IS 574: Reading, Viewing, & Listening



robinson logo

Quotes

"To become a successful student, responsible citizen, productive worker, or competent and conscientious consumer, individuals need to develop expertise with the increasingly sophisticated information and entertainment media that address us on a multi-sensory level, affecting the way we think, feel and behave.

Today's information and entertainment technologies communicate to us through a powerful combination of words, images, and sounds. ... Being literate in a media age requires critical thinking skills which empower us as we make decisions, whether in the classroom, the living room, the workplace, the board room or the voting both." ~ Center for Media Literacy

"The central unifying concept of media education is that of representation. The media mediate. They do not reflect bu represent the world. The media, that is, are symbolic sign systems that must be decoded." ~ Len Masterman

"Special effects like those seen in movies like JFK and Forrest Gump merge the past with the present, color with black and white, the dead with the living, fact with fiction in such a way that the real truth can often be confused with the reel truth."

The Experience

Media Literacy

Media literacy is an umbrella phrase that includes several communication competencies, specifically "the ability to access, analyze, evaluate and communicate information in a variety of forms including print and non-print environments." Media literacy, according tot he Center for Media Literacy,  asks five key questions:

  1. Who created this message?
  2. What creative techniques are used to attract my attention?
  3. How might different people understand this message differently than me?
  4. What values, lifestyles and points of view are represented in, or omitted from, this message?
  5. Why is this message being sent?
Media literacy embraces five core concepts:
  1. All media messages are 'constructed.'
  2. Media messages are constructed using a creative language with its own rules.
  3. Different people experience the same media message differently.
  4. Media have embedded values and points of view.
  5. Most media messages are constructed to gain profit and/or power.
The Media Awareness Network via John Pungente lists eight key concepts:
  1. All media are construction.  [they do not just reflect external reality]
  2. Media construct reality [media give us our sense of reality].
  3. Audiences negotiate meaning in the media [negotiate means audiences filter based on experience, values....].
  4. Media have commercial implications [a few firms control what we view, read, listen to].
  5. Media contain ideological and value messages [all media products = advertising = promote values, life style].
  6. Media have social and political implications.
  7. Form and content are closely related in the media [each medium has its own grammar and way of seeing].
  8. Each medium has a unique aesthetic form.
Each medium has its own impact on the audience and that impact varies from individual to individual since content must be interpreting and sense-making can be a very individual process. Media content is powerful since it influences attitudes, behavior, and values.

Technology make it difficult to know if content is true or false. Digital images, for example, may easily be altered so that your teacher might be seen shaking hands with Adolph Hitler.

To what degree should public libraries be involved in media literacy? What might they do? Is there a partnership opportunity?

To what degree should public librarians be media literate? Should we have format specialists as larger libraries have subject specialists?

Building on Experience

Whether reading, viewing, or listening or some combination of these skills, the activity builds on previous experience. Our experiences, including where we have been and what we have done, color our thoughts and prepare us to react to different formats in different ways. We interpret what we see and hear based upon expectations and experiences. While those with similar backgrounds may have similar reactions, and we are influenced by what others say and feel, the experience is an individual one.

This means that the reading, viewing, or listening experience may be enhanced by providing opportunities for adults to add to their experiences and skills. For example,  book, film, or music discussions, especially those guided by some complementary intellectual content, enhance the interactive experience by providing context and stimulating thought. Similarly, a lecture series on a genre, a technique, or a category provides a frame for understanding and reflection.

Someone who has been to Paris may have quite  a different experience in viewing, reading, or listening to content that focuses on that city than some one who has not. Some one who has seen several films by the same director is more likely to understand, build upon context, and arrive at a thoughtful conclusion.

