A Sign of the Times: Creating, Sharing, Remixing and Recycling Information Through Various Technological Media

*Below, you will find Dr. Mimi Ito's, professor at UC Irvine, webcast titled Transformational Literacy:  Prepraring Users for Life's Transitions and my response to her presentation.

 http://mediasuite.multicastmedia.com/player.php?p=x18n36wn

Michael Stevens, a professor of Library Science at Dominican University, challenged us to reflect on our various experiences throughout our lives.  As we grow older, our interests change, as do our responsibilities. Some of the things that we go through will bring us much joy; others will cause us a great deal of sorrow.  No matter what life brings us, or when, we have to learn new skills to successfully deal with unpredictable and inevitable change. 

Libraries can play a key role in the way information changes, how it is accessed and how we use it to keep up with life’s changes. Stevens reminded us that at different stages in our lives, for different reasons, we use different types of libraries. Elementary school students may be more familiar with school or public libraries, whereas college students become familiar with their universities’ libraries.  The question is: how can those of us who are Library and Media specialists prepare users for these pending and diverse life changes?

Dr. Mimi Ito, Professor in Residence at the University of California at Irvine, offered invaluable insight into the transformational properties of literacy, or as she stated, literacy in transformation.  As a cultural anthropologist, she gave many examples of how individuals, namely young adults, use digital media in their everyday lives.  Dr. Ito spoke of how new popular technology brings about a sense of  hope as revealed in how people are discovering their skills, talents and interest through authentic, meaningful learning.  Not surprisingly, there is also a looming sense of fear that online gaming, social networking and so forth are destroying our culture. The professor took a balanced stance on the issue, expressing that both points of view should be considered simultaneously—seeing the good that can be afforded by new opportunities while being cautious of things that seem to be counterproductive.

Of particular interest to me was how young adults are using technology/digital media to create and share growing bodies of information.  Gamers, writers, film makers and others have spaces that allow them to voice how they feel about what interests them, bonding through video games, literature (created by them, for them and others) or commentary on the sociopolitical issues of our day.  Individuals who may be reluctant to speak out in class or express themselves traditionally with pen and paper now have the tools to share what is on their minds and get instant feedback, primarily from their peers.

As librarians, classroom teachers and otherwise concerned adults, we can foster young adults’ desire to learn, grow and share by supporting their efforts.  Allowing them to complete projects in the form of blogs, videos and other media-related formats will give our youth opportunities to exude creativity and disseminate finished and on-going products quickly, as well as create a sense of community with like-minded individuals.  This can only be effectively done if we become more comfortable with and knowledgeable about advances in technology, all the while encouraging the youth to use new resources in ways that challenge them and us.

Dr. Ito mentioned several programs that encourage young adults to express themselves through various forms of media as they interact with their peers. The You Media program at the Harold Washington Library in Chicago is a space for young adults to express themselves.  They have access to laptops, recording studios, game machines as well as ample support from the adult community. Evanston Public Library has The Loft, a homework and writing center, which I have visited on several occasions. Along with many programs and activities, the Loft has a blog, podcasts and an eZine, the latter being an arena where teens can share their writing and connect with other writers.  What amazing opportunities for children of all ages to work with and learn from their peers in non-threatening environments!  Imagine how they can transfer what they learn in those creative spaces to “real world” situations throughout the rest of their ever-changing lives.

To Read or Not To Read. . . Banned Books Week 2011

I was excited to learn of and to share news about Banned Books Week 2011!  Even though I knew that I would not be able to incorporate activities into my current curriculum, I thought that it was important that my students know that an event (or movement) like this exists. I talked with them about books that had been banned/challenged, why people would have objections to particular books and what these individuals could do to formally express their concerns. Now that I have more information, I plan to get more involved with BBW in the future.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that I had read some of the most challenged books.  In a Young Adult Novel course last winter, I read Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of Part-Time Indian and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, both of which are on the 2010 list of most challenged books.  Of the top 100 banned and/or challenged novels of the 20th century, I had the pleasure of reading many of them in high school or in college, including:

