Tag Archives: ACRL

Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Online Privacy Protection

Image by The Italian Voice. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons' licensing.
Image by The Italian Voice. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons’ licensing.

In a world that is increasing dependent on cloud technology, privacy concerns will never be too far behind. Many patrons rely on libraries as their main resource to acquire software and web access. As a result, the  task of protecting privacy defaults, to some extent, to the providers. Libraries are important stakeholders in these conversations.

In the article, Libraries & Privacy in the Internet Age (2013), Eric Phetteplace stated, “Privacy almost always involves some kind of trade-off, for users and for libraries. We need to ensure we’re making the right trade-offs with due diligence.” Phetteplace noted that an important key is to isolate user sessions by supervising access. More proactive approaches to prevention include modifying browsers and educating the public about why their privacy matters.  Click here to learn more about online privacy for your library.

Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

What Students Need From Reference Librarians

Image by Pascal Maramis. Retrieved from FlickR. Used under Creative Common's licensing.
Image by Pascal Maramis. Retrieved from FlickR. Used under Creative Common’s licensing.

Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) released a post online pertaining to a recent study exploring the various interactions librarians have with students.  The article discusses what specific skills, knowledge and experience the librarian used to assist each individual student. This study evaluated the effectiveness of working with a librarian from the student’s perspective. General areas discussed included;

  • Understanding resources and procedures
  • Knowledge about subjects and terminology
  • Ability to development topics
  • Personal experience with research
  • Subject expert referrals
  • Synthesis of questions
  • Interview and active listening skills

A summary of the findings can be found online: http://tinyurl.com/okxowtn

“What students need from reference librarians: Exploring the complexity of the individual consultation,” College & Research Libraries, 74, no 6 (June 2013): 288-29;  full text article.

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?