We live in the age of information. But just how much information do we consume? In their 2009 report, How Much Information, Bohn & Short [1] attempted to quantify the information consumed by Americans in 2008. Using complex metrics and measurements, they looked at how much information we consume as a result of television, radio, telephone, print media, recorded music, and movies. One of their findings revealed that Americans consumed 4,500 trillion words in 2008 - the equivalent of 100,000 words per American per day - and that a quarter of those words came from computer usage. They estimated that 70% of Americans have computer-based internet access - a figure which rises to 80% when considering smartphones and other wireless mobile devices. Further, they found that Americans typically spend 8-9 seconds on a website before determining it is not relevant, interesting, or moving on to something else.

Given the dizzying amount of information consumed on an annual basis, how do we process, filter, and use this information? In his book The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains, [2] Nicholas Carr argues that the Internet is making us dumber. This idea resonates with many, evidenced by the fact that his book is a nominee for the 2011 Pulitzer Prize. Carr posits that book reading allowed us to reflect, give thoughtful and deep consideration of ideas, and dig deeper into the subject matter than does Internet reading. Internet reading, he says, is shallow and has turned us into skimmers. He offers the analogy of a deep sea diver who dives deep into the water (the book reader) verses a jet skier who skims along the surface (the Internet reader). This idea is captured by an acronym popular with the net generation - TL;DR or "too long; didn't read" - often left as a comment after text-heavy posts or articles.

Not everyone agrees with Carr's hypothesis. Research reveals another side of the argument. A study on Internet searching and brain activity found that Google may be making us smarter. The brain activity of two groups of participants - those who were net savvy and those who were net naïve - were analyzed while doing Internet searches. Results showed that the same places of the brain are activated during Internet searches as are activated while reading. Additionally, the areas of the brain responsible for complex reasoning and decision making were also activated during Internet searches, especially for the net savvy group, which indicated that internet searching is a more stimulating experience that reading.

Considering both perspectives, it is possible that "reading" on the Internet involves more than text. Given the mass amount of multimedia on the Internet, perhaps our patience has run short of text-heavy sites when there are other, more dynamic ways of comprehending content. A compelling video can evoke deep contemplation. Carr may be correct that we do not read as much text, but I would not assume that means we do not comprehend or reflect as deeply.

But along with reading comprehension, there are other skills that are important in this information explosion that we are experiencing. The ability to find, use, and evaluate information is a key information literacy skill that is expected of effective and efficient 21^st century citizens (American Library Association). [3] There have been numerous studies which identified Internet search and evaluation strategies used by students, but fewer exist on the strategies used by educators. In one study, educators were found to be effective in their use of information, but they could neither identify their own Internet search strategies nor their strategies used to evaluate web content. This has serious ramifications given the fact that educators are responsible for teaching students these skills.

We are being confronted with an enormous amount of information and expected to be able to filter and evaluate that information for relevancy and appropriateness. Educators would greatly benefit from understanding the basic ideas behind search engine optimization, particularly keyword analysis, so that they gain insight as to why they get the results they get and can develop strategies for conducting effective keyword searches. Given our tendency of evaluating a website in 8-9 seconds, educators should also become familiar with more thorough and meaningful evaluation techniques. These skills need to be taught to students for their survival in both higher education and the workplace. The role of the professional media specialist has never been more crucial.

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[1] How Much Information? 2009 Report on American Consumers Roger E. Bohn and James E. Short, University of California, San Diego

[2] The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains Nicholas Carr, 2010

[3] Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education American Library Association