Volume 36 Nº 3 - November 2000

The Role of Fiction in the Development of Information Literacy:
Fiction exercises for the Would-be Information Literate

Maureen Nimon

For some time I have argued the importance of the reading of fiction in children's development of the fundamental literacy critical to their acquisition of other forms of literacy. Increasingly, we are all aware that the key ability of the effective person in today's information-rich environment is that of being able to sort and evaluate the deluge of communication that assaults us daily. Not long ago Teacher-Librarians put up eye-catching posters emblazoned with the words, 'define, locate, select, apply, evaluate', and, as a strategy in tackling information needs, this procedure is helpful. However, the quality of the outcome of the process depends on thejudgements made by the searcher every step of the way. In turn, the appropriateness of these judgements depends on the searcher's familiarity with the uses and structures of language. The reading of fiction is a useful aid to the development of a broad understanding of how language constructs truth. Fiction is but one form of text among many, and reading fiction helps us to understand the multiplicity of ways in which language can be used to persuade or deceive us...

Dr Maureen Nimon is a member of the School of Communication and Information Studies at the University of South Australia. She has an intense interest in the education of children and young people through their reading materials.