Baldwin, James.  Go Tell It On The Mountain
Hemingway, Ernest. The Sun Also Rises
Hurston, Zora Neale.  Their Eyes Were Watching God
Lee, Harper.  To Kill A Mockingbird
Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men
Walker, Alice. The Color Purple

As a person who has always loved reading as well as discussing and writing about books, Banned Books Week has encouraged me to really consider how I feel about the freedom to read. I think about stories that I included in my classroom library years ago--Richard Wright and the Library Card and Tomas and the Library Lady--that speak of the transformational possibilities of a simple act like giving children access to books. I will admit that I do not agree with allowing children of certain ages and those with socio-emotional concerns to read particular books.  However, it is not my place to prohibit others from enjoying those books if they are interested in and mature enough to read them.  More and more, I am learning that when it comes to deciding whether to read or not to read a book, people, young and old, do a pretty job of making up their own minds.

The Organization of Information

 Chapter 3:  Development of Organization of Information in Western Civilization

            In Chapter 3, we learn how people from around the world, for what seems like the beginning of time, have sought to be organized.  It is interesting to see how individuals from various walks of life have tried to make sense of what needed to be organized. Equally important to them was finding the best system of getting small and large scale organizing done.

            I must say that because his system is the one used to organize the books in my school’s library and because it took me no time to memorize his 10 main classes and many of the subsequent divisions and sections, I declare Melvil Dewey’s decimal system my favorite classification system, (so far).  What I like about the Dewey Decimal Classification, or DDC, is that library patrons can be at relative ease as they navigate solo through (school) libraries because subjects are chunked in related, recognizable groups.  As a lover of literature, I get enamored by the 800’s whereas my best friend who is passionate about pets can find out about her other best friend in the 600’s—636 in particular—as she learns all about dogs. I was recently given the 19^th edition of Anne Price’s Children’s Catalog.  Part One is entitled Classified Catalog, and it is arranged with the nonfiction books first, classified by the DDC.  I am excited to read through this part of the catalog to find new literature to add to my collection!

The Organization of Information

Chapter 2:  Retrieval Tools

            There are retrieval tools that make it easy to search for recorded information, to find information within information and to access metadata.  Two of the tools that interest me most are the pathfinder and the online catalog. I am becoming increasingly familiar with them, as I use both tools with my students on a daily basis as school librarian.

            After creating a pathfinder, a bibliography used to help research a particular subject, in a Reference course, I realized how useful the retrieval tool can be for the 6^th graders at my school.  These students spend a considerable amount of time learning about the Civil Rights Movement, Ancient Rome, China and Greece and the Holocaust. We do not have enough printed materials, like books, encyclopedia or journals, in our library for students to check out or do adequate research during class time. Pathfinders, with lists of the aforementioned materials, as well as links to museums, libraries and websites, have proven to be quite helpful to my students in school and at home.

            S.O.A.R., Seeking Online Access to Resources, is Chicago Public School’s OPAC, online public access catalog. Students can find what has been cataloged in our school’s library and in the libraries of all of CPS’s schools who currently participate in the S.O.A.R. program. No longer do students have to wait until their weekly library visit to find out what (new) literature awaits them.  No class time has to be wasted searching for books that may not be available. Each child can use access points, terms like author’s name, book title or subject through which records in the catalog can be found, to look for his or her favorite book and to see whether it is in or if it has been checked out. By using S.O.A.R., an excellent retrieval tool that can be accessed anywhere Internet service is available, students can save precious, irretrievable class time.

The Organization of Informaton

Chapter 1:  Organization of Recorded Information

According to Taylor and Joudrey in The Organization of Information, there seems to be a basic need to organize 1.  to group things,  2.  to understand the world around us, 3.  to save time, and 4. to retrieve what we are looking for.  I can see how intertwined all of the reasons for organization are in my own life.  Organization is important to me when I am looking for where I put my purple, not red socks; wondering how many people will use forks, not chopsticks, at my party; or deciding what students I can enroll in a library contest that wants participants who are 10 years old, whether they are in 4^th or 5^th grade.  Recorded information which has similar basic characteristics—title, creator and topic—known as metadata, or data about data, has been organized in a variety of locations, including libraries, museums and archives as well as on the Internet. This information is managed in ways particular to the institution in which it is housed to maximize successful retrieval.