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Benefits of Information Literacy

Having a population that is informationally literate brings a number of social, political and economic implications to a given society. The spread of literacy for instance helps in combating poverty, promoting democracy, reducing crime, increasing civic engagement and enhancing cultural diversity. A literate population is also likely to increase the individual’s self-confidence and cause lower birth rates following increased education. Literacy then is a driving force that I believe, bestows upon a population a number of political, human, cultural, social and economic advantages.

An informationally literate population can better tackle poverty, improve health and promote social development. It is difficult to argue against the fact that heightened information literacy has had a huge role to play in the economic and social progress of people. The interrelationships between health, education and nutrition are in fact, complementary. With better education come better health services in terms of the access to better healthcare options and the information needed to make healthy life decisions. Information literacy therefore has the capacity to turn cyclic incidences of poverty, illiteracy and malnutrition into better cycles of health and learning, equity and sustainability.

Information literacy also improves the elements of democracy and political participation (Shigwan, 2014). There is a clear relationship between literacy and political participation. It is highly likely that people who are more informed and educated will find it more necessary to vote and exercise more tolerant attitudes during the polls thus enhancing democratic values. Their participation is much more likely to be issue-based and about values they highly care about because they are empowered and educated about the democratic process and how it can change their lives. It is also quite possible that the more the people understand their democratic institutions, the more likely they will be to vote and protect the fundamentals of their democracy.

A population that is informationally literate would be more inclined to exercise virtues of tolerance, diversity, equality and peaceful conflict resolution. Information literacy would help to promote elements of cultural diversity and being tolerant to the differences that exist among people of diverse cultural backgrounds. Empowerment through education would also enable groups that are classified as disadvantaged minorities to bridge the gap and catch up with the initially advanced groups. Peaceful conflict resolution where people share experiences with others affected by conflict enables those who are affected by conflict to heal and move towards possible constructive paths.

A society that has a population of informationally literate people enjoys a number of political, cultural, economic and social benefits. These people are more likely to promote democratic ideals and diversity, beat poverty and disease, have improved health outcomes and relate better with others.