Service, their assessment of Information Literacy is valid but it is not fathom. The race in ETS hold up assumed that the population is more or less homogeneous. If thats the case, any result would be conclusive, and any error will like stem from an incompetent administrator of their assessment tool. However, their testing instrument is not sound since the population is more or less heterogeneous.They completely ignored the role of social classes. D ifferent stack from different classes will commit different values on certain information. The better off a person, the larger is his or her social capital. This has created a digital divide. Formerly, it was just a problem of the rich puffting richer and the poor getting poorer. Now, it is a problem of the rich knowing more and more by which to get richer and richer, while the poor will not learn enough to get rich or crimson a decent living.Until these issu Until these issues are resolved, I hold that the Educational Testing Services must revision their instrument, assumptions, and methodologies so that information literacy can be accurately and reliably measure across differently types of people in the country.2. A group of software developers has recently published a letter to president Obama further the sunrise(prenominal) administration to adopt open source software in the governments IT infrastructure. Imagine what arguments they may have to concomitant the use open source software by government agencies. What might be any(prenominal) of the drawbacks associated with the governments use of open source software Using the pros and cons you outline, draw your own conclusion about whether the federal official government should use open source software. Arguments for the use of open source software are as followsWith the global pecuniary crisis hitting the major economies worldwide and the US government on deficit spending, it is scarce logical that the government should cut be. Government financial officials are injecting taxpayers money to salvage ailing financial institutions, even at the risk of hyperinflation due to artificially low interest rates.It is a fact that all(prenominal) few years, or even months, mercenary software companies like Microsoft will release updates or new versions of commercial software. If governments or corporations will like the new features, they will have to purchase updates. Hence, more costs are involved. Thi s can be prevented through the use of open source software. Since they are free, the government could continue much from potential expenditures.Besides, monopolies like Microsoft must not be tolerated. If the government could show some support to independent software developers, then true competition and capitalism could help lower the cost of commercial software. The public will benefit, and improved features can be expected.The arguments against the use of Open Source are as followsOpen Source software are not as used as commercial softwar