IML - What is it?

I have been working as part of my passion, my masters and my position in the Surrey School District on developing capacities for Information and Media Literacy.  During the last 10 months, I have known what IML is.  I was challenged twice this week to define it.
 
I couldn’t - well at least not in a nice clean definition.
 
I could tell you what it looked like.  I could tell you how to measure it.  I couldn’t give you a clear concise definition.
 
That changed on Friday working with my Colleagues - Dorota Peacock and Susan Chow.  We were editing the documents for publication and needed to tighten up the language - including formalizing a definition.  It was a wonderful discussion.  
 
Here is the definition that we settled on :
IML is a combination of information literacy and media literacy.  Its purpose is to engage in a digital society; one needs to be able to use, understand, inquire, create, communicate and think critically.  It is important to have capacity to effectively access, organize, analyze, evaluate, and create messages in a variety of forms. The transformative nature of IML includes creative works and creating new knowledge; to publish and collaborate responsibly requires ethical, cultural and social understanding.
 
I think the definition is very powerful.  The process of creating it and having to agree on wording was a powerful experience as well.  I understand it much more having to explain and make sure it put into words the vision I had inside me.