Taking Note at ALA 2007 : Eye-2-I

Eye to I: Visual Literacy meets Information Literacy

ACRL : IS ARTS

Program + Poster Session

Virtual Poster Sessions

Program Introduction (PowerPoint Slideshow)

ACRL Arts Section / Instruction Section, 2007 Conference Program, ALA, Washington, D.C.
The poster sessions will be available on the site through December, 2007.

Philip Yenawine defines visual literacy as the ability to communicate as well as recognize and understand ideas conveyed through imagery. This program will explore connections between visual literacy and information literacy. Three experts will examine legal issues, access issues, and teaching strategies in light of the standards developed for both literacies.

Attendees will have the opportunity to develop learning outcomes, rubrics, and pedagogical methods for teaching in an environment where words and images communicate meaning. An introductory slideshow will feature the history and accomplishments of the Arts and Instruction Sections as well as introduce the program topic and the presenters.

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[Note: I’m afraid my notes weren’t good enough to cover the entire session, but here is an overview for two speakers]

Presenters:
Danuta Nitecki. Associate University Librarian, Yale University Library
Cindy Cunningham, Director of Media Metadata and Cataloging, Corbis Corporation
Loanne Snavely, Head of Instructional Programs, Penn State University Libraries

 

Danuta Nitecki

Nitecki cited European & Australian adoption of Visual Literacy into regular educational curriculum. She further cited John Debes, 1968, on Visual Literacy as an important bibliographical reference.
A quotation from Debes’s work

Other important concepts she touched on, and which have become key features of visual literacy studies, include the primacy of visual communication in today’s visual world, the study of empathic communication through images, and the importance of understanding pattern recognition.

 

Cindy Cunningham

of Corbis noted that her company serves 23 countries in 11 languages, which presents some pretty daunting cataloguing challenges. At a time when stock image vendors are getting increased competition from microstock sites, Corbis is facing a real challenge [note: microstock sites accept amateur and professional pictures and charge low prices on a per image basis]. Rich cataloguing can make a substantive difference for image seekers. Corbis can devote an average of six minutes of cataloguing time per image, but keywords must cover both literal and conceptual subjects. Corbis is now turning to tagging/folksonomies for “crowd sourcing” of cataloguing.

 

Cunningham cited several interesting examples of alternate cataloguing processes that might work for answering demand for richer and richer cataloguing.

 

See for instance:
Blaise Aguera y Arcas of Microsoft Live Labs & his software, Photosynth (“a monumental piece of software capable of assembling static photos into a synergy of zoomable, navigatable spaces”]. Watch a “TED talks” video of Blaise giving a demo of Photosynth. The amazing Photosynth technology (based on Seadragon) expands screen real estate exponentially, allowing seamless browsing and discovery of many, many images (pictorial and text images). The Notre Dame (de Paris, Cathedral of) experiment scraped pictures from FlickR tagged with “Notre Dame” and merged them into a seamless, easily browsable 3D environment. I gather this “social harvesting” aspect of the project owes much to Noah Snavely’s project for the University of Washington, Photo Tourism, also funded by Microsoft.
See also: Stephen Lawler’s Virtual Earth project. TED Video

 

Luis Von Ahn of Carnegie Mellon invented a collaborative, competitive, image labeling game, which he describes in a video. Apparently, the game will eventually be available online: http://www.gwap.com/
The game was previously called the ESP Game : http://www.espgame.org/

Note: Google has built on Von Ahn’s game and developed a game called Image Labeler. The connection between Von Ahn’s research and Google’s game is covered in an article by Danny Sullivan.

Von Ahn is interested in comparing human and computer image recognition, and advocates “channeling human brainpower using computer games.”

Taking Note at ALA 2007 : Wiking the Blog

Wiking the Blog and Walking the Dog – Social Software, Virtual Reality, and Authority Everywhere

Sponsors: PLA LD

Innovators from within the library world present creative and practical initiatives that show how libraries can participate in the dynamic emergence of web-based information services. If you are looking for ideas as to how your library can embrace technologies offered by the likes of Wikis, Blogs, Web 2.0, Second-Life, Podcasting, FlickR, You Tube, and My Space, then this is the program for you. Traditional forms of publishing, research, and recreational information will be challenged and expanded, as will traditional notions of information authority. Presenters will show how library participation in these contemporary online forums via social software is becoming as common as walking the dog.

Matt Gullett

“Emerging Technologies Librarian,” Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County, N. C.

speaking on behalf of Helen Blowers, Gullett described Blowers’s 9-week staff learning (not training) program, which included exposure to blogs, photos & images, RSS & newsreaders, tagging & folksonomies, wikis, online applications, podcasts & videos. The goal of the program was to provide exposure to new tools and to allow play, thus empowering individuals to expand their own knowledge without fear or apprehension. This program emphasized collaborative learning and acceptance of mistakes.

