Transliteracy and Libraries for the National Network of Libraries of Medicine

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Last week Bobbi and I had the pleasure of presenting Transliteracy and Libraries for the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Southeastern/Atlantic Region.

This presentation was used to explain and inform people about the concept of Transliteracy but to also so how it is specific to the field of medical librarianship. Below are the slides from the presentation, in addition to this you can listen and watch the archived session here. Also, we would like to thank Dale Prince for asking use to share this with the medical library community.

Links to information mentioned in this presentation:

Pew Internet & American Life Project: Chronic Disease and the Internet

The iPad and Healthcare

Hitech Act

Libraries Included in Broadband Grants Across Nation

from the ALA District Dispatch:

Libraries were well represented in the 66 BTOP and BIP awards that the White House announced today.  Several libraries were named as grantees, and a number of the awards include libraries as key components of the projects.

“It is tremendously satisfying to see libraries receive badly needed support for improving their broadband connectivity,” said Dr. Alan Inouye, director of the ALA’s Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP).  “ALA and others invested a lot in advocacy and education for the library community in the past year, and we’re pleased that our efforts helped to lead to a beneficial outcome for the library community.”

• Read the press release from The White House
• Read the full press release from the ALA District Dispatch
• Read the Library Journal article
• Read the Technically Philly article

Breaking Down Barriers in Communication

CC image used courtesy of BookMama

[tweetmeme source=”Strng_Dichotomy” only_single=false]When sharing or communicating information most of us take for granted how easy it is to see the content, hear the audio, or tell another person what we have learned. Most of us never give a second thought to how this simple act might affect people with disabilities trying to disseminate information or share content. Thankfully with advances in technology these limitations no longer pose the hurdles and roadblocks they once did.

Libraries have always been early adapters for this portion of the community to provide access for people with different abilities through assistive technology and staff interaction. The very basic and beginning services such as having a staff member who can communicate through ASL, Braille collections, Braille transcription services, special playback equipment for use with recorded cassettes, books and magazines on recorded cassettes, Audiobooks, descriptive videos (DVS) Large Print materials, Mail-A-Book programs, and request lists for library customers that are accepted by mail, phone, fax, and e-mail. for the homebound are great examples of this.

Technology has started to add to these existing services in ways that we could have only dreamed of 20 or even 2 years ago. Now we have screen readers like JAWS (Job Access With Speech) and the speech function on Gale (listen to an example). Efforts are being taken to create more services like Access Keys for the Omeka archives, creating screencasts, adding closed captioning to videos on Youtube and Vimeo, the use of image services like Flickr and Picasa, and even more innovative devices like the EyeWriter initiative.

Take the time to learn the resources that your library offers this portion of the community and expand upon them. Remember that is our duty to connect people with information and help them convey what they have learned no matter the medium.

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.

Practical Transliteracy Exercise

[tweetmeme source=”librarianbyday” only_single=false]Chad Boeninger, on his blog Library Voice, posts an exercise he uses for library instruction. Boeninger uses a variety of media (clip from TV news, blogs, discussion of video games) to teach basic concepts of information literacy. This exercise is an excellent example of utilizing the types of media students frequently encounter and are more comfortable with to teach information literacy. Although he does not use the term “transliteracy,” Boeninger is capitalizing on these students’ familiarity with a variety of popular media in the hopes that they can go forward and apply the concepts elsewhere. He writes:

The point of the exercise is to demonstrate to the students that evaluation of information goes beyond  telling the difference between popular and  scholarly articles.  This exercise shows them that they should look at things critically, regardless of whether they are doing academic research, watching the news, buying a new camera, or trying to decide which movie to go see.  Even in real life outside of academia, we are required to make choices about the information that we ingest and digest.  Even when information is fed to us via Fox News, CNN, the New York Times, our professors, or our mothers,  it’s important to understand and look for bias and misinformation.