Decoding

Intellectual content is often expressed in some sort of code. Different sorts of code are encountered in different formats and content aimed at different audiences. For example, content aimed at the knowledgeable enthusiast may use abbreviations, intialisms, and technical terms that overwhelm and confuse the beginner. The mystery or thriller may refer to police procedures or certain weapons in a way that confuses the new reader. Similarly, the science fiction novel's use of  FTL for faster than light drive is not a problem for the experienced reader. Whether fiction or non-fiction, different genres and formats include different codes. Instruction, guides, and pathfinders can make decoding easier for the newcomer and enhance the reading experience. The ability to decode unfamiliar words, situations, or sights makes all the difference in whether the experience is understood, enjoyable, and appreciated. Otherwise, the experience is rather like listening to someone speak in a foreign language. We may have some vague sense of what's going on, but we feel left out.

Each medium or format has its own code. For example, plays are meant to be seen on the stage so that reader should read and ponder the stage directions. There are traditions and ways of presenting for each format. For example, the aesthetics of film have received scholarly and popular attention for many years.

"Literacy" is a term commonly associated with different formats. For example, we can talk about film literacy or music literacy. An alternative is to discuss the "language of film" or the "language of music." There is certainly a "language of print" or a "language of the book" but that receives little attention. With improved literacy, the viewer, reader, or listener finds it much easier to interpret clues, learn to think more analytically, and engage in "creative expression."

The language of different media has different attributes and different powers. Visual language cues, such as composition, color, light, shadow and contrast, camera angles and distance, pace and rhythm, plus images and sounds, are very different from linguistic cues. For example, film, for many, is much more powerful and immediate than the written word. Visual language is easier for most people to understand. It helps people to observe and interpret their world in an immediate way. Consider the difference between reading a novel and seeing the visual interpretation and adaptation of the story on film, i.e. the difference between a linguistic medium and a visual one. Each medium has its own strengths and weaknesses.

As McLuhan noted some time ago, different formats require different degrees of personal involvement. For example, reading is an active process while viewing and listening is much more passive. Consider "background" music that is heard, but does not really involve the listener. Is there background reading?  Viewing engages the emotions much more quickly and immediately than reading the text so it is a "hotter" medium. Reading involves vision and the mind. Viewing involves eyes and ears and the mind so it is multi-sensory. Too, viewing is often done with others which also changes the nature of the experience.

Making Sense

Following reading, viewing, and listening, the participant tries to make sense of the experience. Conclusions are drawn and viewpoints are developed. Some are easily influenced by the conclusions of others and follow the crowd. Some will be quite reflective while others won't devote that much time to understanding.

Should we be in this kind of "literacy" business?

Strategies

For several years, reading teachers have adopted strategies to improve reading skills. Strategies are also available to improve viewing and listening skills. Typically, such strategies have these elements:

Why does it matter?

At the heart of reading, viewing, and listening experience is the notion, evidence-based, that what we read, view, or listen to changes or values, attitudes, and behavior in some important ways. An opposite notion, also evidence-based, is that we select content that we are comfortable with or agrees with our values and attitudes. In this view, diverse content has little effect since we won't try something new or different. Here are some claims for providing content and format experiences for members of our community.

Do we have any responsibility for what happens to people as a result of what happens when they interact to the content that we provide?

Personal Growth

Our personal identify changes as we interact with content. We may decide to model ourselves on others. An unexpected encounter may create an interest that leads to a life-long hobby or a change in employment. Learning how others have overcome problems may help us to do the same.

Isolation is often a major variable in mental health problems. Reading, viewing, and listening can be isolating activities, but viewing and listening are often done in a group setting. Reading can overcome isolation by clearly indicating that we are not alone, but that there are others just like us. We develop a relationship with the author and other readers. Non-fiction content may provide particular steps to solve particular problems, including how to win friends and influence people.

There are many stories of individuals whose values and attitudes were changed permanent by a media experience. In fact, there are collections of stories by individuals whose life was changed in some important way by a book that they read.

Understanding yourself is often difficult, but as we learn more about others and their relationships we can learn more about ourselves. Biblio therapy is a good example. Learning how others overcame a particular physical or mental challenge can give us hope for the future.

