Digitised collections offer a wealth of resources for improving a wide variety of literacies that promote critical thinking skills, instruction and curriculum enhancements.

1. Enhancing Literacy and Curriculum Using
Digitalized Collections and Approaches
Bill Lukenbill, Professor Emeritus
University of Texas at Austin
UTA 5.442 – D8600
Austin, Texas 78701-1213
USA
Diversity Challenge Resilience: School Libraries in Action - The 12th Biennial School
Library Association of Queensland, the 39th International Association of School
Librarianship Annual Conference, incorporating the 14th International Forum
on Research in School Librarianship,
Brisbane, QLD Australia, 27 September – 1 October 2010.

2. Why Digitization?
1. Digitized collections offer a wealth of
resources for improving a wide variety
of literacies.
2. Promote critical thinking skills and
creative.
3. Enhances instruction and curriculum.

3. What Is Digitalization?
Digitization is the process of converting analog
information into digital format.
Analog signals are continuous electrical signals.
Digital signals are non-continuous.
1. Analog
2. Digital
3. Binary coded digital

4. Materials and Digital Conversion
The materials to be converted can include
letters,
manuscripts,
books,
photographs,
maps, audio recordings,
microforms, motion pictures, ephemera
three-dimensional objects
medical objects.
.

5. Goal: Providing Access
The goal of digitization is to improve access
to the materials and to preserve materials
for future use. To that end, most digitized
materials become searchable via the
Internet and other forms of electronic media

6. The World Community and Digitalized Information
1. Governments around the world offer an
abundance of digitalized information, often
with curriculum guidance.
2. Content and evaluation of government
materials
2. Widespread availability of digitalization
affects our perception of the world and our
attitudes and beliefs about the world as a
community.

7. Problems and Issues
1. Digitized collections and processes are
increasing rapidly in their development and
availability.
2. Issues such as :
public access, copyright laws,
limitations on use, integration of both free,
self-created and commercially available
digitalized materials into curriculum and
instruction.

8. Evidence-Based Learning
Question: Can evidence-based research support
the claim that electronic learning facilitates
literacy?
Evidence-based learning centers on hard evidence
showing the effectiveness of instruction.

9. How Effective Is Digital Learning?
Evidence-Based Learning Is Influenced by
Medical Practice

10. The “If” Questions
If evidence-based learning shows digitalization is
effective, it might free us from older theories and
practices about how students learn and allow us to
look at learning and the methods of learning in new
ways.

11. Examples of Processes
and Products
Conversion into digital format requires devices
that can transform analog signals into
digitalized signals. Typically this is done by
scanning, digital photography, and digital
recording.

12. PROCESSES
1. Collaboration (scientific and educational)
2. Text to digital (print items) (e.g., ebooks, ejournals)
3. Preservation of library, museum, and archival items
4. Records and their management (health records,
business files and data)
5. Fictional creation, interactions and gaming
6. Medical imaging
7. Music and video.

13. 8. Instruction and Virtual Learning
Synchronous technologies
Web-based VoIP
Telephone
Videoconferencing
Web conferencing
Direct-broadcast satellite
Internet radio
Live streaming

14. Teaching Technologies
Asynchronous technologies
Audiocassette
E-mail
Message board forums
Print materials
Voice Mail/Fax
Videocassette/DVD
On Demand Streaming
(Delayed)

15. Web 2.0
Web 2.0 allows schools to have many
ways of making digitalization products
and instruction available to students.
Web applications … facilitate interactive
information sharing, interoperability,
user-centered design, and collaboration
on the World Wide Web.
.

16. Web 2.0 and Personal Interaction
A Web 2.0 site gives its users the free
choice to interact or collaborate with each
other in a social media dialogue as creators
(prosumer) of user-generated content in a
virtual community.

17. Format Examples of Web 2.0
Examples of Web 2.0 include:
social-networking sites, blogs, wikis,
video-sharing sites, hosted services, web
applications, smashups and folksonomies
(Definitions: “folksonomies”, e.g., collaborative
tagging, social classification, social indexing,
and social tagging);
“smashups is a Web page or application that uses
and combines data, presentation or functionality
from two or more sources to create new services).
[Source for definitions and examples:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki ].

