New Project – Libraries and Transliteracy Blog

February 22, 2010 · Posted in Transliteracy · View Comments

CC image courtesy of Meredith Harris on flickr

CC image used courtesy of Meredith Harris on flickr

I am excited to announce the kick-off of a new project, the Libraries and Transliteracies blog! The blog is a group effort from me, Buffy Hamilton and Tom Ipri. Due to the amount of interest in transliteracy and the role libraries play, we have created one place to share information and resources. The blog will contain information, resources and links to other new literacies related content from all three authors.

I will still be posting about transliteracy here, but you will find more transltiteracy related content more often on the Libraries and Transliteracies blog. So add the feed to your feedreader.

How this came about (if you’re interested in that sort of thing). Due to the amount of interest in transliteracy and the role libraries play in 21st century literacies, I wanted one place to share information and resources. I decided this blog was not the best venue as I wanted everything pertaining to transliteracy to be easy to find and adding to the current page doesn’t help others keep track of new information. I also I did not want all of the information to come from me, this is an important issue to ALL libraries. This led to the idea of a new blog, with additional authors, but even more importantly, authors from a variety of library types. Having worked with both Buffy, a high school librarian and Tom an academic librarian, before and knowing their interest in transliteracy, they were obvious choices and I am so grateful they said yes.

If you are not familiar with Butffy and Tom, here’s a little about them. The short version – They are both awesome!

The long version:

Buffy Hamilton–Buffy is the lead librarian at Creekview High School in Canton, Georgia. She is passionate about creating library experiences for her students that will encourage them to be lifelong learners and advocating for the power of the library in her community. She collaborates extensively with the teachers and students in her school to create learning experiences to foster students’ information fluency and digital citizenship, the cultural capital students need to fully participate in today’s society. Buffy shares and teaches through her work as a keynote speaker, workshop consultant, adjunct trainer, and guest speaker. Her professional interests include applications of Web 2.0 tools in library programs and instruction, participatory librarianship, an inquiry stance on traditional and new literacies, social scholarship, libraries as sponsors of multiple literacies, social media, and connectivism. She writes at http://theunquietlibrarian.wordpress.com .

Tom Ipri – Tom is currently the Head of Media and Computer Services at Lied Library at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. In this position, he directs the future of the libraries’ media collections and services and leads the development of the media design studio, the learning commons, and the strategic evolution of media services within the University Libraries. Tom has published in Computers in Libraries, Lore: An E-Journal for Teachers of Writing, and Information Technology and Libraries. He has presented at Computers in Libraries and Internet Librarian, as well as presented at a variety of workshops. He also reviews films for Educational Media Reviews Online. He writes at http://tombrarian.net

Tags: <21st century literacies, academic libraries, Digital Divide, digital literacy, Libraries, library, medial literacy, new literacies, public libraries, school libraries, Transliteracy>

Transliterate Divide – Working Definition

November 23, 2009 · Posted in Digital Divide, Transliteracy · View Comments

CC Image courtesy of ElektraCute on Flickr

Transliterate Divide – The gap between people who have the skills to understand (read) and create (write) a message (information) and interact using a variety of tools across multiple media and platforms and the ability to apply those skills to new situations and formats and those who do not.

My interest in transliteracy is tied to the skills one needs to be transliterate and determining the role of libraries in the acquisition and development of such skills. Although the primary direction of my work and this blog is tied to the internet and digital content, transliteracy is not.

I’ve been reading. A lot. Reading about literacy and all the different types of literacies, technology, the digital divide and anything specifically written about transliteracy. My research and subsequent note-taking on a relatively new term (the practice is in no way new) has created a need for definitions. What about those who are not transliterate, un-transliterate, non-transliterate, transilliterate? I don’t know, I gave up on moved on leaving the decision, if any, to individuals wiser than me.

This lead to my next issue, since I’m more interested in the skills and the development of those skills, I am interested in the divide between those with the skills and those without them and what that divide represents. I need to talk about that divide and have a understanding of my meaning. Based on my knowledge of transliteracy, definitions of transliteracy, digital divide and literacy divide* I worked up the term transliterat divide and a definition. Is it needed? I don’t know. Will anyone other than me use it? I have no idea. Will I use? All signs point to yes. It is a working definition, not set in stone and certainly open to questions, suggestions and modifications .

