Seasonal Visual Literacy: Using Current Events to Teach Data and Spatial Literacy Skills with Adaptable LibGuides

Abstract

This recipe is one for your whole community! Since the beginning of March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we serve our library communities. One huge change has been the new emphasis on data visualizations that are publicly available and not always based on reliable information. This constant onslaught of visual information created an infodemic (information epidemic) that communities across the world were not ready to digest.1 This healthy and hearty recipe is for how to create a LibGuide on visual literacy and maps. The goal in creating this research guide is to give your patrons and community the nutritional benefits of data literacy and visual literacy skills. The combination of ingredients in this recipe will create a meal that gives the vitamins and healthy fats needed to recognize the different types of information sources making visualizations and understand how to read visual information and how to assess the reliability of the sources and the data presented in each visual. By focusing on current events, this recipe offers immediately actionable literacy skills in an easy-to-digest format.