Librarians on the Verge of an Epistemological Breakdown

During the Enlightenment of eighteenth-century France, the encyclopedists created a systematic compilation of all human knowledge in order to dispel current disinformation imposed by kings and clergy. The resultant Encyclopédie has been considered the turning point of the Enlightenment, where knowledge became power and the power was made accessible to the people. This article explores the digital phenomenon of Web 2.0 and questions whether we are experiencing another epistemological shift similar to the Encyclopédie. It then discusses teaching information literacy and gives practical ways for community college librarians to incorporate Wikipedia, Google, and other digital sources into their instruction to teach research skills and critical thinking.