About
Digital Literacy Tutorials
is a project that currently includes five self-paced tutorials created and maintained by Jennifer Hootman, Coordinator of Digital Scholarship at the University of Kentucky Libraries:- Safety First: Best Practices in Digital Privacy & Security
- Planning and Managing Your Digital Project
- Creating a Digital Project Using Scalar
- Digging for Gold: Text Mining Basics Using Digital Resources
- Data Management for the Humanities
Each of the tutorials are based on in-person instructional sessions and include some activities and interactive elements. They were created with University of Kentucky faculty, staff, and students in mind but can be utilized by anyone interested in learning more about these topics.
For questions or comments, contact Jennifer Hootman (jlhootman@uky.edu).
More on digital literacy below.
Digital Literacy: Context and Application
How do the variety of literacies fit together?As modes of information creation and distribution continue to expand, new literacies such as Digital Literacy have begun to take shape and represent a specific set of skills not previously identified. Although one can differentiate the variety of skillsets embodied by Information Literacy, Digital Literacy, Visual Literacy, and Disciplinary Literacy between one another, they also share common skills and themes. These skills are not mutually exclusive but rather intricately interdependent.
Information Literacy
Includes but is not limited to the following themes:
• Critical thinking and analysis
• Source and text evaluation
• Effective search strategies
• Appropriate application of research tools
• Copyright, fair use, open access, and the public domain
• Publishing cycle and commodification of information
Digital Literacy
Includes but is not limited to the following themes:
• Selection and appropriate application of a digital tool
• Assessment of a digital tool’s features, documentation, and support
• Assessment of a digital tool’s privacy and security features in regards to data
• Selection and appropriate application of a digital methodology
• Find and access needed textual and numeric data effectively and efficiently
• Interpret and analyze the meanings of textual and numeric data
• Evaluate textual and numeric data and their sources
• Copyright, fair use, open access, and the public domain
• Articulate the relationship between content decisions and application of the digital tool to the issues of power, privilege, access, and privacy
• Awareness of modes of digital knowledge production, dissemination, and preservation
Disciplinary Literacy
Includes but is not limited to the following themes:
• Understanding of the essential publications within a discipline (i.e., journals, monographs, datasets)
• Understanding of the preferred mode of scholarly production within a discipline (i.e., articles, books, creative works, performances)
• Understanding of the key research tools and methods applied within a discipline (i.e., subject-specific databases or reference works)
• Appropriate application of key research tools and methods within a discipline
• Understanding of discipline-specific language and vocabulary utilized in text, media, and creative works
• Effective scholarly communication within a discipline
Visual Literacy
Includes but is not limited to the following themes:
• Determine the nature and extent of the visual materials needed
• Find and access needed images and visual media effectively and efficiently
• Interpret and analyze the meanings of images and visual media
• Evaluate images and their sources
• Use images and visual media effectively
• Design and create meaningful images and visual media
• Understand many of the ethical, legal, social, and economic issues surrounding the creation and use of images and visual media, and access and use visual materials ethically
What could digital literacy look like in the University of Kentucky classroom?
Taking into consideration how the University of Kentucky Center for the Enhancement of Learning & Teaching (CELT) approaches and understands digital pedagogy as well as ACRL’s explanation of the concept, UK Libraries’ Digital Scholarship Department defines this teaching and learning practice accordingly.
Therefore, faculty can use digital pedagogical practices to teach digital literacy skills.Digital pedagogy is not only the use of digital tools in teaching and learning but also the close examination of the relationship of these technologies to the issues of power, privilege, access, and privacy. Interrogating the impact of digital tools on learning and cultivating imaginative, innovative, and ethical use of digital tools is at the heart of digital pedagogical practices.
A digital pedagogical approach could include but would not be limited to the following themes and illustrative examples:
- Critical selection and application of a digital tool (e.g., Oxygen XML Editor, Esri Story Maps)
- One possible library role could include a course-integrated workshop addressing criteria for selecting “x” digital tool and how to use and apply the tool to the class assignment/project.
- Critical selection and application of a digital methodology (e.g., text encoding, digital mapping)
- One possible library role could include a collaboration with CELT to provide a faculty workshop on integrating “x” digital methodology within a course syllabi.
- Applied understanding of digital knowledge planning, design, production, preservation, and dissemination
- One possible library role could include the library as the “site” of dissemination – e.g., physical or digital exhibit
- Another possible library role could include supporting the preservation of graduate student digital projects that they complete as part of their dissertation requirements.
- Critical understanding of the relationship between content decisions and application of the digital tool to the issues of power, privilege, access, and privacy
- Ethical application of a digital tool and methodology
References
American Library Association. (2015). Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education.
American Library Association. (2011). ACRL Visual Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education.
Center for the Enhancement of Learning & Teaching (CELT). Initiatives.
Digital Literacy Unpacked.
Garber-Pearson, R., & and Chin Roemer, R. (2017). Keeping Up with… Digital Pedagogy.
Ho Adrian and Jennifer Hootman. (2018) Digital Literacy & Digital Pedagogy Report.