The document discusses the concept of transliteracy, which analyzes how people communicate across different media and participate in social networks to construct knowledge. Transliteracy questions traditional notions of authority and the privileging of printed text. It emphasizes understanding how various communication methods interact and moving between media. The document considers how transliteracy relates to information literacy standards and how libraries can incorporate transliteracy ideas to help patrons access, understand, and produce information by allowing them to contribute to knowledge bases.

1. Why Beignets? Tom Ipri Head, Media Computer Services University of Nevada, Las Vegas

2. Why “Why Beignets”?

3. Characteristics

4. Characteristics Mapping meaning across different media and not with developing particular literacies about various media Not about learning disparate literacies in isolation from one another but about the interaction among all these literacies

5. Characteristics Analyzes the relationship between people and technology but is fluid enough to not be tied to any particular technology Concerned with the social meaning of literacy

6. Characteristics Explores the participatory nature of new means of communicating breaks down barriers between academia and the wider community calls into question standard notions of what constitutes authority by emphasizing the benefits of knowledge sharing

7. Implementation

8. Implementation Do these concepts manifest as skills and to what degree these skills are teachable? Ways various means of communication interact and understanding, not necessarily teaching, the skills necessary to move effortlessly from one medium to another

9. Implementation “Reframing Information Literacy as a Metaliteracy.” Thomas P. Mackey and Trudi E. Jacobson College & Research Libraries, Jan 2011

10. Implementation “promotes critical thinking and collaboration in a digital age, providing a comprehensive framework to effectively participate in social media and online communities…

11. Implementation …It is a unified construct that supports the acquisition, production, and sharing of knowledge in collaborative online communities.”

12. Implementation “Standard definitions of information literacy are insufficient for the revolutionary social technologies currently prevalent online.”

13. And Info Lit?

14. And Info Lit? Are IL standards enough to support the growing research with how people currently communicate across various media, how they produce information in myriad forms and formats, and how they establish rapidly expanding social networks?

15. And Info Lit? Yes? No? Maybe? Should these standards be expanded to encompass these issues, or should transliteracy proponents adopt clear standards and define specific skills to supplement information literacy?

16. And Info Lit? Not only question previous assumptions of authority, it also calls into question the often assumed privilege of printed text

17. And Info Lit? ALA Committee on Literacy’s defines literacy as the ability to use “printed and written information to function in society, to achieve one’s goals, and to develop one’s knowledge and potential.”

18. And Info Lit? Not unique in questioning this bias Is unique in Combining democratizing communication formats Expressing no preference of one over the other Emphasizing the social construction of meaning via diverse media

19. So What? Who Cares?

20. So What? Who Cares? In the transliterate world, creating a social network of experts is held in high regard What is important is not just transferring information but creating an information narrative that evolves over time and adds value

21. So What? Who Cares? Libraries can help add value for patrons by allowing patrons to contribute to the social construction of knowledge bases

22. So What? Who Cares? Because of the ways in which transliteracy questions authority and devalues hierarchical structures proponents tend to advocate for issues that help level the information playing field, such as ensuring neutrality and bridging the digital divide

23. So What? Who Cares? So much of transliteracy overlaps concerns much at the heart of librarianship Librarians can incorporate these new ideas into the ways they assist patrons with accessing, understanding, and producing information

24. So What? Who Cares? The social aspects of transliteracy can enhance the workplace by creating robust systems of knowledge sharing and can enhance user experience by granting them a role in the construction of information

25. Thank You!

26. Photo References Slide 1: cplbasiliskhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/cplbasilisk/5560435844/ Slide 2: ulterior epicure http://www.flickr.com/photos/ulteriorepicure/433910180/ Slide 3: clamheadhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/clamhead/350992024/ Slide 7: kaigehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/kaige/5319929111/

27. Photo References Slide 13: Lexinatrixhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/lex/5470173016/ Slide 18: ulterior epicure http://www.flickr.com/photos/ulteriorepicure/78217750/ Slide 25: avrenehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/enerva/5541816076/