January 14, 2008
Contestants can put their digital information literacy to the test
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - People will put their ability to search for obscure information on the Internet to the test during a Jan. 23 contest at Purdue University.The Digital Information Literacy Contest, created by senior philosophy major Daniel Poynter and supported by three Purdue entities and the West Lafayette Public Library, is free and open to the public to compete. It will take place from 6-7:30 p.m. in Stanley Coulter Hall, and competitors must register online.
The event is the second such contest Poynter has organized. At the first such contest in August, 50 contestants participated.
"This competition is one of the first high-speed battles of minds using the Internet as a cognitive prosthetic to amplify intelligence. It has three main objectives," Poynter said. "To identify people who thrive on information overload; to disseminate their insights; and to create a discussion about Purdue's role in shaping the future American knowledge worker."
A discussion on the third objective will follow the contest.
"Our age is both unprecedented and pivotal," Poynter said. "Unparalleled global access to information is accelerating technological and social change. Making sense of our increasingly complex world depends upon becoming better information filters. This competition is one way to ease ourselves into this exciting future."
Poynter said $700 in cash prizes will be split among contestants. In addition to the West Lafayette Public Library, Purdue's College of Technology and the James F. Ackerman Center for Democratic Citizenship in the College of Education, are co-sponsors. Purdue Libraries will provide food.
Contestants will be given 30 minutes, a seat at a computer and a list of questions to answer by searching online.
Those wanting to enter the contest must register online at https://www.DigitalLiteracyContest.org. Space is limited to the first 200 people. For more information, e-mail Poynter at Daniel.Poynter@gmail.com, call him at (765) 425-6033, or visit his Web site at https://www.danielscottpoynter.com/
Writer: Jim Bush, (765) 496-2077, jsbush@purdue.edu
Source: Daniel Poynter (765) 425-6033, daniel.poynter@gmail.com
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
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