Category Archives: General

Academic, General

ACRL/IRIG Visual Literacy Competency Standards Draft Released

The ACRL Image Resources Interest Group (ACRL/IRIG) has released a draft set of standards for visual literacy competency in higher education. The ACRL/IRIG believes that visual literacy standards are necessary due to the pervasiveness of online images, and the use of images within student learning and research. According to ACRL/IRIG, visual literacy is defined as a

…set of abilities that enables an individual to effectively find, interpret, evaluate, use, and create images and visual media. Visual literacy skills equip a learner to understand and analyze the contextual, cultural, ethical, aesthetic, intellectual, and technical components involved in the production and use of visual materials.

In all, there are seven standards, and each of the seven standards include performance indicators and learning outcomes.  The learning outcomes, in particular, seem to be the most useful and concrete.

The concept of visual literacy standards is not exactly a new one. The ACRL/IRIG reports that there is a large body of literature on visual literacy and visual studies. In addition, there are some K-12 and other higher education documents that include at least a few standards that are recommended by the ACRL/IRIG; however, the group feels that the “learning goals”, in particular, had not been well defined, and they aim to fill this gap.

The ACRL/IRIG Visual Literacy Standards definitely deserve a glance, and the interest group hopes for feedback and commentary on their blog.

I tend to think that a set of ACRL standards for visual literacy is necessary. Librarians hopefully will use the standards to plan their interactions (one-on-one assistance, reference interactions, workshops, etc.) with students, and also in conversations with faculty, deans, and other interested parties. Additionally, academic librarians will be “speaking the same language” by having one clear set of visual literacy standards to reference.

What are your thoughts? Are the standards necessary? How are they different from general information literacy or transliteracy standards? Is there a standard or a learning outcome that really catches your eye/interest?

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

2011 Horizon Report is Available

This annual report identifies and describes key trends that a group of experts believe will have an impact on teaching, learning and creative inquiry.  This year, some of those trends are: electronic books, mobiles, augmented reality, game-based learning, gesture-based computing, and learning analytics. This is a recommended read for those who wish to get a concise overview of important trends in addition to reviewing specific examples of current uses of technology. The 2011 Horizon Report is  a collaborative initiative of the New Media Consortium (NMC) and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) and  is now available for free download from www.educause.edu/Resources/2011HorizonReport/223122.

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Finalists Named for the 23rd Annual Minnesota Book Awards

The Friends of the St. Paul Public Library have announced the finalists for the 23rd annual Minnesota Book Awards! To see a list of all the finalists by category, please visit http://www.thefriends.org/programs/mnbookawards/award_winners_and_finalists.html. The categories include: Children’s Literature, General Nonfiction, Genre Fiction, Memoir & Creative Nonfiction, Minnesota, Novel & Short Story, Poetry, and Young People’s Literature. All nominated titles appear towards the bottom of the page. Lots of great stuff here!

Also of note, the 23rd Annual Minnesota Book Awards Gala, when the winners will be announced, will be held on Saturday, April 16th. Visit the main Minnesota Book Awards site http://www.thefriends.org/programs/mnbookawards.html  for additional information and resources.

Keep your eyes peeled for another blog post from us during the month of March about how you can play a part in selecting the Readers’ Choice Award winner!

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist

Central Minnesota History Day @ SCSU Recap!

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January 22, 2011 was Central Minnesota History Day at the Miller Center Library, and it was a smashing success! This was the third year SCSU has hosted this event, and we had 97 participants. In all, we had six schools attend. This year’s History Day Theme is Debate and Diplomacy in History: Successes, Failures, and Consequences.

The students received detailed research instruction, handouts, and assistance from SCSU librarians, interns, Minitex, and the Minnesota Historical Society (MHS) staff. MHS provided guidance on project creation, structure, appearance, and what makes a History Day project great! MHS also had a sample History Day project on hand from last year. Instruction was provided on such topics as: using the Minnesota Digital Library www.mndigital.org, accessing and utilizing SCSU’s many primary source databases, using the ELM Databases, and the SCSU online catalog. This instruction was invaluable, and really got students moving in the right direction.

Throughout the day, CMLE staffers provided assistance with checking out materials and requesting interlibrary loans. In all we checked out 109 materials – ensuring that students in the central Minnesota region have the primary and secondary sources that they need to create a successful project. In addition, Patricia assisted with research questions, provided a nice welcome during the opening session, helped set up the breakout rooms and lunch, and worked to ensure that the day ran smoothly.

 We were happy to see such a great showing and hope to welcome these schools back again next year… and, we’d also love to see you, too! Please visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/cmle1/ to see Central Minnesota History Day @ SCSU in action!

To learn more about National History Day, please visit http://www.nationalhistoryday.org/. To learn more about the research day at the Miller Center, visit http://research.stcloudstate.edu/page.phtml?page_id=344.

SCSU is looking forward to hosting the annual Central Minnesota History Day Regional competition on March 19th, 2011. The event is expected to bring students to campus to compete for prizes, such as monetary awards, continuing on to the state competition, and scholarships.

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Google Cloud Print in Beta!

Printing… from your phone?! If you’re a Windows user and are lucky enough to have an iPhone or an Android smartphone, you can try out this new beta service now! Currently, your options for what to print are limited to select Google services. Additionally, it requires a special beta version of Google Chrome and will only send print jobs to printers that you’ve connected to your Google account. Review PCWorld’s article on this service, and follow the helpful steps they’ve provided to give it a whirl! Or you can bypass the PCWorld article and start directly with Google.

 Let us know how it goes in the comments area!