Information Literacy vs. Transliteracy:

Lessons for Library Instruction

Lane Wilkinson “Why Transliteracy?” panel

New Orleans - June 25, 2011

Information Literacy vs. Transliteracy:

Lessons for Library Instruction

Three Goals What’s the difference? How is transliteracy relevant? Lessons we can learn.

difference What is the difference

between transliteracy and information literacy?

literacy in

form

atio

n

critical vi

sua

l scientific

print

transliteracy media

eco

no

mic

digital

health ora

lity

computer

web

financial

eco

no

mic

so

cia

l

cult

ura

l new

historical

po

st-

fina

ncia

l

numeracy electracy

visua

l

statistica

l meta

literacy in

form

atio

n

critical vi

sua

l scientific

print

transliteracy media

eco

no

mic

digital

health ora

lity

computer

web ec

on

om

ic

soci

al

cult

ura

l new

historical

po

st-

fina

ncia

l

numeracy electracy

visua

l

statistica

l meta

financial

literacy

literacy Reading and writing?

Clicking and typing?

literacy

Posting and hosting?

literacy

Is there a common thread?

Yes

literacy

Literacy is our way of accessing the flow of

information.

literacy

Literacy is a means for encoding and

decoding that information.

literacy

We encode and decode information in order to

communicate.

literacy

Literacy is about communication

literacy

Literacy is the ability to communicate

meaning by encoding and decoding information.

literacy

(sort of)

literacy

This is literacy in the descriptive sense.

literacy

Sometimes we talk about literacy in an evaluative sense.

literacy

We talk about the skills needed to evaluate

information.

literacy

Health literacy

literacy

Scientific literacy

literacy

Media literacy

literacy

Critical literacy

…and beyond

literacy

Each of these senses of literacy are neutral with respect to specific media

literacy

They are about evaluating information,

not communicating information

literacy

Isn’t it just

splitting hairs?

How is this relevant?

communicate Print

Orality Signing

Computer Visual Digital

literacy

By Subject Health

Scientific Economic

&c.

Print Orality Signing

Computer Visual Digital

communicate evaluate By Concept

Critical Media

Cultural &c.

literacy

By Subject Health

Scientific Economic

&c.

Print Orality Signing

Computer Visual Digital

communicate evaluate By Concept

Critical Media

Cultural &c.

literacy

By Subject Health

Scientific Economic

&c.

evaluate By Concept

Critical Media

Cultural &c.

This is information

literacy

literacy

Print Orality Signing

Computer Visual Digital

communicate This is not

information literacy

literacy

Print Orality Signing

Computer Visual Digital

communicate This is

transliteracy

literacy

trans-

literacy

information

literacy

Transliteracy addresses the way we communicate information across multiple media

Information literacy addresses the way we evaluate information

using multiple skills

Is library instruction about

evaluation or communication?

relevance How is transliteracy relevant

to library instruction?

relevance Our students

have grown up immersed in information

relevance

They don’t just read and write

relevance They upload,

download, tweet, like, and text.

relevance

They communicate information

relevance But they hit a wall in the library

relevance They see the library as different…

relevance …and therefore inaccessible

relevance The library is out of their network

relevance

They want to communicate…

relevance

…what do we want?

What are we doing to make the

library part of their network?

transliteracy What lessons can

transliteracy teach us?

transliteracy Communication is distributed across

information sources

information Information flows all around us

information Literacy is how we interact with that

information

information

Multiple ways to interact

information

Multiple ways to interact

information The library is not alone

information There are other information sources out there.

information Show your students that the library

offers another way of communicating

transliteracy Information

resources don’t stand alone, they

interact

interaction

We tend to teach the differences

interaction

Popular vs. Scholarly

interaction

Wikipedia vs. Experts

interaction

Print vs. Digital

interaction

The Library vs. Google

interaction

The Library vs. Google

interaction

We forget that though there are differences…

interaction

…that can be a good thing.

interaction

Different information sources play different roles in research…so teach them

interaction

Teach the interaction, not the differences

interaction Help them make the connection

interaction Bobish, G. (2011). Participation and pedagogy: connecting the social web to ACRL learning outcomes. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 37(1), 54-63.

transliteracy

Think in terms of transferable skills

transfer Using a range of

media is just multiple literacies

transfer Transliteracy is

about combining and moving across a

range of media

transfer Moving across

literacies requires more than just multiple skills

transfer Moving across

literacies requires skills that can adjust

and transfer

transfer

transfer

The concept of mental models

Holman, L. (2011). Millennial students’ mental models of search: implications for academic librarians and database developers. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 37(1), 19-27.

transfer

Mapping meaning and skills across media and tools.

Holman, L. (2011). Millennial students’ mental models of search: implications for academic librarians and database developers. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 37(1), 19-27.

transfer

transfer

Finding keywords

The big picture

Current research

The conversation

Metaphor & design

transliteracy

The takeaway

transliteracy

What can you take back to your instruction

program?

transliteracy Think about communication

Teach how information sources interact

Look for skills that will transfer

transliteracy Thanks!

Lane Wilkinson

Univ. of Tennessee at Chattanooga

flavors.me/wilk

transliteracy