ACRL/IRIG Visual Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education

The ACRL Image Resources Interest Group has released a draft of their Visual Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education (pdf). These are just for images, not video, which I initially expected to be included when I saw “visual”.

Update I’ve been contacted by Denise and she let me know that “the standards are written broadly to cover “images and visual media”, including still and moving images (video) where applicable. We deliberately did not define “images and visual media” so the standards would remain open to new formats and future developments.” So they do include video.

They are encouraging comments and feedback through March 31st, 2011, on their blog or by email.  There are also have an open virtual meeting on Wednesday, February 16, 2011 at 11:30-1:00 PST/2:30-4:00 EST

From the standards:

Introduction

The increasing dominance of images and visual media in contemporary culture is changing what itmeans to be literate in the 21st century. Today’s society is highly visual, and visual imagery is no longersupplemental to other forms of information. New digital technologies have made it possible for almostanyone to create and share visual media. Yet the pervasiveness of images and visual media does notnecessarily mean that individuals are able to critically view, use, and produce visual content. Individualsmust develop these essential skills in order to engage capably in a visually‐oriented society. Visualliteracy empowers individuals to participate fully in a visual culture.

Visual Literacy Defined:

Visual literacy is a set of abilities that enables an individual to effectively find, interpret, evaluate, use,and create images and visual media. Visual literacy skills equip a learner to understand and analyze thecontextual, cultural, ethical, aesthetic, intellectual, and technical components involved in the productionand use of visual materials. A visually literate individual is both a critical consumer of visual media and acompetent contributor to a body of shared knowledge and culture.In an interdisciplinary, higher education environment, a visually literate individual is able to:

• Determine the nature and extent of the visual materials needed
• Find and access needed images and visual media effectively and efficiently
• Interpret and analyze the meaning of images and visual media
• Critically evaluate images and their sources
• Use images and visual media effectively
• Design and create meaningful images and visual media
• Understand many of the ethical, legal, social, and economic issues surrounding the creation and use of images and visual media, and access and use visual materials ethically

Visual Literacy and Information Literacy:

The Visual Literacy Standards were developed in the context of the Information Literacy CompetencyStandards for Higher Education, and are intended to complement the Information Literacy Standards.The Visual Literacy Standards address some of the unique issues presented by visual materials. Images often function as information, but they are also aesthetic and creative objects that require additionallevels of interpretation and analysis. Finding visual materials in text‐based environments requiresspecific types of research skills. The use, sharing, and reproduction of visual materials also raiseparticular ethical or legal considerations. The Standards address these distinct characteristics of imagesand visual media and challenge students to develop a combination of abilities related to informationliteracy, visual communication, interpretation, and technology and digital media use.

Introducing Transliteracy: What Does It Mean to Academic Libraries?

Our very own Tom Ipri has an article about transliteracy in College & Research Libraries News

Transliteracy is recent terminology gaining currency in the library world. It is a broad term encompassing and transcending many existing concepts. Because transliteracy is not a library-centric concept, many in the profession are unsure what the term means and how it relates to libraries’ instructional mission and to other existing ideas about various literacies. Transliteracy is such a new concept that its working definition is still evolving and many of its tenets can easily be misinterpreted. Although this term is in flux, academic librarians should watch developments in this new field to continually assess and understand what impact it may have on the ways they assist and interact with their patrons and each other.

 

Read the whole article

The resources he makes reference to:

• Transliteracies Project: Research in the Technological, Social, and Cultural Practices of Online Reading
• Sue Thomas, Chris Joseph, Jess Laccetti, Bruce Mason, Simon Mills, Simon Perril and Kate Pullinger, “Transliteracy: Crossing Divides,” First Monday, December 3, 2007,
• Susie Andretta, “Transliteracy: Take a Walk on the Wild Side”, The International Federation of Library Associations Conference 2009,10,
• ALA: Committee on Literacy

 

Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education

[tweetmeme source=”librarianbyday” only_single=false]Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education from ACRL, (The Association of College and Research Libraries division of the American Library Association) includes a sections on the definition of information literacy, IL Technology, IL & higher education, IL & pedagogy, standards, assessments, performance indicators, and a practical guide for instruction librarians.  I’ve included the four standards & their performance indicators below but left out the included outcomes. You can read the document online or download a pdf.

Approved by the Board of Directors of the Association of College and Research Libraries on January 18, 2000, Endorsed by the American Association for Higher Education (October 1999) and the Council of Independent Colleges (February 2004)

Information literacy is a set of abilities requiring individuals to “recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.”1

An information literate individual is able to:

• Determine the extent of information needed
• Access the needed information effectively and efficiently
• Evaluate information and its sources critically
• Incorporate selected information into one’s knowledge base
• Use information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose
• Understand the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information, and access and use information ethically and legally

Standard One – The information literate student determines the nature and extent of the information needed.

Performance Indicators:

• The information literate student defines and articulates the need for information.
• The information literate student identifies a variety of types and formats of potential sources for information.
• The information literate student considers the costs and benefits of acquiring the needed information.
• The information literate student reevaluates the nature and extent of the information need.

Standard Two – The information literate student accesses needed information effectively and efficiently.

Performance Indicators:

• The information literate student selects the most appropriate investigative methods or information retrieval systems for accessing the needed information.
• The information literate student constructs and implements effectively design search strategies.
• The information literate student retrieves information online or in person using a variety of methods.
• The information literate student refines the search strategy if necessary.
• The information literate student extracts, records, and manages the information and its sources.

Standard Three – The information literate student evaluates information and its sources critically and incorporates selected information into his or her knowledge base and value system.

Performance Indicators:

• The information literate student summarizes the main ideas to be extracted from the information gathered.
• The information literate student articulates and applies initial criteria for evaluating both the information and its sources.
• The information literate student synthesizes main ideas to construct new concepts.
• The information literate student compares new knowledge with prior knowledge to determine the value added, contradictions, or other unique characteristics of the information.
• The information literate student determines whether the new knowledge has an impact on the individual’s value system and takes steps to reconcile differences.
• The information literate student validates understanding and interpretation of the information through discourse with other individuals, subject-area experts, and/or practitioners.
• The information literate student determines whether the initial query should be revised.

Standard Four – The information literate student, individually or as a member of a group, uses information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose.

Performance Indicators:

• The information literate student applies new and prior information to the planning and creation of a particular product or performance.
• The information literate student revises the development process for the product or performance.
• The information literate student communicates the product or performance effectively to others.

Standard Five – The information literate student understands many of the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information and accesses and uses information ethically and legally.

Performance Indicators:

• The information literate student understands many of the ethical, legal and socio-economic issues surrounding information and information technology.
• The information literate student follows laws, regulations, institutional policies, and etiquette related to the access and use of information resources.
• The information literate student acknowledges the use of information

1. American Library Association. Presidential Committee on Information Literacy. Final Report. (Chicago: American Library Association, 1989.)

The list of organizations with standards and definitions of the “new” literacies is long, I will be doing my best to post as many of them as I can under the Standards category.