Visual Literacy and the Academic Library

My friend and colleague Kathryn (a fellow UF ed tech student) recently went to the ACRL (Association of College and Research Libraries) Conference and brought me a handout from a presentation about visual literacy and academic libraries. Although I'm sorry I wasn't able to see the presentation face-to-face, there are some related visual literacy presentations at the ALA Annual meeting in June and I'll definitely attend those sessions.

Here's an overview of the ACRL session:

Definition
The presenters use a definition of visual literacy presented by John Debes in 1969 which refers to a group of visual competencies the ability to communicate using the competencies.

Importance
As media and technology are transforming society, visual images are becoming a predominant form of communication

How UNO (Univ of Nebraska Omaha) and the library are incorporating visual literacy

• The library has a "partnership for visual literacy" with the university with representatives from the Criss libary and the school of communication
• Criss library is promoting visual literacy by using visual messages in communications and in library marketing, by having virtual library tours, and vodcasting

I'm glad to see that libraries are seeing the need for increased use of visual images in a variety of settings. I'd like to see more libraries incorporating visual literacy topics in information literacy instruction and making instruction more visual.