I have been asked this question many times by librarians so I am way overdue for this post. Most recently I was asked “….are librarians the people best equipped to define and interpret transliteracy (as opposed to say cognitive scientists, anthropologists, or critical theorists).” This is a modified version of my original answer. No librarians are probably not the best people to define and interpret transliteracy. Fortunately we are (or at least I am) not defining it, and we certainly are not the only ones thinking about it. Where did the word transliteracy come from? Transliteracies came first, introduced by the Transliteracies Research Project directed by Alan Liu, Dept of English, University of California at Santa Barbara. “Established in 2005, the Transliteracies Project includes scholars in the humanities, social sciences, and engineering in the University of California system (and in the future other research programs). It will establish working groups to study online reading from different perspectives; bring those groups into conjunction behind a shared technology development initiative; publish research and demonstration software; and train graduate students working at the intersections of the humanistic, social, and technological disciplines.” Sue Thomas attended the first transliteracies conference and was inspired to form the PART Group
Posts Tagged ‘ definition ’
Librarians Play a Vital Role in 21st Century Literacies
We know it, but no one else seems to. Many organizations are looking at the definition of literacy and expanding it to include the knowledge and skills it takes to be an active participant in today’s society. What baffles me as I read through reports and recommendations from so many organizations is the lack of mention of libraries and librarians. There are a few such as this one from the Report from the Knight Commission: Recommendation 7: Fund and support public libraries and other community institutions as centers of digital and media training, especially for adults. or this one in a white paper from the MacAuthor Foundation If anything, these traditional skills assume even greater importance as students venture beyond collections that have been screened by librarians and into the more open space of the web. Some of these skills have traditionally been taught by librarians who, in the modern era, are reconceptualizing their role less as curators of bounded collection and more as information facilitators who can help users find what they need, online or off, and can cultivate good strategies for searching material. These are the only two I have found. Why are libraries missing? The only place most people can receive instruction on these new literacies
What Makes a Library a Library?
Last week Sarah Houghton-Jan posted about a staffless library in Washington and asked the question “What makes a library a library?” Buffy Hamilton took the question to the masses and recorded them for this great video. Bookmark on Delicious Digg this post Share on FriendFeed Buzz it up Share on netvibes share via Reddit Share with Stumblers Tumblr it Buzz it up Subscribe to the comments on this post Print for later Tell a friend
The Library is…
For National Library Week we asked patrons what the library is to them. These are some of the responses so far, they go all around the pillar. I also took individual pictures of them, go look at them, they’re awesome! You have to forgive me this is one of the last chances I’ll have to brag about all the awesome things MRRL does and I’m extra proud since this was my idea! Some of my personal favorites Bookmark on Delicious Digg this post Share on FriendFeed Buzz it up Share on netvibes share via Reddit Share with Stumblers Tumblr it Buzz it up Subscribe to the comments on this post Print for later Tell a friend
Reading
Library is…?
A couple of weeks ago I was in Denver for vacation and we stopped at the Denver Art Museum. In addition to all the traditional art one expects to see in a museum they also had some patron contribution displays. Throughout the museum notebooks were set out and patrons could record their thoughts and feelings about the art. They could take the pages or leave them. There were poems about art and belief and creativity painted on the walls that were taken from another patron display. My favorite exhibit was this one, in the picture, the wall simple said “Art is….” and there were sticky notes and pencils. They were so widely ranging in definition is was amazing and through provoking. I’d love to see a library do this with “library is….” in fact I pitched it to my director today, he’s thinking maybe National Library Week. I think it would be a great way to get an informal sampling of what your patrons think your library is and want it to be. Have any other libraries done anything like this? Bookmark on Delicious Digg this post Share on FriendFeed Buzz it up Share on netvibes share via Reddit Share
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