Defining Literacy The concept of literacy in the information age is a complex one. In order to understand current definitions of literacy, it is helpful to understand the evolution of the definition. Although civilizations are often judged by their literacy rates, literacy needs (and definitions) have changed over the centuries. To the citizens of ancient Mesopotamia, basic literacy was the ability to keep simple accounting records of merchandise traded. Scribes purposefully chose not to simplify the rules for decoding cuneiform writing. Why should the masses have access to literacy? Only the wealthy were likely to send their children to scribe school. The ability to correspond through writing was hardly a basic job requirement. Their societies could function quite well with high "illiteracy" rates (Leu, 2000). In medieval Europe, the Catholic Church served as the bastion of literacy, information and research. Lesser sons of the nobility and clever sons of the peasantry could enter the priesthood and establish a career based on literacy. Besides the obvious religious implications of joining the Church, men of the cloth were also prepared to become the custodians of the written word and advisors to the often-illiterate rulers. A large part of the duties of some monastic orders was the hand copying of manuscripts. This tedious process resulted in small numbers of manuscripts that were jealously guarded by the monasteries and revered by the commonality as sacred text. Thus, if a thought or opinion was written, it was considered the 'truth.' Clerics who rose to positions of trust and became advisors to monarchs often wielded considerable power behind the throne. The remaining 90% of the population, the peasants, by lack of literacy, were destined for a life that was brutish, exhausting and short. Without literacy, the peasants had no power to change their circumstances by rising above their station in life. Thus, literacy represented real power (Rowling, 1968).