Keynote address given at the Minnesota Library Association's Academic and Research Division (ARLD) Day, April 27, 2012.

1. TRANSLITERACY: Constructing Knowledge
and Networks
ARLD Day
April 27, 2012
Minn. Library Assoc.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidclow/2456360108/

2. Where I’m coming from

3. Why I’m here http://www.flickr.com/photos/scolirk/5920957686/

4. First,
a question http://www.flickr.com/photos/21496790@N06/5065834411/

5. What is the most terrifying thing about
working in an academic library?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/theloushe/4386211866/

6. Finals week?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/teamtiredfeet/6041587969/

7. Committee work?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/clagnut/252185030/

8. Printer jams?
Nope… http://www.flickr.com/photos/miskan/3313324/

9. Graduation
http://www.flickr.com/photos/carbonnyc/143186839/

10. Educational Attainment and Library Usage
12
10
8
6
10.1 9.79
8.79
4 7.74
5.2
2 3.24
1.29
0
9th Grade High School Some college Bachelor's Master's Professional Doctoral
Diploma Degree Degree School Degree
Degree
Sin, S.-C. J., & Kim, K.-S. (2008). Use and non-use of public libraries in the information age: A logistic
regression analysis of household characteristics and library service variables. Library & Information
Science Research, 30(3), 207-215.

11. Library Usage by Age Group
2.5 Attending school
Not attending school
2
1.5
1
2.11 1.55 1.27
0.5 0.88 0.95 0.9 0.97 0.94 0.88
0.68
0
6-13 14-17 18-20 21-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70-79 >80
Sin, S.-C. J., & Kim, K.-S. (2008). Use and non-use of public libraries in the information age: A logistic
regression analysis of household characteristics and library service variables. Library & Information
Science Research, 30(3), 207-215.

12. An existential crisis…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/celesterc/1302838239/

13. Are we just
handmaids
to annotated
bibliographies?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/canonsnapper/171439809/

14. What do we do
that will last?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/steffanyf/4190646747/

15. Even the day-to-day
is in flux. http://www.flickr.com/photos/ventriloblog/144041118/

18. It all comes down to
preparing for change
http://www.flickr.com/photos/atbartlett/2432704579/

19. It all comes down to adaptation
http://www.flickr.com/photos/deapeajay/2969264395/

20. We need to think
beyond our gates
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arenamontanus/5503405700/

21. What do we
impart that
will outlast
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rilindh/6243990270/
change?

22. We need to build bridges
to a life outside the library

23. Transliteracy
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ionushi/229284156/

24. Transliteracy is the ability to
read, write, and interact
across a range of tools,
platforms, and media.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gomattolson/4499988373/

25. A brief history
of transliteracy
http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidclow/2456360108/

26. 2005
The Transliteracies
Project
“Text has historically existed
as a negotiation between
media, including oral, written,
print, visual, and… electronic
media.”
(Liu 2006)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/networkcultures/57391

27. 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)

28. 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)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mak61/4647008124/

29. 2007
PART: Production
and Research in
Transliteracy
“Transliteracy is an umbrella
term encompassing different
literacies and multiple
communication channels.”
(Andretta 2009)

30. 2010
Libraries and
Transliteracy
“Transliteracy began as a
descriptive concept,
designed to understand how
people navigate their way
across various media.”
(Newman 2011)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mlibrarianus/4521632001/

31. 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)

32. What do all of these approaches have
in common?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sridhanush/4135873153

33. 1. Multiple media
http://www.flickr.com/photos/grandgrrl/5240360344/

34. 2. Communication
http://www.flickr.com/photos/st3f4n/4012030328/

35. 3. Interaction

36. Transliteracy is the ability
to communicate meaning
between media
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicholasro/4933559660/

37. Why is transliteracy relevant to librarians?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/59538180@N07/5598585611/

