2_UNESCO_Composite_Document

Preface to the Second Edition
We are very, very pleased to advise you that we have added
dozens of new languages to our multilingual database, more than
doubling the 42 which appeared in the first edition. At the same
time, we are very happy to report that there is a great deal of
interest in maintaining this database as an important single, central
and authoritative repository of multilingual information literacy
resources worldwide. Nearly all of the contributors enthusiastically
expressed their willingness to periodically update their
contributions.
Enormous strides have been made in new information literacy
research as well as in improving the practice of information literacy
in all countries. The concept has undergone a rapid transition from
an abstract theory in the late 20th century to a very central place
in the arsenal of strategic 21st century tools, close alongside media
literacy and digital literacy. Information, media and digital literacy
are all interdependent and counter-dependent on each other.
They are three, very essential critical survival skills for the emerging
Global Information Society. This database is a tool, employing all
three of those literacies, to help people to find the information
they need, quickly and easily. And at the same time, users
themselves become information literate.
We welcome both first-time readers, as well as those already
familiar with the publication, to this second edition, to which we've
added several new features:
1. To help users, especially for those users who are not fluent (or
only poorly literate) in English, in both the Languages Index, and in
the titles of the individual language entries, we have added the
name of each language in its own language and writing script
juxtaposed next to the English name for that same language, and
Overview of Information Literacy Resources Worldwide |18