Stordy, P. (2015) Taxonomy of Literacies. Journal of Documentation, 71 (3). pp. 456-476. ISSN 1758-7379
Abstract
Purpose: Digital technologies have transformed what it means to be literate and to experience literacy. Various literacies have been coined to capture this transformation including established literacies like computer literacy, information literacy, digital literacy, media literacy and Internet literacy, to newer conceptions like transliteracy, metaliteracy and multimodal literacy. Assimilating the various conceptions of literacy and literacy types is becoming increasingly more complex. There is a need for a taxonomy of literacies that reflects more recent developments, one that more comprehensively captures the current literacy landscape and one that might have affordances in the future. Approach ‘Library and Information Science Abstracts’ (LISA), ‘Education Resources Information Center’ (ERIC) and ‘British Education Index’ were searched for documents relating to digital technologies and literacy. Relevant documents were retrieved and reviewed. This was followed by selective backward and forward citation searching and a further review of relevant documents. Findings Based on a review of the literature, two significant dimensions of literacy were identified. These dimensions were used to create a literacy framework to enable the classification of literacies and literacy types i.e. a taxonomy of literacies. This taxonomy was successfully applied to various prominent literacies and literacy types. Research limitations The literacy framework was only applied to those literacies and literacy types that are directly or indirectly related to digital technologies. Originality and value There have been a few attempts to classify some literacy types. When conceived, these classifications comprehensively captured some aspect of the literacy landscape. However, they are now dated and there is a need for a taxonomy of literacies that meets the needs identified above. This paper proposes a taxonomy that meets these criteria. Keywords: Literacies, literacy, digital, technologies, Internet, framework
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2015 Emerald. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Journal of Documentation. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Information literacy; Literacy; Taxonomy; Media literacy; Digital literacies; New literacies |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Information School (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 29 Jul 2015 15:30 |
Last Modified: | 26 Oct 2016 14:08 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JD-10-2013-0128 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Emerald |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1108/JD-10-2013-0128 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:88254 |
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Filename: Taxonomy of Literacies Paper 2015-07-17.pdf
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