Renee Hobbs explores the future of libraries through the lens of digital literacy in this talk to the Massachusetts Commonwealth Consortium of Libraries in Public Higher Education Institutions.

1. Digital Literacy
& Libraries:
What’s Coming Next
Renee Hobbs
Massachusetts Commonwealth Consortium of Libraries in Public Higher Education
Institutions (MCCLPHEI)
June 13, 2013

3. Stakeholders in Digital Literacy
TECH
BUSINESS
ACTIVIST
GOVERNMENT
LIBRARY
EDUCATION
CREATIVE

5. New Tools & New Texts

6. Digital Literacy & Libraries: Designing What’s
Coming Next
Digital literacy is the ability to use information
and communication technologies to find,
evaluate, create, and communicate
information requiring both cognitive and
technical skills.
-ALA Digital Literacy Task Force
Expanding the Concept of Literacy

8. Rhetoric
Print Literacy
Visual Literacy
Information Literacy
Media Literacy
Computer Literacy
Critical Literacy
News Literacy
Digital Literacy
Historical Context

9. Literacy is the sharing of meaning
through symbolic form

10. A Lifelong Process

11. A Lifelong Process

12. A Lifelong Process
….with cognitive, social & emotional dimensions unique to each individual

13. Access,
Use & Share
Create &
Collaborate
Analyze &
Evaluate
Practice Social
Responsibility
Expanding the Concept of Literacy

14. Digital Literacy
Access, Use and Share
 Keyboard and mouse skills
 Be familiar with hardware, storage and file
management practices
 Understand hyperlinking & digital space
 Gain competence with software applications
 Use social media, mobile, peripheral & cloud
computing tools
 Have access to broadband
 Identify information needs
 Use effective search and find strategies
 Troubleshoot and problem-solve
 Learn how to learn
 Listening skills
 Reading comprehension

15. Digital Literacy
Create & Collaborate
 Recognize the need for communication and
self-expression
 Identify your own purpose, target
audience, medium & genre
 Brainstorm and generate ideas
 Compose creatively
 Work collaboratively
 Edit and revise
 Use appropriate distribution, promotion &
marketing channels
 Receive audience feedback
 Play and interact
 Comment
 Curate
 Remix

16. Digital Literacy
Analyze & Evaluate
 Recognize the relationship between symbol
and referent
 Identify the author, genre, purpose and
point of view of a message
 Compare and contrast sources
 Evaluate credibility and quality
 Understand one’s own biases
and world view
 Recognize power relationships that shape
how information and ideas circulate in
culture
 Understand the economic context of
information and entertainment production
 Examine the political and social
ramifications of inequalities in information
flows

17. Digital Literacy
Practice Social Responsibility
 Acknowledge the power of communication
to maintain the status quo or change the
world
 Understand how differences in values and
life experience shape people’s media use
and message interpretation
 Appreciate risks and potential harms of
digital media
 Apply ethical judgment and
social responsibility to online
communication situations
 Understand how concepts of ‘private’ and
‘public’ are reshaped by digital media
 Appreciate and respect legal rights and
responsibilities (copyright, intellectual
freedom, etc)

18. Access,
Use & Share
Create &
Collaborate
Analyze &
Evaluate
Practice Social
Responsibility
Expanding the Concept of Literacy

19. What strategies help higher education faculty
advance digital literacy?

20. Cultivating Intellectual Curiosity

21. Learning by Doing

22. Nurturing a Sense of Authority

23. Academic Library Innovations
in Digital Literacy
Weigle Information Commons
Penn Libraries
• Hoesley Digital Literacy Fellows
Program
• Gadget Day
• Selzer Family Digital Media Awards
• Annual Mashup Contest

24. http://elixr.merlot.org

25. What strategies help academic library leaders
advance digital literacy?

26. #1
Manage the Momentum

27. #2
Identify Community Needs

28. #3
Find Good Partners

29. #4
Decide What Matters

30. #5
Measure Impact

31. #6
Tell Your Story

32. #7
Give it Time to Grow

33. Access, Use &
Share
Create &
Collaborate
Analyze &
Evaluate
Practice Social
Responsibility

34. Use & Share Create &
Collaborate
Analyze &
Evaluate
Apply Ethical
Judgment
TAKE ACTION

35. Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Section 1201

36. Communities of Practice Assert
Their Fair Use Rights
* * * * October 2012 * * * *
Library of Congress grants
college and K-12 educators
the right to “rip” copy-
protected audiovisual media
for teaching and learning

37. www.PowerfulVoicesforKids.com
University-school partnership
program builds digital and media
literacy competencies

38. REGISTER ONLINE: www.mediaeducationlab.com

40. A New Generation of Outward-Facing
Information & Library Professionals
Foundations: Graduates will understand the changing nature of knowledge and will
know how to research, organize, and apply a broad range of interdisciplinary resources
to meet the information needs of diverse users.
Lifelong Learning: Graduates will understand how to assess and meet the needs of
users and develop community partnerships in order to empower lifelong learners.
Digital Media: Graduates will understand how changing media and technologies
reshape information and society, applying digital competencies and critical thinking
skills in order to contribute to innovation.
Leadership and Ethics: Graduates will understand ethical principles of global citizenship
and will demonstrate leadership skills towards creating equitable access to and use of
information.

41. New Core Courses for the Graduate Program
in Library & Information Studies
• Document, Assess & Evaluate
• Search & Inquiry: Users and Their Needs
• Lead, Connect & Manage
• Organize, Retrieve & Access
• Apply and Reflect

42. New Tracks
Library
Leadership
Digital
Media
Lifelong
Learning

47. Renee Hobbs
Harrington School of Communication and Media
University of Rhode Island
Email: hobbs@uri.edu
Twitter: reneehobbs
Web: http://mediaeducationlab.com