38. Libraries have always
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lesterpubliclibrary/
promoted literacy

39. Literacy has always been
mediated by information
technology
http://www.flickr.com/photos/digital_rebel_xt/72224228/

40. So, technology
influences how we
can and should
promote literacy

41. But, a multiplicity
of technologies
can be a logistical
nightmare

42. Early literacy http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomaslife/4508639159/

43. Web literacy

44. New linguistic
competencies
http://www.flickr.com/photos/misspixels/5785978957/

45. Transliteracy helps us
promote literacy
across technological
http://www.flickr.com/photos/digital_rebel_xt/72224228/ barriers

46. Transliteracy in more detail
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gomattolson/5518638853/

47. Foundations of
transliteracy
1. Multiple Media
http://www.flickr.com/photos/samantonio/6399080897/

48. Once upon a time…
…literacy was simple.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/george_eastman_house/3122869849/

49. http://www.flickr.com/photos/superbomba/2230681898
Then, something changed…

50. We invented new tools
to communicate

51. http://www.flickr.com/photos/transkamp/54371294
We found new places
to communicate

52. We found new time
to communicate
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephangeyer/3501272881/

53. We’ve always had choices
http://www.flickr.com/photos/julia_manzerova/2757851927/

54. Just never quite so many
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12905355@N05/6834016045/

55. The days of “one medium” research
are over
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zanzo/349901563/

56. Yet we often
tend to focus on
the resources
that we know

57. To distinguish
ourselves from
the web
we put up
defensive walls

58. Students will use
non-library resources
http://www.flickr.com/photos/87913776@N00/5129607997/

59. Where do they get their information?
Head, A. J. & Eisenberg, M. B. (2011). How college students use the Web to conduct everyday life
research. First Monday, 16(4). Online.

60. They’re running
right into the
walls we’ve been
building
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ortizmj12/2366706532/

61. Get comfortable with non-library
resources
Just be careful… http://www.flickr.com/photos/jblyberg/3394121594/

62. economic social
orality
financial statistical
economic
meta web health
new media information
literacy
cultural
print
digital critical
visual
computer scientific
historical electracy
post-
visual
financial numeracy

63. There’s got to be
a better way

64. Foundations of
transliteracy
1. Multiple Media
2. Communication
http://www.flickr.com/photos/samantonio/6399080897/

65. http://www.flickr.com/photos/verbeeldingskr8/3638834128/

66. 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.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ricin/522589066
Meredith Farkas
American Libraries Magazine
11/01/2011
http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/columns/practice/information-literacy-20

67. The end of the “tool-focused approach”

68. But, information isn’t just evaluated
http://www.flickr.com/photos/harvardavenue/773700408/

69. Information is used
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephangeyer/3494488505/

70. Information is
communicated
http://www.flickr.com/photos/miuenski/5887393036/

71. But doesn’t information
http://www.flickr.com/photos/barneymoss/6372144917/ literacy cover that?

72. Transliteracy and information literacy
Print Scientific
Orality Health
Signing Economic
Visual Cultural
Computer Critical
Digital Media

73. We can be literate without
being able to evaluate
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chiotsrun/3945682459/

74. We can be
information
literate without
being tech-savvy

75. Transliteracy and information literacy
Print Scientific
Orality Health
Signing Economic
Visual Cultural
Computer Critical
Digital Media
Communication Evaluation

76. Transliteracy and information literacy
Print Scientific
Orality Health
Signing Economic
Visual Cultural
Computer Critical
Digital Media
Transliteracy Information Literacy

77. What good is evaluating information if
you can’t get to it?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/superciliousness/314764905/

78. What good is
information if
you can’t
communicate it?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/irisslootheer/4348994132/

79. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jstar/345712329/
We’ve done a great job with evaluation

80. Transliteracy brings our attention
back to communication
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eyewash/3575612360/

81. Foundations of
transliteracy
1. Multiple Media
2. Communication
3. Interaction
http://www.flickr.com/photos/samantonio/6399080897/

82. Transliteracy is also How do these literacies and
about asking: technologies interact?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7871566@N04/2478485740/

