Posted on April 28, 2016 at 9:06 AM by Brian Herder
Visual Literacy for Libraries: A Practical, Standards-Based Guide (2016)
Nicole E. Brown, Kaila Bussert, Denise Hattwig, Ann Medaille
ALA Editions
978-0-8389-1381-9
The importance of images and visual media in today’s culture is changing
what it means to be literate in the 21st century. Digital technologies
have made it possible for almost anyone to create and share visual
media. Yet the pervasiveness of images and visual media does not
necessarily mean that individuals are able to critically view, use, and
produce visual content.
The ACRL Visual Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education
were developed to address these distinct characteristics of images and
visual media. Based on those standards, this book provides librarians
and instructors with the tools, strategies, and confidence to apply
visual literacy in a library context. Readers will not only learn about
ways to develop students’ visual literacy, but also how to use visual
materials to make their instruction more engaging. Ideal for the busy
librarian who needs ideas, activities, and teaching strategies that are
ready to implement, this book
- shows how to challenge students
to delve into finding images, using images in the research process,
interpreting and analyzing images, creating visual communications, and
using visual content ethically;
- provides ready-to-go learning activities for engaging critically with visual materials;
- offers tools and techniques for increasing one’s own visual literacy confidence; and
- gives strategies for integrating, engaging with and advocating for visual literacy in libraries.
With
this book’s guidance, academic professionals can help students master
visual literacy, a key competency in today’s media-saturated world,
while also enlivening instruction with visual materials.