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!

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.

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.

timeline update

Following is an updated timeline for the standards development process:

Timeline review:
February 2010 – ACRL Information Literacy Standards Committee supports project
March 2010 – Task Force and Advisory Group formed
April-June 2010 – visual literacy research, bibliography development, started blog
June 2010 – VLTF open meeting at ALA Annual
August 2010 – working definition of visual literacy released
September 2010-January 2011 – standards drafted by VLTF
January 2011 – Advisory Group review of standards
February 2011 – draft of standards publicly released

Upcoming dates:
February 10 – March 31, 2011 – open review and testing period, ongoing outreach
March 2011 – ALA Annual 2011 program call for participation
April 2011 – standards revisions, begin approval process (IRIG Convener, ILSC, Standards & Accreditation Committee, ACRL Board)
June 2011 – introduce draft standards at ALA program

question for open comment: how do you define visual literacy?

Looking at the visual literacy definitions and the component list below, what stands out as least/most important? Are there any elements that should not be included, or elements that you feel are missing?

(We are defining visual literacy in the context of an interdisciplinary, information-literacy-based, higher education environment.)

standards development timeline

Following is a preliminary timeline for the VL standards development process. Task Force and Advisory Group roles are noted.

July 2010 – definition of visual literacy
TF: write definition, following discussion at ALA
AG: review and comment on definition
TF: finalize definition
August – September 2010 –  outline of visual literacy standards
TF: draft outline
AG: review and comment on outline
TF: finalize outline
September-October 2010 – draft of visual literacy standards
TF: write first draft of standards
AG: review and comment on draft
TF: revise draft, prepare working draft for use and testing
October 2010 – February/March 2011 (approximate, may change) – use and test standards
all: use and test standards in home institutions, provide regular feedback to TF
TF: assemble comments and make revisions

The post- Feb/March 2011 timeline will be worked out as we progress and get a better sense of how things will look at that time. Next steps will be seeking broad review and further comments, making further revisions, then starting the approval process. The general timeline for standards development recommended by the Information Literacy Standards Committee is at the bottom of Tip Sheet 4: Developing Subject-Specific Information Literacy Standards.

standards development process

The process for developing subject-specific information literacy standards is outlined in ACRL’s Tip Sheet 4: Developing Subject-Specific Information Literacy Standards. Visual literacy standards are a new type of standard (not subject-specific), but we will be following this well-thought-out and tested process.

Visual Literacy Standards development supported by ILSC

The ACRL Information Literacy Standards Committee has given their support to the development of visual literacy standards based on ACRL’s Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. The ILSC oversees development of all new IL-based standards, and approves new standards. Jill Gremmels, Davidson College, will be our Information Literacy Consultant.

Welcome!

We’ve started this blog to provide updates on the work of developing Visual Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education, and to provide a forum for community engagement with the process. We’re hoping to develop standards that are a useful tool for faculty, librarians, and students working with visual content.  This can only happen with your involvement. Please comment, discuss, critique, support, question, or otherwise let us know what you think as the standards take shape. We want to hear from you!