Visual Literacy Standards published by ACRL

We are pleased to announce publication of the new Visual Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education (pdf) by the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL).

The Visual Literacy Standards include:

• an introduction to and definition of visual literacy
• a brief discussion of visual literacy and higher education
• a brief discussion of visual literacy and information literacy
• suggestions for implementing the Standards
• key sources and bibliography
• 7 standards, 24 performance indicators, and 90 learning outcomes

The Visual Literacy Standards provide, for the first time, a common framework for visual literacy learning in higher education. The learning outcomes included in the Standards provide new opportunities for visual literacy teaching and assessment, and support efforts to develop measurable improvements in student visual literacy.

The Standards were developed over a period of 19 months, informed by current literature, shaped by input from multiple communities and organizations, reviewed by individuals from over 50 institutions, and approved by 3 ACRL committees and the ACRL Board of Directors. For a history of the Standards development process, please see the Standards project blog.

The Visual Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education are a project of the ACRL Image Resources Interest Group, and were authored by the Visual Literacy Task Force – Denise Hattwig (chair), Joanna Burgess, Kaila Bussert, and Ann Medaille.

 

It’s official! Visual Literacy Standards approved by ACRL Board

We’re pleased to announce that the ACRL Board has adopted the Visual Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education (9/19/2011 version) as official ACRL standards. The Standards will be published soon on the ACRL website, and in C&RL News.

Thank you very much to all of you who have taken an interest in the Standards and provided input and feedback throughout the development process. We feel this was a true community effort, and the Standards reflect the great ideas of many individuals.

We will be posting official links and more information about implementation and support plans in coming weeks.

approval process update – SAC approval, on to the Board!

The ACRL Visual Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education have been approved by the ACRL Standards and Accreditation Committee.

The Standards have now been forwarded to the ACRL Board of Directors for review and final approval.

We’d like to extend a sincere thank-you to the many ACRL committee chairs and members who carefully reviewed the Standards drafts, offered suggestions and edits, and acted quickly to move the Standards forward. We appreciate your help and contributions!

Visual Literacy Panel at ALA 2011

Below are photos from the Visual Literacy Panel at ALA 2011 in New Orleans. Many thanks to all the presenters!

approval process update – ILSC approval

The ACRL procedure for review and approval of new information literacy standards is outlined in Tip Sheet 4.  The approval process for the draft Visual Literacy Standards is underway. Here’s an update on where we are now:

The draft Standards have been approved by the ACRL Information Literacy Standards Committee (ILSC)  (6/26/3011, ALA Annual).

The draft Standards have been sent to the ACRL Standards and Accreditation Committee for review.

Visual Literacy Standards program at ALA Annual 2011 in New Orleans

Please join us for ACRL/IRIG’s Visual Literacy Standards program at ALA Annual 2011 in New Orleans!

Visual Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education: Introducing a new interdisciplinary information literacy standard for 21st century learners

Visual literacy experts and practitioners will introduce a working draft of the draft ACRL/IRIG Visual Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education, and discuss implementation strategies for higher education. Speakers will be describing their experiences testing implementation of the draft Standards, and will provide ideas for Standards-based activities, learning objects, and assessment.

Date: Sunday, June 26, 2011
Time: 4:00-5:30 pm
Place: Convention Center Room 339

Track: User Services
Subtrack: Literacy & Learning

Speakers:
Virginia Allison and Holly Tomren, University of California, Irvine
Jodi Kearns and Lizette Royer, University of Akron
Emily Nelson Decker, University of Georgia
Robin Miller, University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire
Shilpa Rele and Gilda Santana, University of Miami
Joanna Burgess, Reed College (moderator)

Sponsor: ACRL Image Resources Interest Group (IRIG)
Co-sponsors (name-only): Arts Section, Women and Gender Studies Section, Instruction Section

ACRL/IRIG ALA Program planning committee: Joanna Burgess (co-chair), Ann Medaille, Kaila Bussert, Denise Hattwig (co-chair)

Handouts available on the IRIG website

new revisions to draft Standards

In response to feedback from the Information Literacy Standards Committee, the draft ACRL/IRIG Visual Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education has been revised. The current draft is dated 6/16/2011.

approval process update

The ACRL procedure for review and approval of new information literacy standards is outlined in Tip Sheet 4.  The approval process for the draft Visual Literacy Standards is now underway. Here’s where we are:

The draft Standards have been approved by ACRL Image Resources Interest Group Convener Joanna Burgess (4/22/2011), and Information Literacy Consultant Jill Gremmels (5/4/2011).

The draft Standards are now being reviewed by the ACRL Information Literacy Standards Committee.

new draft of Standards now available

A new version of the draft ACRL/IRIG Visual Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education is now available.

Thank you very much to everyone who has commented on the draft, provided us with feedback, and contributed to the standards development process.

speakers announced – ALA 2011 visual literacy standards panel session

We’re pleased to announce the speakers for our ALA 2011 panel session in New Orleans, “Visual Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education: Introducing a new interdisciplinary information literacy standard for 21st century learners.”

Speakers:
Virginia Allison and Holly Tomren, University of California, Irvine
Jodi Kearns and Lizette Royer, University of Akron
Emily Nelson Decker, University of Georgia
Robin Miller, University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire
Shilpa Rele and Gilda Santana, University of Miami
Joanna Burgess, Reed College (moderator)

Speakers will be describing their experiences testing implementation of the draft Standards, and will provide ideas for activities, learning objects, and assessment related to the draft ACRL/IRIG Visual Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education.

ACRL/IRIG ALA Program planning committee: Joanna Burgess (co-chair), Ann Medaille, Kaila Bussert, Denise Hattwig (co-chair)