Understanding others is similar. We may better understand a brother or a son, a sister or a daughter, after encountering similar personalities and situations in media content.

Interacting with new content or repeating a previous contact often stimulates reflection and analysis. This activity is a mind-stretcher and expands analytical skills.

Creativity

In a time when nearly anyone can publish a book, make a film, or create a musical recording, interaction with content often stimulates individuals to create their own intellectual content. For example, there has long been strong linkage between those who read well and those who write well. Our collections provide a wealth of content likely to stimulate creative activity. While that may involve some copycat behavior in the beginning, it is also likely to create original content as well.

Escape

Modern industrial civilization can be wearing. One of the gifts of content, although too frequently challenged, is that it allows one to escape the daily grind while the mind goes on a journey to somewhere else. Such diversions are often good for positive mental health, lower stress, and increase imagination.

For some, especially readers, an important part of escape is the opportunity to be away from others and not be interrupted. This quiet time is an important attribute of the escape.

For readers, the fact that reading is self-paced with relatively easy stops and starts is another advantage.

Learning

Even escape content provides an opportunity to learn about a place, relationships, history, or whatever. Historical fiction, whether in text, film, or audio, is an excellent example of often painless learning.

Non-fiction content not only provides an opportunity for learning, but often provides relatively immediate answers to important questions and solves problems. Reference is the best example of a service for adults that gives them the right answer at the right time.

Reading, although varying with what is read, increases reading skills, including comprehension, and develops an enlarged vocabulary resulting in improved communication skills.

Reach across time and space and culture.

Each of us lives and works in a particular place, culture, and situation. Content can quickly move us to a dramatically different place, culture and situation. Being able to sample new experiences, at low risk, makes our world much larger and broadens our perspectives.

Share experience with others

Most readers, viewers, or listeners have a strong urge to share their experience with others. That may be casual and infrequent or it may be somewhat more formal and regular as in a discussion group or regular discussions at work or with friends. This is particularly true when content becomes a best seller or is a news item.

Individual versus group experiences

In the print warehouse days and even today in the digital days, the library focused on providing content for individuals to enjoy at home and individually. When libraries began to loan films and projectors, group experiences became possible. Copyright law restricts the use of content for public performances even where the purpose is educational and no fees are charged.

Is reading privileged? Should it be?

While the print warehouse is seen as old-fashioned and increasingly unpopular with younger community members, most public library collections remain dominated by print content. If, as some argue, fewer and fewer adults will be readers, that reduces the demand for print content. A frequently used example is the substantial decline in the percentage of adults who purchase or read a daily newspaper. Still, the number of books issued in the United States continues to expand each year [although few sell well].

One of the key questions here is a simple one: what business are we in?

Are we in the print content business? Are we in the information business? Are we in the entertainment business? Are we in the content business?

Another major question is an old one: do we give them what they want or we give them what we believe that they need? If the latter, do we become advocates for reading and continue to place substantial resources into purchasing print content?

Another question is whether any medium is superior to the others. For example, is a medium that requires viewing and listening superior to one that only involves viewing and viewing text at that?

Reading

"Reading can mean many things, from reading a book aloud or silently, to the critical reading of a text ...in an academic sense or (metaphorically) 'reading' a face, a social situation, or the symbolic value of a text."

One of the advantages of reading is that the reader interprets the story and creates the images. The reader is the director/producer. Interpreting, imagining, stimulates your brain and develops creative thinking. The reader can focus on parts she enjoys and move quickly over those that she does not. Difficult or challenging parts may be read and reread as can favorite passages.

Since reading -- forms, signs, labels, web text, instructions, labels -- is necessary for functioning in our industrial society, more reading improves decoding skills and makes individuals more competent and likely to be more successful.

Because of the space available and the contributions of the reader, print content typically provides more and more specific details than other media.  Certainly a film version of a novel cannot include every scene and all the dialog in the text.

Because print is a cooler medium [less emotional involvement], readers are more likely to cause you to think for themselves and question what they read.