83. How do librarians
usually handle
integration and
interaction?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shellysblogger/2130085604/

84. Librarians love
http://www.flickr.com/photos/franklinheijnen/5089819498/ compartments

85. But patrons don’t

86. Our “versus” mentality
doesn’t cut it
anymore
http://www.flickr.com/photos/atlnav/369536486/

87. Popular vs. Scholarly

88. Wikipedia vs. peer-review

89. Scholarly publishers vs. open access
http://www.flickr.com/photos/biblioteekje/6325328112/

90. Google
vs.
the library

91. http://www.flickr.com/photos/twob/8741933/
Transliteracy is about avoiding silos

92. The question posed
by transliteracy is:
“Are we
encouraging
skills that
transfer?”
http://www.flickr.com/photos/en321/322710700/

93. Transfer of learning
The ability to transfer
cognitive skills
learned in one domain
www.flickr.com/photos/chaparral/2737992503/
to a new domain

94. Get rid of the
“click here”
mentality
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rufo_83/206707421/

95. Encourage skills that will adjust

96. http://www.flickr.com/photos/darwinbell/5827849044/
Start from
patrons’
existing
mental
models of
libraries
(Holman 2011)

97. And teach
the analogy
1) Candidate inferences
2) Schema abstraction
3) Re-representation (Gentner & Colhoun 2010)

98. Begin with what they know

99. Encourage inference through analogy
http://www.flickr.com/photos/automania/126698126/

100. Show how it works,
not just how to use it
http://www.flickr.com/photos/distinctlyaskew/396655424/

101. Give ample time for free play

102. Reinforce that the library is a node in
the network

103. Caveat:
It’s not just digital
http://www.flickr.com/photos/juska/2168547359/

104. Transliteracy is
not about the
media
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jblyberg/4506047012/

105. Transliteracy is
about
the network
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pascalcharest/308357541/

106. So, where do libraries
fit in the network?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/katerha/5318405382/

107. Libraries and transliteracy:
Making the connection
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jadammel/6232852998/

108. Librarians encourage transliteracy by
adopting programming and teaching
strategies that promote skill transfer
across media

109. Libraries are filled with amazing
information services.
www.flickr.com/photos/donkerdink/1324433035/

110. How do we keep patrons from being
overwhelmed?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/riekhavoc/4975764806/

111. We can teach the skills needed to use our
services.

112. We can adjust our services to meet our
patrons’ skills.
Or both
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shanghaidaddy/4444781040/

113. Transliteracy is about showing how
the library fits in

114. Moving forward
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryandesiderio/2346522953

115. Promoting impact Library instruction
Inventing spaces Google Docs
Remix revolutions Roving reference
Chat reference Legal literacy
Equity and diversity Pop culture
Data and student success Youth outreach
Linked data
Cloud collaboration
Leadership
Today’s special
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sridhanush/3784559599/

116. It’s all about bridging the gaps
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sridhanush/4108645910/

117. We all have to deal with multiple
media

118. We all have to deal with
communication

119. We have to deal with
how it all fits together
http://www.flickr.com/photos/matthileo/5448890398/

120. Transliteracy is the ability to read, write
and interact across a range of platforms,
tools and media
http://www.flickr.com/photos/smcgee/2504469684/

121. It’s about communicating meaning
across media
http://www.flickr.com/photos/smcgee/2504469684/

122. Thank you
senseandreference.wordpress.com
librariesandtransliteracy.wordpress.com

123. References
Andretta, S. (2009). Transliteracy: Take a walk on the wild side. In World Library and Information Congress: 75 th 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.
Head, A. J. & Eisenberg, M. B. (2011). How college students use the Web to conduct everyday life research. First Monday, 16(4).
Online.
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/
Sin, S.-C. J., & Kim, K.-S. (2008). Use and non-use of public libraries in the information age: A logistic regression analysis of
household characteristics and library service variables. Library & Information Science Research, 30 (3), 207-215.
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