At lunch today I stumbled on this recent report from NORC, about the information habits of regular Americans. It made pretty interesting reading from an Information Literacy perspective, about how people make judgement calls in their own natural habitat, and to help with decisions that matter to them.

There are interesting points about the importance of word of mouth to meeting information needs, and how this affects what we try to teach.

It’s also pretty telling that most rely on instinct to decide what information to trust, and the  main cause of seeking more information is just that their gut tells them to be skeptical.

Anyhow, if you’re involved in Info Lit discussions, I’d recommend a read. Though they’re Americans, the respondents are not a million miles away from our students in terms of how they think, so maybe this report can inform how we frame our Info Lit delivery.