Information Literacy for the 21st Century

[tweetmeme source=”librarianbyday” only_single=false]This presentation was given by Sheila Webber at the 10th INFORUM conference held in Prague, Czech Republic, 25-27 May.

She also wrote a short paper to accompany it (pdf)  in which she expands the definition of information literacy

“Information Literacy is the adoption of appropriate information behaviour to identify, through  whatever channel or medium, information well fitted to information needs, leading to wise and ethical use of information in society.”

Appropriate information behaviour means IB that is best for the context. If your context is writing an essay at university, searching electronic journals may be best. If you are seeking information about using Google Docs to share material, then you might go to a specialist online discussion group for advice.

Webber outlines 7 key aspects of 21st century information literacy:

• IL as context specific and context sensitive;
• IL demanding a variety of behaviours: not just searching, but also encountering, browsing, monitoring, managing and creating;
• People moving along complex paths to meet their information needs: moving between the virtual and physical worlds, and using different sources and spaces;
• IL in digital environments;
• IL with people sources;
• People being information literate individually and collaboratively
• People being aware they are information literate: you cannot be an information literate 21st Century citizen without being conscious of the need to develop these IL skills and attitudes, and continue to update your IL through your life!

Libraries and the New Media Ecosystem

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The Pew Internet & American Life Project has posted a presentation by Lee Rainie which he gave at the Catalonian Library Association’s biennial meeting and to librarians at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. The site posts not only the slides but also a transcript of the presentation.

In this presentations, Rainie describes how the information ecosystem has changed in the past 10 years. In doing so, he points to many interesting and informative facts, such as how in 2000, 46% of American adults used the Internet compared to 75% in their most recent study and how less that 10% of people worked in the cloud in 2000 compared to more than two-thirds today.

But the crux of his presentation is his more philosophical description of the 8 ways that the Media Ecosystem has changed.  Although he does not specifically refer to transliteracy in his presentation, he does outline the challenges presented to technology users who are now faced with more outlets to gain and to give information via a greater variety of media.

The 8 changes he discusses are:

• The growth of the volume of information
• The increase in the variety and visibility of information at its creators
• The impact on people’s use of time and attention
• The increase in the velocity of information
• The changing nature and availability of information venues
• The compelling vibrance of virtual environments
• The improved relevance of information results
• The participatory nature of information exchanges

Overview of Libraries and Transliteracy Session at Computers in Libraries #cil2010

[tweetmeme source=”librarianbyday” only_single=false]At the recent Computers in Libraries Conference I had the honor of presenting a session on transliteracy with Buffy Hamilton and Matt Hamilton (no relation).  Part of the goal of this blog is to show transliteracy from a broad perspective. It’s why we have school, university, college, and public librarians writing for it.  This presentation was no different.  I tackled the general introduction to transliteracy with my presentation.

Buffy address the position of school libraries and media specialist.

Matt addressed the role of the IT department.  It’s important that we work with IT to accomplish many of the goals related to providing what our patrons need.

We crammed it all into 45 minutes.  I really wish we each had an hour for our sections. It is so hard to tell from the stage how well a new message is being received but based on the tweets it was well received.  I created a tag cloud from all the conference tweets on that day and based how prominent transliteracy is, I think we were heard.

I’d like to thank everyone who came to the presentation and tweeted or took notes.

• Heather Bram’s notes
• Buffy’s post about her section includes links
• Bobbi’s post about her section, includes links
• Beth Tribe’s post, she includes a link to all of her tweets from the session.
• Defining Transliteracy

Libraries and Librarians as Sponsors of Transliteracy

This week I shared two presentations in which I outline how libraries can function as sponsors of transliteracy.  The first slidedeck was developed for a brief talk at Computers in Libraries 2010, and the second slidedeck is an expanded version delivered at a preconference session of the Alabama Library Association Annual Convention.  This resource page, while geared for the initial talk, also provides support for the second slidedeck.

Supporting Transliteracy in a High School Library

Please see slides 28-44 from Wendy Stephens, school librarian at Buckhorn High School in New Market, Alabama.  These slides represent how Stephens is nurturing, supporting, and privileging transliterate practices in her library, including a focus on:

• how students can use texting as a means for discussing reading and books
• how students can use a Facebook page to mashup their content creations, such as videos, to document their school projects and interests, such as drama
• how you can use social media to support students experiences, including her students’ work in a local art show
• a student’s use of Twitter for publishing her poetry (with a focus on haiku)
• students using movie making tools and YouTube for creating and sharing documentaries of their research project
• supporting and honoring one student’s efforts to self-publish his novel (which is available on Amazon!)
• nurturing students reading, discussion, and writing/publication of fan fiction
• encouragement of a student’s creation of fan art that was eventually included in a book and resulted in a dedication from the author of the book
• students’ active participation in building the library collection