Merriam-Webster defines literacy as "the quality or state of being literate." Okay, Merriam-Webster let's get something clear. This does not help anyone understand what literacy is.
Since it doesn't tell us about literacy, let's click on the hyperlink provided within the definition. This takes us to the full definition of literate, which is:
Full Definition of LITERATE
2
a : versed in literature or creative writing : literary
c : having knowledge or competence <computer-literate> <politically literate>"
Better! I personally like 2 b and c - being literate means that you have lucid, polished knowledge or competence (as if you can only have one or the other - I'd argue that in order to have the latter you must have, to some degree, the former, but I'm just an English-teacher-turned-media-specialist and not a dictionary author or editor, so take my opinion for what it's worth).
Even this process demands a certain type of literacy. In print dictionaries, authors don't have the option of clicking through to something that is helpful, so patrons then would need to be competent in knowing "oh, well if this didn't tell me what I needed, I'll look at another word from that definition to develop a better understanding." But with the digital dictionary that I used, I needed to know "oh, this didn't tell me much. But since the word 'literate' is blue and underlined, it will take me to another place that may give me the information I need." This is a part of digital literacy - knowing how to use the tools (such as hyperlinks) that are given to you in order to find what you need (such as a definition that actually tells me something about the word I don't know).
Even this process demands a certain type of literacy. In print dictionaries, authors don't have the option of clicking through to something that is helpful, so patrons then would need to be competent in knowing "oh, well if this didn't tell me what I needed, I'll look at another word from that definition to develop a better understanding." But with the digital dictionary that I used, I needed to know "oh, this didn't tell me much. But since the word 'literate' is blue and underlined, it will take me to another place that may give me the information I need." This is a part of digital literacy - knowing how to use the tools (such as hyperlinks) that are given to you in order to find what you need (such as a definition that actually tells me something about the word I don't know).
Literacy development is directly proportionate to technology development. When information was accessed in limited ways (i.e. print sources), people only had to have a lucid, polished competence in those limited methods. As new technologies developed new ways for us to create an understanding of the world, they demanded new competencies in order to use them effectively.
I often tell my research methods classes that they will never experience not knowing something. The powerful search engines coupled with near-constant access to devices that can connect us to those search engines means that information is literally at our fingertips at anytime we need it. What time does that flight land? What will the weather be like? Who starred in that show that went off the air 20 years ago? All available, all the time - and totally uncurated. Whereas we used to have an intermediary to vet information for us, the vast content of the world wide web is at our fingertips. So now we need to become competent in telling good information from bad - a new kind of literacy.
I often tell my research methods classes that they will never experience not knowing something. The powerful search engines coupled with near-constant access to devices that can connect us to those search engines means that information is literally at our fingertips at anytime we need it. What time does that flight land? What will the weather be like? Who starred in that show that went off the air 20 years ago? All available, all the time - and totally uncurated. Whereas we used to have an intermediary to vet information for us, the vast content of the world wide web is at our fingertips. So now we need to become competent in telling good information from bad - a new kind of literacy.
In addition to consuming information, we can now easily become producers of information (as well as all kinds of other goods and services) and others can access and consume what we've produced. To have a polished competence in making, we have to know how to produce something, what qualities a good "something" should have, and how to distribute that something to others. Yet another type of literacy.
Ultimately, technology has created all kinds of new literacies, and school libraries have become tools that support the development of those literacies in their patrons (both students and teachers). Libraries can help students foster a love of reading, navigate safely through the research process, create meaning from words and images, become producers of tangible and intangible products, and undertake tasks individually or as a group within and outside of their walls, shelves and tables that make up a physical library space. In the end, I want my students to be able to do or make what they want, with whom they want, when they want. For this reason, the aim of the Avonworth Resource Center is to promote literacy in all of its forms. Through this blog, we will share our journey of cultivating literacy.
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