18. Helpful Guides
Scott
Kelby
Lynne
Schrum and
Barbara B.
Levin
Miranda Ross
Doyle Harvey

19. Literacy and Digitalization
across the Curriculum
Reading and Writing Literacy
Cultural Literacy
Art and Visual Literacy
Science Literacy
Health Literacy
Visual Literacy.

20. Instructional Examples
Examples from Beverly E. Crane
Language Arts – Blogging
A blog is a personal log where information can be
placed and updated:
Discussions and questions about literature
Personal writing on topics
Book reviews
Storytelling
Oral histories
Sharing of photographs, digital videos,
sound files and other media.

21. History and Geography – Podcasts
Podcasts transmit audio or visual content automatically
over a network via free subscription (e.g., RSS. Atom
feeds).
Geography. Students create and give clues as to
where they are located in the world.
History. Students create information about historical
events, (e.g., immigration based on primary sources,
interviews, films, stories, oral histories, etc.)
For suggestions, see “K-12 Handhelds” at
http://k12handhelds.com/podcasting.php

22. Social Sciences -- Wikis
A wiki is a collaboratively developed and
upgraded website, e.g., Wikipedia.
Historical events
Local and community history
Local demographics
Mapping projects
Health and history
Sociology of community
For examples see:
http://educationalwikis.wikispaces.com

23. Other Curriculum Areas
that Support Digitalization
Art and Visual Literacy
Artistic techniques
Artistic styles
Art in history
Biography of artists
Science and Environment Literacy
Energy
Astronomy
Biology
Health Literacy
Health issues in communities
Prevention and care
Sports medicine and exercises

24. Examples of Digitalized
Resources

25. BBC Digital Curriculum

26. BBC – Reading, Writing, &
Thinking, grades 6-9

27. The British Library

28. Bibliothèque nationale de France

29. The Cuban National Library

30. International Children’s Digital
Library—University of Maryland, USA

31. New York Public
Library’s Digital
Gallery

32. U. S. Dept. of Agriculture –
National Library of Agriculture

33. U.S. Dept. of State.
Bureau of International Information Programs

34. The Library of Congress

35. The U.S. Library of Congress
Lesson Plans

36. U. S. Library of Congress—
World Digital Library

37. U. S. National Library of Medicine

38. U. S. National Library of Medicine –
History of Medicine

39. University of Texas at Austin Libraries –
Digital Map Collection

40. Access to and Using Electronic Collections
Copyright laws in each country vary but most countries
protect the right of creators to control the distribution of
their intellectual works.
The United States provides limited use through its “Fair
Use” provision:
1. The purpose and character of the use,
including whether such use is of commercial
nature or is for nonprofit educational
purposes
2. The nature of the copyrighted work
3. The amount and substantiality of the portion
used in relation to the copyrighted work as a
whole
4. The effect of the use upon the potential
market for, or value of, the copyrighted work.

41. Students’ Rights to Copyright Protection
Principle of the creator having control of his or her materials
Do students have the right to their digitalized materials
produced within a school assignment or expectation?
Do school have control over the student’s creation?
Policy: Schools may ask or even require students to
sign over their rights so that it becomes the property of
the school for later use.

42. Acceptable Use
Standards and Policies
Certain norms of behavior and attitudes of respect are
expected.
Establish an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP)
“AUP is a written agreement, signed by students, their parents,
and teachers outlining the terms and condition of Internet Use”
(Crane 2009, p. 3) and expectations for student-produced
digitalized resources

43. Cultural Differences and Respect
Encourage students to produce and distribute digitalized products that
respect and are sensitive to differing cultural and social norms:
Gender roles,
Religious symbols
National Images
Social issues
Narratives as well as pictorial displays must be considered in terms of
cultural differences and respect (International Council of
Museums/Conseil International des Musées, 2006).

