James Henry Smith, one of the 2021-2022 Craig Fellowship recipients Image courtesy of the Institute for Digital Arts & Humanities

“The project I’m working on is creating Canvas modules for undergraduates to engage with the concept of metaliteracy,” explains James Henry Smith, one of this year’s E. Lingle Craig Fellowship recipients. Smith, who uses the State University of New York’s (SUNY) system on metaliteracy as a “central hub,” and who supplements that material with courses from Coursera, readies their elevator pitch: “Metaliteracy is the ability to read what different types of literacies you might need to get where you are going.”

According to the Metaliteracy Learning Collaborative’s blog, metaliteracy is a reframing of traditional information literacy into a reflective tool that incorporates both the thinker and technology, especially social media. It expands information literacy, considering the act of thinking about the information – metacognition – and the act of engagement with others as essential components of the information landscape.

Developing a plan

But how does one come up with such a plan? Smith arrived at the idea by scrolling through social media. Looking at linguistic maps online, Smith noticed that after a while seemingly innocent cartography would transition into politics. Maps with historical contexts became skewed. “I noticed there was a discrepancy between maps that had proper citation at the bottom and ones that had an obvious bias, and I couldn’t find where they were getting their information.” Troubled by what they were observing, Smith asked, “As a librarian what can I do to combat this?” From this question, Smith developed their Craig Fellowship Project.

IU Libraries' Teaching and Learning department, where Smith also works along with providing reference service in the Scholars’ Commons, has an Information Literacy Online Toolkit that was created before the pandemic. The modules, or tutorials, can be embedded into Canvas, the web-based learning management system Indiana University uses in its courses. Smith explains, “Some Canvas modules are specifically for students to work with while some are teacher specific.”

Smith wishes to foster more truth-based information on social media by encouraging students to share their scholarly findings from classes, backed up with credentialed information, online. They are creating a module where students create an easy-to-digest chunk of information for public consumption. “My deliverable that I want students to walk away with,” Smith says, “is some sort of infographic. This requires multiple literacies.”

Metaliteracy

Metaliteracy involves questioning, so the first one to ask yourself is “What do I need to know to make a good infographic?” You need visual literacy. “How do I organize information in a visually appealing way that can convey what I’m trying to convey?”

Then, you work with information literacy: “What can I cite and how can I properly cite it, so people know the information I am putting out there comes from a reputable source that they can find themselves?”

Maker literacy is also required. “How much time do I want to put into the tools of creating this information graphic?” Smith uses Adobe software, which is available through IU, but there’s also Canva, an online design and publishing site that provides templates. Smith emphasizes, “Students must figure out how much time they have to invest learning the tool, or do they simply want to plug in the information.”

The IU Libraries Information Toolkit is available online in the Canvas Commons. Using a delightful verb, Smith explains how they came up with their Craig Fellowship Project.  “Using these tools that are already created at IU, I then took inspiration from some online courses on metaliteracy to Frankenstein my project together.”

Gratitude for fellowships and libraries

Like any academic, Smith is full of ideas and strategies. While earning their Bachelor of Linguistics, they decided to try the Library Science 4 + 1 Program. For “highly motivated undergraduates,” the program allows seniors to incorporate their first year of Library Science into the completion of their bachelor’s degree. Smith, who has always seen themselves working in higher education, thought, “If I know how to find the information, then in my future as an academic, I will have no problem going through a research-heavy program.”

Unfortunately, COVID-19 derailed Smith’s goals. “The pandemic put dampers on my plans,” they explained. Like many people during the pandemic, Smith found themselves re-evaluating their path forward. The first thing to address was how to finish their MLS. Circumstances had changed, and Smith states plainly, “I couldn’t afford to finish my degree.”
Shelving books at the Monroe County Library, Smith heard about the E. Lingle Craig Fellowship. “It is one of the rare funding opportunities for MLS students to get their final credit hours paid for.” Realizing they enjoyed working with the public, Smith felt sure they could come up with an idea. “These funding opportunities really make a big difference,” Smith shares. Receiving the Craig Fellowship has allowed them to finish their MLS. “I will graduate in May.”  

Smith clarified their plans. They no longer want to pursue linguistics. Instead, Smith is interested in human development and social policy. This time the essential questions for Smith are “How are people using their education to grow as people, as humans?” On educational policy, Smith wants to pursue questions such as “Who gets funded to do what?”
“I’ve always wanted to work on education at a higher level,” Smith shares. They want to strengthen the relationship between education and policymakers. They say, “I want to take research-based practices to entities like state school boards and education departments. I want policies informed by educators that is being developed for educators.”

Research-based truth, practices, and policies are important to James Henry Smith. When asked about librarianship, Smith encourages more students to study library science. “There need to be even more people with library degrees out in the world doing other things because basically everything I’ve learned is transferable to at least three other industries.”