More online at the Explore, Discover, Play Blog

Other sites mentioned:

• http://mgullett.blogspot.com/
• plcmclearning.blogspot.com
• librarybytes.com
• youthtech.wordpress.com

Tom Peters

founder of TAP Information Services, spoke on behalf of Lori Bell, of the Alliance Library System about librarian adventures in Second-Life. Peters reported that there are over 7 million registered avatars. Second-Life hosts cultural programs, museums, businesses, recreation, buildings, property, services, campus environments, and yes, libraries. There were, he said, 5,000 visitors to the Alliance Info ‘archipelago.’ Peters went on to discuss social networking within Second-Life and how group behavior can be monitored and used to promote intellectual commerce. Other topics of interest: Second-Lifers & their envisioning libraries of the future (think: Glass’s glass house in New Canaan), virtual exhibitions and cultural commonses.

John Blyberg

Now of Darien, CT, Public Library (formerly Ann Arbor District Library), Blyberg spoke of the AADL’s Drupal-based library catalog and the role users played in tagging, rating and commenting on titles in the catalog. Presenting for a second audience at ALA 2007, Blyberg gave a compelling view of the AADL’s strides in making their catalog social. An interesting throwback the AADL team incorporated into the system was allowing users to create a personalized card in the style of an old-fashioned catalog, complete with user comment. Blyberg offers the software that negotiates with Drupal freely on his site.

Blyberg’s catalog card generator

Meredith Farkas

Distance Learning Librarian, Norwich University, Vermont.

During her third appearance at ALA 2007, Meredith continued the theme of new uses of wikis and blogs for academic and public libraries. She suggested audience members look to innovative examples from commercial and non-profit sources, as well as to libraries of differing types. She offered a compelling argument for the Wiki as subject guide (see also her article in the latest issue of American Libraries, “Subject Guide 2.0”); for wikis & blogs as public suggestion boxes (to improve transparency of services & policies); for Facebook as a mechanism for eliciting Collection Development suggestions from students. She also showed some interesting examples of wikis that are community-built knowledge bases. Her own wiki is community-edited: Library Success : A Best Practices Wiki. Although she ran out of time, she has put her presentation online for more ideas about use of FlickR, RSS feeds, LibraryThing, tagging, and more.

• Meredith’s Blog #1
• Meredith’s Blog #2
• Meredith’s Presentation

Noted by others

• PLA Blog
• Durham County Library

Taking Note at ALA 2007 : Gaming

Gaming, Information Literacy and the College Student

ACRL CJCLS

Can the skill acquired through mastery of videogames be applied to students attempting to conquer a maze of library databases and research? How have video games shaped the way students learn and process information and how can we use that understanding of these students in libraries? Learn how the gaming elements of urgency, complexity, learning by trial-and-error, active learning, experiential learning, and problem-based learning inform our goal of producing information literate students.

Notes

Jim Gee, University of Wisconsin/Madison. Linguist
George Needham, OCLC VP for member services.

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Gee

discussed positive cognitive development through games. His most recent book is Why Video Games are Good for the Soul. In his analysis of the information-seeking habits of gamers, Gee has developed a number of interesting insights into the gamer’s M.O. First, expertise more important than credentials. He cautions librarians not to expect the digital native to read the (expletive deleted) manual before launching into an activity, but to give them incentive to read a manual when they need to do so. He suggests disguising training techniques with shortcut advice.

The gamer’s mantra, Gee offers, is: Use, Access, Modify. Create your own information.

Needham

Needham devoted much of his talk to an analysis of digital natives and how their information-seeking behavior is fundamentally different from the digital immigrant. Some dichotomies he established:

• Seeking (immigrant) vs. Finding (native)

• Progress toward goal (immigrant) vs. Twitch (native)

• Linear progression (immgrant) vs. Parallel progression; random access (native)

• Text-based learning (immigrant) vs. Pictorial learning (native)

• Interest in process (immigrant) vs. Interest in payoff (native)

 

The Digital native, Needham suggests, is nomadic, experiential, integrated. According to Needham, the digital native’s mantra is: Compete, collaborate, create.

Needham plugged Jenny Levine’s (shifted librarian) new book, Gaming & Libraries Library Technical Reports Series.

 

Both speakers addressed the changing notion of privacy and how it challenges librarians’ traditional emphasis on maintaining patrons’ privacy at all costs. Digital natives often do not hold the same strong feelings about privacy.

Noted by others

• When ‘Digital Natives’ Go to the Library by Scott Jaschik
• ALA session attended: Gaming, Information Literacy and College Students InfoMonkey Blog

See also

• RUSA’s Second Life Office at the ALA Tower