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.

 

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.

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)

Standards presentation at ACRL

If you missed the visual literacy standards presentation at ACRL, here is a copy of the slides: VisualLiteracy_ACRL2011_MedailleHattwig. There’s also a summary of the whole panel session (Projecting an Image: A Field Guide to Visual Literacy) on the virtual conference site. We had a full house – thank you to everyone who attended, and thank you to Paul Glassman for organizing and inviting us.

Standard Seven – use ethically

Please comment on Standard Seven. Thanks!

Standard Seven

The visually literate student understands many of the ethical, legal, social, and economic issues surrounding the creation and use of images and visual media, and accesses and uses visual materials ethically.

Performance Indicators:

1.       The visually literate student understands many of the ethical, legal, social, and economic issues surrounding images and visual media.

Learning Outcomes:

a.       Develops familiarity with intellectual property, copyright, and fair use as they apply to image content
b.      Develops familiarity with how licenses prescribe appropriate image use
c.       Recognizes own intellectual property rights as image creators
d.      Identifies issues of privacy, ethics, and safety involved with using and sharing personally created images
e.      Explores issues surrounding image censorship

2.       The visually literate student follows ethical and legal best practices when accessing, using, and creating images

Learning Outcomes:

a.       Identifies institutional (e.g., museums, educational institutions) policies on access to image resources, and follows legal and ethical best practices
b.      Tracks copyright and use restrictions when images are reproduced, altered, converted to different formats, or disseminated to new contexts
c.       States rights and attribution information when disseminating personally created images

3.       The visually literate student acknowledges image creators and sources in projects and presentations.

Learning Outcomes:

a.       Gives attribution to image creators and sources, and clearly posts credit statements
b.      Cites images by selecting and consistently using an appropriate documentation style 

Standard Six – create

Please let us know what you think of Standard Six – Thank you!

Standard Six

The visually literate student designs and creates meaningful images and visual media.

Performance Indicators:

1.       The visually literate student produces images for a range of projects and scholarly uses.

Learning Outcomes:

a.       Creates images to represent and communicate concepts, narratives, and arguments (e.g., concept maps, presentations, storyboards, posters)
b.      Constructs accurate and appropriate graphic representations of data and information (e.g., charts, maps, graphs, models)
c.       Produces images for a defined audience
d.      Aligns image content with the overall purpose of project

2.       The visually literate student uses design strategies and creativity in image production

Learning Outcomes:

a.       Plans image style and design in relation to project goals
b.      Uses aesthetic and design choices deliberately to enhance effective communication and convey meaning
c.       Uses creativity to incorporate existing image content into new image products

3.       The visually literate student uses a variety of tools and technologies to produce images.

Learning Outcomes:

a.       Experiments with image-production tools and technologies
b.      Identifies the best tools and technologies for the image project
c.       Develops proficiency with a range of tools and technologies for creating images

4.       The visually literate student evaluates personally created image products.

Learning Outcomes:

a.       Evaluates personally created image products based on project goals
b.      Evaluates personally created image products based on disciplinary criteria and conventions
c.       Reflects on role of personally created image products as a meaningful contribution to research, learning, or communication
d.      Validates personally created image products through discourse with others
e.      Revises personally created image products based on evaluation

Standard Five – use

What do you think of Standard Five? Please let us know!

Standard Five

The visually literate student uses images and visual media effectively.

Performance indicators:

1.       The visually literate student uses images effectively for different purposes

Learning Outcomes:

a.       Plans for strategic use of images and visual media within a project
b.      Integrates images into projects purposefully, considering meaning, aesthetic criteria, visual impact, and audience
c.       Uses images for a variety of  purposes (e.g., as illustrations, evidence, visual models, primary sources, or focus of analysis)
d.      Uses images for subject-specific and interdisciplinary research, communication, and learning

2.       The visually literate student uses technology effectively to work with images.

Learning Outcomes:

a.       Uses appropriate editing, presentation, communication, storage, and media tools and applications, to prepare and work with images
b.      Determines image file format, size, and resolution requirements for a project, and converts images accordingly
c.       Edits images as appropriate for quality, layout, display (e.g., cropping, color, contrast)

3.       The visually literate student uses problem solving, creativity, and experimentation to incorporate images into scholarly projects.

Learning Outcomes:

a.       Experiments with different ways of integrating images into academic work
b.      Uses visual thinking skills to clarify and solve problems

4.       The visually literate student communicates effectively with and about images.

Learning Outcomes:

a.       Writes clearly about images for different purposes (e.g., description, analysis, evaluation)
b.      Presents images effectively, considering meaning, aesthetic criteria, visual impact, rhetorical impact, and audience
c.       Discusses images critically with other individuals, expressing ideas, conveying meaning, and validating arguments
d.      Includes textual information as needed to convey an image’s meaning (e.g., using captions, referencing figures in a text, incorporating keys or legends)
e.      Reflects on the effectiveness of own visual communications and use of images