Libraries and Leadership
For or Against Art It was mid-week and if my memory serves me, early afternoon, and we are all sitting around a Formica table waiting for a few stragglers to drift in so the meeting could start. The content of the meeting is now a fuzzy memory As with most meetings, there was the ritualistic …
I have always cringed at the term “Digital Native.” I am not sure why, but I don’t know what the term really means. Definition: A digital native is a person born or brought up during the age of digital technology and therefore is familiar with computers and the Internet from an early age. For me, …
Digital Literacy: Advanced Skills Understanding Behavior What are the rules, norms, and behaviors Digital literacy is a hot topic for many libraries but its definition remains ambiguous and evolving even as many try to pin down a working definition. At Johnson County Library, we’ve chosen to define digital literacy as a wide range of digital …
Digital Literacy for the Intermediate. Moving away from consuming to producing digital content This post investigates the skills that an intermediate digital learner needs. Understanding and defining the needs of an intermediate digital leaner is problematic because each individual comes with their own set of personal goals and needs. The intermediate digital learner is a …
Starting a conversation about what Digital Literacy means at Johnson County Library Skills needed for a novice “Technology is nothing. What’s important is that you have faith in people, that they’re basically good and smart, and if you give them tools, they’ll do wonderful things with them.” – Steve Jobs This quote underscores my personal …
A continued conversation with myself about Digital Literacy A quarrelsome mind can become vexing when the dialogue is internal. I have always had an aversion to the term digital literacy. It has always struck me as a defensive term that justified certain library activities. I do not want to appear schizophrenic in my thinking. I …
The next series of blog posts are going to focus on digital literacy, digital readiness, and the digital divide. I am then going to look at the intersection between Digital and Financial Literacy. ALA defines digital literacy as “Digital Literacy is the ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information, …
Adult Learning Less Than Stella It has been my experience that public libraries are experts in creating learning environments and experiences for children and teens. I do not know why this is, but it might have to do with the focus we have historically placed on early childhood literacy. As a profession, we do not …
Part 3 still focuses on adults in the 20 – 35 year age range, and their behaviors. Our goal continues to find ways to offer library programming that is meaningful and helpful to this group’s everyday life. Traditionally we have had trouble attracting this demographic to library programs. We do a great job in offering …
When writing part two of this series I initially looked at employment data for 20 – 35-year-olds. As I began to research the topic in greater depth, I began to realize that I wanted to understand how people in this age range are spending their time. Investigating this issue might provide us with the insight …