Many negative stereotypes are associated with reading. Most focus on the fact that readers read alone and privately. From this flow the notion that those who spend substantial time in reading are introverted and lack social skills. In fact, studies clearly reveal that most heavy readers have social skills and are active in community and other organizations.

Viewing

Perhaps because it requires less skill and involvement, stereotypes associated with film or its digital equivalent are that it is inferior because it requires less work, less skill, and is a simplified version of reality or the original content. Too, the fact that film is such a hot medium can be scary for some when particular images are etched onto personal consciousness.

In a more positive sense, the fact that the medium combines sight and sound, involving two senses, substantially increased the power of the medium and the power of the message.

Listening

Listening is the step child. So often listening occupies the background and does not receive our full attention. Even at a concert, we may be more involved in viewing the band or others than focused listening. Audio books are popular in public libraries, but are usually heard while doing something else like driving.

What can we do to enhance the experience?

Selecting the right content

Selecting the right content is the key issue and certainly a complex one. The right mix of genres and formats, especially with changing information technologies is a difficult challenge. Ideally, the collection would meet both wants and needs. It would satisfy traditional users while challenging them to try new content as well as new formats.

One of the advantages of the library is that the cost of making an error, of selecting content that is not useful or enjoyable is low. Borrowing rather than buying removes limits and lowers the costs associated with a choice that doesn't work out. Thus, the library  substantially encourages a larger and more varied experience.  Equity of access is a great benefit. Unlike a retail outlet, your wallet does not restrict your choices. The major cost is the brief amount of time invested in deciding whether or not to continue and the time and effort involved in visiting the library. A key question here is: what can we do to lower the risk of a poor experience? Should we do if it would cause users to stay with the tried and the true?

Making content available and visible

Access begins with what happens when someone enters the library. How welcoming is what you see when you enter? How good is the signage? Does the staff seem cheerful and helpful? Is there good eye contact?

Both intellectual and physical access are crucial in making it easier for users to find good content. Using merchandising and display techniques found in retail outlets [more face outs] is helpful as is user's interest classification schemes [all the parenting books together]. Being able to find and reserve  books on the library website certainly increases intellectual access as does having a drive-up window where users can pick up the content they have selected and reserved. Some library catalogs now include jacket images, annotations, links to similar content, and the like. Displays and exhibits make content more visible as do guides, pathfinders, and staff picks on the library website.

Promotion and marketing is also essential. People need to know why they should visit the library. Even the fundamentals -- where it is, when its open, services and collections provided -- will be unknown to many.
  
Homebound services are a good example of bringing content to those who might not be able to come to the library. Partnering with local agencies and institutions is important in enhancing visibility and increasing audience.

The Facility

Location, hours, parking and the rest really make a difference. A warm, welcoming, and comfortable facility, with good light, comfortable furniture,  and quiet encourages the use of content. Loaning playback equipment or having dedicated rooms where content can be viewed is also a strength.

The library can be seen as a community center where people with similar interests can find a home and be comfortable.

What might be done so that the facility encourages the reading, viewing, or listening experience?

Interactive events

Programs of all sorts where users have an opportunity to ask questions and make comments should be linked to content and the opportunities that they represent. The book or film discussion group is a good example and also an opportunity for the librarian to add some informal [ or formal] media literacy instruction.
  
If the library is to be part of the learning community, there should be clearly visible advisory, instructional, and learning opportunities. Such opportunities might include a film literacy course or how to begin a family history. We should plan and implement programs to expand user awareness and develop skills.

School media specialists have long been teacher -- librarians and now academic libraries are becoming much more involved in instruction. Appropriate for public librarians serving adults? What should we teach?

Partnerships

Partnerships with cultural and learning organizations in the community should increase visibility and provide access to new audiences.

Barriers

The barriers are easily identified as the opposites of the facilitating variables mentioned immediately above. A brief list to remind:
Specific barriers associated with the reading, viewing or listening experience?





















Last major revision: September 2005.



Return to 574 page

Train picture