This presentation introduces the concept of visual literacy and its importance for libraries. It provides examples of images from the Brooklyn College art collection and discusses how to interpret meanings and cultural contexts of images. The presentation also reviews ACRL's visual literacy standards and how libraries can help develop users' abilities to find, evaluate and create visual materials through instruction, workshops and credit courses.

1. A presentation for
ARLIS/NA-MW
by Robin Potter
Media and Cultural Studies Librarian
Brooklyn College, City University of New York
rpotter @ brooklyn.cuny.edu

2. Photo ©
2012 by
Claudio
Nolasco

3. Photo by
lexmonkey via
Flickr / CC BY

8. Bosch, Hieronymus:
exterior panels,
Garden of Earthly
Delights
c. 1504

9. Deutch, David. Rotunda (detail). 2002. Brooklyn College Library Art Collection.

10. “..what is seen with
the eye and what is
„seen‟ in the mind.
A visually literate
person should be
able to read and
write visual
language. This
includes the ability
to successfully
decode and
interpret visual
messages and to
encode and
compose
meaningful visual
communications”
Bamford (2003).
Frau Venus und der Verliebte. Meister Casper. ca 1485.

12. Scholar's Books and Objects, Korea, 19th century

14. 1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
…determines the nature and extent of the visual materials
needed
…finds and accesses needed images and visual media
effectively and efficiently
…interprets and analyzes the meanings of images and visual
media
…evaluates images and their sources
…uses images and visual media effectively
…designs and creates meaningful images and visual media.
…understands many of the ethical, legal, social, and economic
issues surrounding the creation and use of images and visual
media, and accesses and uses visual materials ethically.
http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/visualliteracy

15. Visual Literacy Array based on ACRL’s Visual Literacy Standards by D. Hattwig, K. Bussert, and A. Medaille

16. 
Types of images/media
›

General art image resources
›
›

resolution, image size, dpi
Editing/Design software
›


Difference: duration, motion, soundtrack
Similarity: metaphor, symbol, color, editing, line, shape, contrast, cropping, pov
Digital images
›

Books, magazines, archives, museums, their own photographs, drawings, videos
Copyright, image licensing, fair use
Moving images vs. still images
›
›

biology, anthropology, chemistry, education, etc.!?)
Other resources for images
›


Artstor, Cinema Image Gallery, Internet Archive, wiki commons, flickr
Searching- brainstorming for keywords, synonyms
Discipline-specific resources
›

graphs to hd video and back)
Photoshop, Lightroom, Final Cut, Illustrator
Advertising tactics
Meaning/Cultural context
›
›
Does the same image mean the same to you as it does to me? Why not?
Symbolism, context

17. Instruction
4 faced
Ngontang
Helmet mask,
Fang, Gabon
Photo by Ann
Porteus via Flickr
Resources

18. Embedded in a course?
 One shot library workshops
 Library Workshop series, each with a
theme
 For-credit course in the library!


19. How do our libraries embrace twitter,
tumblr, vine, youtube, pinterest, etc.,
etc., etc.?
 How well do we know copyright and fair
use?
 How can modelling visual literacy
competencies benefit other areas?


20. Polishchuk, Slava. Wall. 2002
Booker, Chakaia. Echoing Factors. 2004
Kentridge, William.
Typewriter. 2003.

21. Images courtesy of Brooklyn College Archives and Special Collections, Brooklyn College Library.

24. Flammarion Engraving, author unknown

25. rpotter@brooklyn.cuny.edu
718 758 8214

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Booker, Chakaia. (2004) Echoing Factors. Sculpture. The Brooklyn College Library Art Collection.
Retrieved from http://library.brooklyn.cuny.edu/library/art/
Bosch, Hieronymus (1504). Creation of the World. Image. Retrieved from
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/bosch/delight/
Casper, M. (ca. 1485). Frau Venus und der Verliebte. Image. In ARTstor [database online]. [cited 8
November 2013]. Available from ARTstor, Inc., New York, New York.
Hattwig, D. , Bussert, K., & Medaille, A Literacy Array based on ACRL’s Visual Literacy Standards in
PORTAL: LIBRARIES AND THE ACADEMY, Volume 13, Issue 1, January 2013, p. 75. accessed Nov 5, 2013
at http://acrlvislitstandards.wordpress.com/visual
Lexmonkey. (n.d.). Photo of Martin Scorsese. Acessed via flickr. CC BY
Kentridge, William. (2003). Typewriter. Sugarlift aquatint. The Brooklyn College Library Art
Collection. Retrieved from http://library.brooklyn.cuny.edu/library/art/
n.a. (n.d.) Flammarion Engraving. Image (engraving). Retrieved from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Flammarion.jpg
n.a. (19th century). Scholar's Books and Objects, Korea, Joseon dynasty (1392-1910). Los Angeles
County Museum of Art. Retrieved from http://collections.lacma.org/node/171350
(n.a.) (n.d). 4 faced Ngontang Helmet mask, Fang, Gabon. Photo by Ann Porteus via Flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sidewalk_tribal_galleries/5645643182/
Nolasco, Claudio. (2012). Untitled (portrait of Robin Potter). Accessed November 1 from
claudionolasco.com
Polishchuk, Slava. (2002). Wall. The Brooklyn College Library Art Collection. Retrieved from
http://library.brooklyn.cuny.edu/library/art/
(n.a.) (n.d.) Two photographs of Brooklyn College Library Interiors. Scans made from photographic
prints. Brooklyn College Archives and Special Collections.
Screen shots (Nov 2013) of Facebook, Pinterest, Google Images, Huffington Post,

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ACRL (2011). Visual Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. Retrieved
November 3, 2013, from http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/visualliteracy
ACRL (n.d.) Intersections of Scholarly Communication and Information Literacy
http://acrl.ala.org/intersections/executive-summary/
Debes, J. (1968). “Some foundations of visual literacy.” Audio Visual Instruction 13, 96964.
Bamford, A. (2003) “The visual literacy white paper.” Commissioned by Adobe Systems
Pty. Ltd, Australia.
Beatty, N. "Cognitive Visual Literacy: From Theories and Competencies to Pedagogy."
Art Documentation: Bulletin of the Art Libraries Society of North America 32, no. 1 (April
2013): 33-42.
Hattwig, D., Bussert, K., Medaille, A., and Burgess, J. (2013)."Visual Literacy Standards in
Higher Education: New Opportunities for Libraries and Student Learning." portal: Libraries
and the Academy 13, 1: 61-89.
Houtman, E. (November 6, 2013). New literacies, learning, and libraries: How can
frameworks from other fields help us think about the issues? In the Library with the Lead
Pipe, online. http://inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/
N.a. (n.d). “Visual literacy.” http://www.curious-eye.com/visual.php
Scorsese, M. (2013). The persisting vision: reading the language of cinema. New York
Review of Books, acessed online Nov 11, 2013
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2013/aug/15/persisting-vision-readinglanguage-cinema/
Zanin-Yost and Donaldson, C. (2005). “How to speak out (visually) at your library.” Library
Philosophy and Practice 7, 2. accessed at
http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/~mbolin/donaldson-zanin-yost.html