Infographics overlap visual, information literacy

Infographic-1st place

Infographic-1st placeWhen most people hear the term literacy, they think of reading and writing, but in its broadest use literacy refers to a competence in a specific area such as culture, technology, or finance. Visual literacy, the ability to make meaning of information presented as an image, is by no means a new concept, but it has taken on greater importance in today’s digital world. Infographics are a way to present information quickly and clearly in a visual form. They can be eye-opening, such as shown on Knewton.com, informative and entertaining, such as illustrated on livescience.com, or just plain silly, as displayed on fastcodesign.com.

infographic-2nd placeInfographics have been used for a long time in print media, but a host of online tools have made it easy. After hearing about the success of similar contests at other libraries and realizing the overlap between visual and information literacy, the duPont-Ball Library decided to sponsor an infographics contest. The contest was open to all students enrolled at Stetson University in the 2015 spring semester. The infographics could be on any topics, academic or not, and created in a variety of ways. The infographics were judged on content, accuracy and completeness of information, use of proper citations, clarity and the ability of the infographic to convey a point, creativity and appropriate design. By basing the contest on these criteria, the duPont-Ball Library helped support information literacy skills while also promoting visual literacy. The library received nine submissions and judging was very difficult because each infographic was well-made and well-presented.

Elizabeth Loudon, “The Journey of Solomon Northup” (pictured above); Marisa Wetzel, “Steps to Self Care” (pictured, right); and Nicholas Fuller, “Favorite Places to Study on Campus” won first, second, and third place respectively, and received Amazon gift cards of $100, $50, and $25. All submissions may be viewed here: https://www2.stetson.edu/library/resources/infographics/.

By Jason Martin