Definitions accessed

Transliteracy is the ability to read, write and interact across a range of platforms, tools and media from signing and orality through handwriting, print, TV, radio and film, to digital social networks.
Literacy Divide – literacy divide of the 20th century distinguished between people who could functionally read and those who could not
Digital Divide refers to the gap between people with effective access to digital and information technology and those with very limited or no access at all. It includes the imbalances in physical access to technology as well as the imbalances in resources and skills needed to effectively participate as a digital citizen
Digital Divide – the gap between those individuals and communities that have, and do not have, access to the information technologies that are transforming our lives.
Digital Divide- the divide between those with access to new technologies and those without

What I was reading

*Although the term “literacy divide” is used frequently I had trouble finding a definition for it.

Tags: <Digital Divide, divide, knowledge, literacy, literacy divide, skills, Technology, Transliteracy, transliterate>

Commentary On the Digital Divide from the Chief Executives of Netflix & CommonSenseMedia

November 4, 2009 · Posted in Digital Divide, Transliteracy · View Comments

CC image courtesy of ap. on Flickr

If you’re thinking about transliteracy you almost have to be thinking about the digital divide. What does it mean? Is it real? How will we close the gap?

This New York Times piece Will the Digital Divide Close by Itself? From the Google’s Breakthrough Learning in a Digital Age provides a look at and arguments about the digital divide from two different perspectives.

From Jim Steyer, chief executive of CommonSense Media and co-sponsor of the event

“every kid needs to be digitally literate by the 8th grade” and called for a major public education campaign to make that happen. He argued that technology and learning are synonymous and that schools, parents, and kids must get up to speed in the next five years.

On the other hand:

Reed Hastings, the founder and chief executive of Netflix, contradicted him directly, saying it would take well more than five years to bridge the divide.

Mr. Hastings, an avid education philanthropist and proponent of school reforms, argued that at the advent of any new technology — television, cars, even rockets — people get riled up and wring their hands over a growing gap between the haves and have-nots.

He said that gaps narrow naturally as the market evolves and prices drop, enabling more people to bring new technology into the home and schools.

Most interestingly:

“We need to shift our expectations,” Mr. Hastings said. “This is a natural part of the evolution of technology.”

If I understand this correctly he is saying that the digital divide is part of an evolutionary process where technology and access to technology will be ubiquitous. I’m not sure I make the connection.

Most importantly:

Failed school reform might point to the need for more efforts outside of the classroom.

This is where libraries need to step in. We need to help students close the digital divide because what that means, what were talking about is the same thing as transliteracy. Becoming transliterate closes the digital divide. If schools can’t or wont, libraries need to step forward. We’ve done it for years with literacy, we need to do it now with transliteracy.

Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy Warns of “Second Class Citizens” in the Digital Age

October 6, 2009 · Posted in Digital Divide, Transliteracy · View Comments

The Knight Foundation has released a new report Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy. A good deal of the content either is or could be applies to libraries. The entire report is 148 pages, you can also download a 2 page summary that includes recommendations like these

2: Increase support for public service media aimed at meeting community information needs. Read more …
6: Integrate digital and media literacy as critical elements of education at all levels through collaboration among federal, state, and local education officials. Read more …
7: Fund and support public libraries and other community institutions as centers of digital and media training, especially for adults. Read more …
10: Support the activities of information providers to reach local audiences with quality content through all appropriate media, such as mobile phones, radio, and public-access cable. Read more …
12: Engage young people in developing the digital information and communication capacities of local communities. Read more …
14: Emphasize community information flow in the design and enhancement of a local community’s public spaces.. Read more …
15: Ensure that every local community has at least one high-quality online hub. Read more …

The Foundation has also taken actions that affect libraries:

$3.3 million to improve free, public Internet access in libraries in 12 communities

$2.28 million in broadband access projects in underserved neighborhoods in three cities