"Transliteracy is the ability to read, write and interact across a range of platforms, tools and media from signing and orality through handwriting, print, TV, radio and film, to digital social networks."

What is transliteracy and what does it have to do with libraries?

"A growing number of educators and advocates in the online safety field are now embracing the term 'digital citizenship' to describe education about privacy, safety, security and responsible use of information and communication technologies (ICT). There is also a growing understanding of the importance of beginning this education when a child first starts their use of ICT. "

The rapid spread of internet use among young people is making it essential to address eSafety and ePrivacy, in order to protect young people from online risks and threats and to prepare them to use digital technologies in a secure and responsible way.

Schools have significantly different needs and ideas regarding on-line safety, much of it dependent upon their experience and comfort on the spectrum of users of digital media to promote student success. It is necessary for schools and communities to work together to demystify the potential uses and abuses of digital media within and outside the school setting. Understanding the potential for cyberbullying, sexting, or other inappropriate consumption and planning for responsible reactions to such is a priority for the community that wishes to harness the potential of the tools while also keeping children safe.

The Living Sky School Division in Canada

Worry about information overload has become one of the drumbeats of our time. The world's books are being digitized, online magazines and newspapers and academic papers are steadily augmented by an endless stream of blog posts and Twitter feeds; and the gadgets to keep us participating in the digital deluge are more numerous and sophisticated. The total amount of information created on the world's electronic devices is expected to surpass the zettabyte mark this year (a barely conceivable 1 with 21 zeroes after it).

A new survey from the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project finds that 80 percent of internet users participate in some kind of voluntary group or organization, compared to just 56 percent of non-internet users. And if you use social media, the percentages are even higher: 85 percent of Twitter users, for example, are group participants.

This document is a code of best practices that helps educators using media literacy concepts and techniques to interpret the copyright doctrine of fair use. Fair use is the right to use copyrighted material without permission or payment under some circumstances-especially when the cultural or social benefits of the use are predominant. It is a general right that applies even in situations where the law provides no specific authorization for the use in question-as it does for certain narrowly defined classroom activities.

Your students may be able to update their Facebook status in a heartbeat, but can they also write a thoughtful letter to the editor, voice their opinion on a call-in radio show, or access local media to advocate for community action? How well would parents or teachers in your community do at those tasks? In Digital and Media Literacy: A Plan of Action, media literacy expert Renee Hobbs makes a strong case for deepening digital literacy -- not only for youth but for Americans of all ages. Improving our digital and media literacy will require nothing less than a national community education effort, Hobbs argues in a position paper recently published by the Aspen Institute and Knight Foundation. Sorting through the flood of information most of us encounter daily requires new knowledge and critical-thinking skills, she says.