You may recall that last February we highlighted a great article by Trudi Jacobson and Thomas Mackey introducing ‘metaliteracy’ as a framework for understanding information literacy. The number of alternative “literacies” has seemed to explode over the past few years, and the article does a great job of reining competing literacies in and organizing them under a more manageable conceptual framework. But, certain questions remain. In particular, how are terms like ‘metaliteracy, ‘transliteracy’, ‘information literacy’, and other literacies understood in the library profession? Well, to find the answer, Jacobson and Mackey have come up with a survey to find out how “librarians and faculty members worldwide who teach information literacy in some form conceive of information literacy” in light of the explosion of alternative literacies.
I’ll let Jacobson explain, from a message circulating on various listservs:
If you teach information literacy at an academic institution (in any format, such as a stand-alone course, a component of another course, or single sessions), I welcome your participation in a survey. The online survey is available at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/metaliteracy
The purpose of the survey is to learn more about the impact of the changing information environment and social media on the teaching of information literacy. This research follows up on my work with Dr. Thomas Mackey in connection with our article, “Reframing Information Literacy as a Metaliteracy,” which appeared in the January 2011 issue of College & Research Libraries. Data gathered via this survey will contribute to a book we are currently writing on the same topic, which will be published by Neal-Schuman in 2012.
Your feedback will be most helpful in getting a sense of changes that may be occurring as a result of the evolving information environment and emerging literacy frameworks. Learning what others are doing, through the information that will be presented in the book and through other venues, may be beneficial in considering your own teaching.
So, if you’re interested in transliteracy, metaliteracy, information literacy, or some other putative literacy (hyperliteracy, anyone?), please chime in on the metaliteracy survey. The more data they collect, the better will be the picture of multiple literacies in librarianship. Once again, the survey is available at:
As a bit of a bonus, Trudi Jacobson was kind enough to send me a selected reading list. Go ahead and check it out if you’re interested in the concept of metaliteracy (or of transliteracy).
Suggested Reading (thanks to Trudi Jacobson)
- Bobish, Greg. 2011. “Participation and Pedagogy: Connecting the Social Web to ACRL Learning Outcomes.” The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 37, no 1: 54–63.
- Breivik, Particia Senn and E. Gordon Gee. 1989. “Taking a New Look at Libraries,” In Information Literacy: Revolution in the Library, 1-29. New York: Macmillan.
- Dunaway, Michele Kathleen. 2011. “Connectivism: Learning Theory and Pedagogical Practice for Networked Information Landscapes.” Reference Services Review 39, no. 4: 675-685.
- Ipri, Tom. 2010. “Introducing Transliteracy: What Does It Mean To Academic Libraries?” College and Research Libraries News 71, no. 10: 532-567. http://crln.acrl.org/content/71/10/532.full.pdf+html
- Mackey, Thomas P. and Trudi E. Jacobson. 2011. “Reframing Information Literacy as a Metaliteracy.” College and Research Libraries 72, no. 1: 62-78. http://crl.acrl.org/content/72/1/62.abstract
- Siemens, George. 2004. “Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age.” Elearnspace: everything elearning. http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm
- Society of College, National and University Libraries. 2011. “The SCONUL Seven Pillars of Information Literacy, Core Model for Higher Education.” Society of College, National and University Libraries. http://www.sconul.ac.uk/groups/information_literacy/publications/coremodel.pdf
- Thomas, Sue, Chris Joseph, Jess Laccetti, Bruce Mason, Simon Mills, Simon Perril, et al. 2007. “Transliteracy: Crossing Divides.” First Monday [Online], 12 no. 12. http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2060/1908