44. Filtering Censorship and Government Controls
Many governments, including most American states and the U. S.
federal government have passed filtering laws in order to protect
students from harmful content from the Internet.
Filtering programs often use keywords to screen and
prevent information from being posted. Some examples:
Human anatomy
Diseases associated with body parts
Controversial personal lives
Legitimate information is then barred although it may contain scientific
and/or academically accepted information

45. .
Creating School Websites
Many schools published websites for both information for the
school as well as educational and instructional purposes.
Programs for website creation include:
Dreamweaver an Adobe program that is widely used by
educators to create high-end websites (
http://www.adobe.com/products/dreamweaver)
Weekly (http://www.weebly.com)
Google Sites
(http://www.google.com/sites/overview.html)
PBWorks in Education
(http://pbworks.com/content/edu+overview)

46. Library Website created with PBWorks in Education

47. Google provides a wide-range of applications for digital work:
Apps [Applications].
Alerts
Blogs
Documents
Groups
Earth
Notebook
Reader
Graphic Organizer
Section for educators (Google resources; Crane 2009, p
110).

48. Voice Thread
Ed.VoiceThread, part of VoiceThread, is:
a “communications network for K-12 students and
educators.” (Crane 2009, pp. 134-150).
• Create and work together “on digital stories and
documentaries,
• Practicing and documenting language skills,
• Explore geography and culture,
• Solve math problems,
• Study multiculturalism and foreign languages
See: http://ed.voicethread.com/about/features.

49. Social Networking in Education (Wikipedia, Social Network).
A social structure made of individuals (or organizations) called ‘nodes,
Nodes are connected by one or more specific types of
interdependency:
friendship
kinship
beliefs
knowledge
prestige
Schools can use social networking well, but there are precautions that
must be observed such as ensuring inappropriate behavior will not
occur: (“Kim Klein : Weblog…” at
http://community.saugususd.org/jklein/weblog/441.html).
Klein suggests that those who are pondering social networking as an
instructional tool visit http://education.ning.com..

50. The eBook in School Libraries
Questions and Issues
Best practices for library ebook collections
New and evolving models for ebook content discovery http://ebook-
and delivery. summit.com
Content offerings: How to identify and evaluate
content
Platform vendors and device availability and library
needs
Source: Patricia Bordelon and Leslie Smith. LASL
Presentation : “EBooks and School Libraries: Will We Be
Bookless>”
http://lasl2.wikispaces.com/LASL+MidWinter+Conference

51. What Are the Advantages?
Accessibility
Cheaper when compared with traditional materials
Note Taking
Embedded media and links
Quick updating
May engage students more
What are the Disadvantages?
Limited number of sources
No standard format
Technological needs
Page access difficulties

52. Ebook Contents Availability
Materials:
EBSCO
Gale eBooks – Reference Made Easy (e.g., Literature for
Students Online)
Newsbank
Scribner Writers Series
Twayne’s Authors Series
Textbooks (e.g., various pubs.)
Journals and newspapers
Documents

53. Acquisitions and Review Sources Review
sources
Distributors and sources

54. Venues for eBooks
Personal eReaders (various models Sony, Kindle, Nook,
Ebookwise)
Computers with Internet connections to supplier
Schools and Public Library (purchase and rental contracts)
Ellen Brooks West Memorial Library of Forney, Forney
Texas (High School)
Illinois State Library (sharing program with public and
school libraries)
New York Public Library

55. Starting an eBook Program: Some Ideas
Investigate acceptance by students and faculty, cost, policies and
procedures needs. Technical needs (circulation and control systems)
Access the existing availability of readers and laptops, etc.
Start with required courses (e.g., English Literature)
Consider the advantages of having etextbooks available through the
library
Offer eReference and eNonfiction support
Provide access to ePopular fiction
Provide for technical help
Develop a selection and acquisition plan and policy
(including contract provisions)

56. Let’s Conclude
Comments and Questions
Digitalization:
→Celebrates the wonders of electronic
technology and the rapid expansions of information.
→Meets and satisfies the intellectual and developmental needs
of students as they prepare to move into today’s complex
world.
→Education within digital frameworks must always be humane,
paying close attention to ethnic and personal diversities,
cultures, and school environments and expectations that arise
with these sources (“Study on Value Orientation of Educational
Resources' Digitization”).
→Digitalization means change not only in how we teach and
learn, but how we accommodate change itself.

57. References on Request
Bill Lukenbill – Professor Emeritus
luke@ischool.utexas.edu