L'education à la culture informationnelle: Report 1

This time last week I had just given my keynote at the conference, L'education à la culture informationnelle [Education for/in information culture], held in l’Université Charles de Gaulle Lille3, Lille, France. I had limited internet access whilst in France and have had a very hectic week, so I have not had the time to blog about it. However I will be making up for that with a few posts, with my own reflections and also drawing on those who could undertsand the proceedings better than I (most of the contributions were in French, unsurprisingly, and my French skills need much improvement). There is basic information about the programme etc at: http://ertecolloque.wordpress.com/

The colloquium was originated by ERTE (Erté Culture informationnelle et curriculum documentaire): there is more information (in French) about their projects and research here: http://geriico.recherche.univ-lille3.fr/erte_information/
Other French information and library organisations were also involved in the conference.
To borrow from the English-language call for papers "The primary objective of [ERTE] is to propose solutions for improving information literacy education in school and at university. The program has brought together several research laboratories and academic institutions, and the project team includes researchers, library and documentation professionals, teacher training specialists, and school librarians, as well as school teachers and university faculty from all academic disciplines."

A very interesting part of this is exploring the meaning of concepts such as information and une culture informationnelle - so exploring things at a conceptual level as well as (or even, more than) the practical. I would say that they concept information culture does not even exist, as such, and indeed this was one area that one of the researchers is exploring. Additionally, there is debate about what words you use to describe the concept of information literacy: la maîtrise de l’information is now most commonly used, with obvious overtones of mastering the skills/knowledge required. This will be discussed a bit more in a future post.
Photo by Sheila Webber: a peek at the conference venue