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libraries and
the future of
transliteracy
lane wilkinson
houston, tx
april 20, 2012
CPE#535
Welcome!
Blogs
Presentations
Websites
Journals
Conferences
Job descriptions
Job titles
Where you’ll find
transliteracy
Social media
Digital literacy
Ebooks
Participatory
Open Access
New librarianship
Library 2.0
Some things
transliteracy is
not…
Transliteracy
the ability to read, write, and
interact across a range of
platforms, tools, and media.
A brief history of
transliteracy
2005
The Transliteracies
Project
“Text has historically
existed as a negotiation
between media,
including oral, written,
print, visual, and…
electronic media.”
(Liu 2006)
2005
The Transliteracies
Project
Studying “the zone of
negotiation…by which
the older dialogue
among print, writing,
orality, and audiovisual
media…enters into new
relations with digital
media.”
(Liu 2006)
2007
PART: Production
and Research in
Transliteracy
The ability to read, write
and interact across a
range of platforms, tools
and media.
(Thomas, et al., 2007)
2007
PART: Production
and Research in
Transliteracy
“Transliteracy is an
umbrella term
encompassing different
literacies and multiple
communication
channels.”
(Andretta 2009)
2010
Libraries and
Transliteracy
“Transliteracy began as
a descriptive concept,
designed to understand
how people navigate
their way across various
media.”
(Newman 2011)
2010
Libraries and
Transliteracy
“[It is] understanding the
ways various means of
communication interact
and understanding…the
skills necessary to move
effortlessly from one
medium to another.”
(Ipri 2010)
What do all of these approaches
have in common?
1. Multiple media
2. Communication
3. Interaction
Transliteracy is the ability to
communicate meaning
between media
Why is transliteracy relevant to
librarians?
Libraries have always
promoted literacy
Literacy has always
been mediated by
information
technology
So, technology
influences how we
can and should
promote literacy
But, a
multiplicity of
technologies
can be a
logistical
nightmare
Transliteracy helps us
promote literacy
across technological
barriers
The three pillars in more detail
Multiple media
Once upon a time…
…literacy was simple.
Then, something changed…
We invented new tools to communicate
We found new places to communicate
We found new time to communicate
We’ve always had choices
Just never quite so many
literacy critical
visu
al
scientific
information 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 sta
tistical
meta
There’s got to
be a better
way
Communication
The birth of the web made it necessary for
librarians to shift more towards teaching
search strategies and evaluation of
sources. The tool-focused “bibliographic
instruction” approach was later replaced
by the skill-focused “information literacy”
approach.
Meredith Farkas American Libraries Magazine
11/01/2011
http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/columns/practice/information-literacy-20
The end of the “tool-focused approach”
But, information isn’t just evaluated
Information is used
Information is
communicated
But doesn’t
information literacy
cover that?
Transliteracy and information literacy
Orality
Signing
Visual
Computer
Digital
Scientific
Health
Economic
Cultural
Critical
Media
We can be literate without
being able to evaluate
We can be
information
literate
without being
tech-savvy
Transliteracy and information literacy
Orality
Signing
Visual
Computer
Digital
Scientific
Health
Economic
Cultural
Critical
Media
Communication Evaluation
Transliteracy and information literacy
Orality
Signing
Visual
Computer
Digital
Scientific
Health
Economic
Cultural
Critical
Media
Transliteracy Information Literacy
We’ve done a great job with
evaluation
Transliteracy is about bringing our
attention back to communication
Interaction
Transliteracy is also
about asking:
“How are all of
these literacies &
technologies
supposed to
interact?”
How have librarians
dealt with
interaction and
integration?
Librarians love
compartments
But patrons don’t
The “versus” mentality
doesn’t cut it
anymore
Information
resources are linked
Transliteracy is about avoiding silos
Caveat:
It’s not just digital
Analog to analog
Analog to digital
Digital to digital
Transliteracy is
about
the network
Transliteracy is an intersection…
Multiple media
Communication
Interaction
Transliteracy and librarianship
Librarians encourage transliteracy
by adopting programming and
teaching strategies that promote
skill transfer across media
Transliteracy is not something we
teach
Transliteracy is something we take
advantage of
1. Effective information use requires
multiple information sources
The days of “one medium”
research are over.
Yet we tend
to focus on
the resources
that we know
we often put
up defensive
walls
To distinguish
ourselves from
the web
But, patrons will use
non-library resources
And they’re
running right
into the walls
we’ve been
building
Get comfortable with non-library
resources
Show how the library fits in
2. Identify skills that can adapt
How are you
preparing your
patrons for
change?
Your staff?
Yourself?
An example
Can your patrons still use it?
Identify skills that will outlast change
3. Encourage skills that transfer
across platforms, tools, and media
The question posed
by transliteracy is:
“Are we
encouraging
skills that
transfer?”
The ability to transfer
cognitive skills
learned in one domain
to a new domain
Transfer of learning
Encourage skills that will adjust
Start from
patrons’
existing
mental
models of
libraries
(Holman 2011)
And teach
the analogy
(Gentner & Colhoun 2010)
1) Candidate inferences
2) Schema abstraction
3) Re-representation
Begin with what they know
Encourage inference through
analogy
Show how it works,
not just how to use it
Give ample time for free play
The library is reinforced as a
node in the network
Wikipedia before class
Google versus the Library
The library is not (always) the answer
A. Off.com B. The Journal of Entomology C. Yahoo! Answers
D. Ask Grandma
You moved off-campus, but now you’ve got roaches! Where’s the best place to find out which bug-spray is most effective?
Teaching the analogy
The world of information
Ample time to experiment
Social media training
Workshops and beyond…
We constantly ask:
How can we make
the library a part
of their network?
That’s the core of transliteracy
It’s not a set of skills
It’s a goal
Conclusion?
The future of transliteracy?
There’s still something of value
We still have to deal with
multiple media
We still have to deal with
communication
We still have to deal with
how it all fits together
So, how do we get there?
Transliteracy is the ability to read,
write and interact across a range of
platforms, tools and media
It’s about communicating
meaning across media.
The word ‘transliteracy’ may not last
But, the need for
transliteracy will
always be around
Thank you
senseandreference.wordpress.com
librariesandtransliteracy.wordpress.com
References
Andretta, S. (2009). Transliteracy: Take a walk on the wild side. In World Library and Information Congress: 75th IFLA Genreal Conference and Assembly, Milan, Italy: 23-27. http://eprints.rclis.org/handle/10760/14868
Farkas, M. (2011). Information literacy 2.0. American Libraries [Blog post]. November 1, 2011. Available at:
http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/columns/practice/information-literacy-20
Gentner, D. & Colhoun, J. (2010). Analogical processes in human thinking and learning. In Glatzeder, B.,
Goel, V., and von Muller, A. (2010). Towards a Theory of Thinking. Heidelburg: Springer. 35-48.
Holman, L. (2011). Millennial students’ mental models of search: implications for academic librarians and
database developers. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 37(1): 19-27.
Ipri, T. (2010) Introducing Transliteracy. College & Research Libraries News, 71(10), 532-567
Liu, A. (2006). Definition of Online Reading. http://transliteracies.english.ucsb.edu/category/research-
project/definition-of-online-reading
Newman, B. (2011). Beginner’s guide to transliteracy. Available online at
http://librariesandtransliteracy.wordpress.com/beginner’s-guide-to-transliteracy/
Thomas, S., et al. (2007) Transliteracy: crossing divides. First Monday, 12(12). Online.
http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2060/1908
