123STA T . 3 7 11 PROCL A M AT I O N84 2 9— OCT. 1 , 2 0 09 ten t io ntot h i squ iet cr isis .A n da cross A m erica ,w e encoura g e v ictims and their f ami l ies to call the N ational D omestic V iolence H otline at 1–80 0– 79 9– S A FE . T ogether, we must ensure that, in America, no victim of domestic violence ever struggles alone. N OW , THE R EFORE, I , B ARA CK OBA M A, P resident of the U nited States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Con - stitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby p roclaim October 2 009, as National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. I as k all Amer- icans to do their part to end domestic violence in this country by sup- porting their communities ’ efforts to assist victims in finding the help and healing they need. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of October, in the year of our L ord two thousand nine, and of the Inde- pendence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty- fourth. BARACK OBAMA Proclam a ti o n8429 o fO cto be r 1, 2 0 09 Nation a lI n f o rm ation L it e ra cyAw arene s s M ont h,20 0 9BythePr e sid e n t of the U nited S t a tes of Am eri c a A Proc l amation Every day, we are inundated with vast amounts of information. A 2 4 - hour news cycle and thousands of global television and radio net- works, coupled with an immense array of online resources, have chal- lenged our long-held perceptions of information management. Rather than merely possessing data, we must also learn the skills necessary to acquire, collate, and evaluate information for any situation. This new type of literacy also requires competency with communication technologies, including computers and mobile devices that can help in our day-to-day decisionmaking. National Information Literacy Aware- ness Month highlights the need for all Americans to be adept in the skills necessary to effectively navigate the Information Age. Though we may know how to find the information we need, we must also know how to evaluate it. Over the past decade, we have seen a crisis of authenticity emerge. We now live in a world where anyone can publish an opinion or perspective, whether true or not, and have that opinion amplified within the information marketplace. At the same time, Americans have unprecedented access to the diverse and independent sources of information, as well as institutions such as li- braries and universities, that can help separate truth from fiction and signal from noise. Our Nation’s educators and institutions of learning must be aware of — and ad j ust to—these new realities. In addition to the basic skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic, it is equally important that our stu- dents are given the tools required to take advantage of the information available to them. The ability to seek, find, and decipher information can be applied to countless life decisions, whether financial, medical, educational, or technical.
