Transliteracy is 3D
Since posting the Libraries and Transliteracy slideshow I’ve been asked many times to define transliteracy. Its a slippery term, people often confuse it with digital literacy or technology literacy. Sometimes I’m not sure I even have a good grasp on the concept. So a colleague and I sat out to hash out the details, here is what we came up with.
In collaboration with Brian Hulsey
Special thanks to Sue Thomas and Tom Ipri for their input & approval.
If you’d like to learn about libraries and transilteracy please visit my Transliteracy page
If you’d like to know more about transliteracy in general please visit transliteracy.com and follow the conference on February 9th.
Andy Woodworth’s 5 Universal Truths That All Librarians Can Agree Upon
Andy has put together a list of 5 Universal Truths That All Librarians Can Agree Upon Right Now.
- Perception of information is changing
- Literacy is changing
- Libraries are now part of greater information chorus
- Communication is our friend
- The underlying philosophies of the library have not changed
I like the focus on the positive and of course I want to know – do you agree?
If Your Patrons Continually Use Your Catalog the Wrong Way the Problem Isn’t Them, It’s You
I was reading through an article (Found via What I Learned Today) on The Chronicle of Higher Education website about improving library catalog search functionality, when this comment caught my eye.
The problem is people are trying to use the catalog the wrong way. Instead of a keyword search like on the internet and online databases, the catalog offers something unique– direct access to exactly what you want through a browse or exact search using subject headings, authors, titles. An old idea but it still works–give it a try!
CC image used courtesy of JanneM on flickr
“The problem is people are trying to use the catalog the wrong way.” Wow. Really. Are we really still blaming the patrons for the archaic, non-intuitive functionality of our catalogs? Wake up and smell the musty old books people! If libraries were a business and we were selling books using our catalog we’d have gone bankrupt ages ago. Frankly, if this is the attitude we’re spouting off we are damn lucky if we don’t go out of business tomorrow.
The right way IS the way your customers are using your services. Continuing to insist they use them the way you want them too will only lead to your failure.
Your product is what your customer says it is. If they continually use the catalog the “wrong” way, the problem isn’t them it’s you.
There is a great essay, Somethings Just Don’t Translate, in The Big Moo that illustrates this point from a non-library perspective. A very successful Italian businessman who sells handcrafted housewares decided to expand his business to Washington D.C. Many people came into the store to browse but no one was buying. When he finally approached a woman and asked how she was finding things, she replies that she didn’t understand why he was selling the bud vases in packs of 6 and the water glasses were sold individually. What this customer saw as a bud vase was a drinking glass for people all over Italy. What she saw as a water glass were flower vases in Italy. He changed his definition of the items to meet customers definitions.
If this man had insisted that Americans learn the correct (Italian) uses for these items, do you think he would have been successful? No. It doesn’t matter how beautiful or functional the items are, if customers can’t find what they are looking for, even if it’s right in front of their face, the business will fail.
It doesn’t matter how well organized your collection is, how extensive your services are, if your patrons can’t use them, if they can’t find what they are looking for, you have failed.
Insisting you are right wont make people to search the catalog the *correct* way it, will make them stop coming to the library.
Library 101: More Than Just a Pretty Face
The newest video from David Lee King & Michael Porter debuted at Internet Librarian to a room full of people and a live remote audience thanks to streaming by the Shanachies.
Library 101 is more than just a video, it’s a project with a website that includes essays from libraryland leaders about what Library 101 means to them. It also has a great source page that lists 101 Things to Know.
Disclosure: I’m in the video and listed in the blogs on the Things to Know page (no pressure right?)
PS The video made Boing Boing!!!!
Libraries and Transliteracy Blog- Media Skills Integrated into Core StandardsA draft of K-12 standards put forth by the National Governor’s Association, as part of the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI), integrates media skills as a key design consideration of these standards. The draft points to the importance of these skills: To be ready for college, workforce training, and life in a technological society, students [... […]Tom Ipri
- What is Transliteracy?I attempt to answer some questions about transliteracy including what is it, in my Librarian by Day blog post – Defining Transliteracy 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 [...] […]Bobbi Newman
- Digital Literacy Skills Essential to Closing Broadband Gap #knightcommThe Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy sites the Broadband Adoption and Use in America (pdf) report released by the Federal Communications Commission in Digital Literacy Skills Essential to Closing Broadband Gap when emphasising the importance and need for digital literacy The survey findings reinforce the growing body o […]Bobbi Newman
- Media Skills Integrated into Core Standards
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