You have probably heard the saying that “knowledge is power.” Although knowledge can certainly contribute to power, this saying is true only if that knowledge is put to use. When you retrieve, sort, interpret, analyze, and synthesize sources from an information center—be it the library, a computer database, or the Web—you can produce a product that has power.

But first, you have to decide what form that product will take and what kind of power you want it to hold. Who are you going to tell about your discoveries, and how? What do you hope to accomplish by sharing your conclusions? Remember that a major goal of information literacy is to use information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose. Make it a point to do something with the results of your research. Otherwise, why bother?