Infographics as a tool for equity in reference and instruction

Online

Let’s be honest. Are we really providing equitable reference services and information literacy instruction for online, distance, and off-campus students? Meeting students’ needs and sustaining their attention in an asynchronous, online environment can be challenging, and it takes a lot of time to create digital resources like videos, tutorials, and research guides. Infographics are an ideal, multimodal tool for effectively engaging students by visualizing library spaces, services, and research processes. At California State University, Dominguez Hills, many of our students commute to campus, work full-time, rely primarily on mobile devices, and take online classes. In addition to providing videos and computer-based tutorials, we use interactive infographics as reference and instruction tools to orient students to our library’s physical spaces and information literacy concepts both in-person and online. These infographics supplement and complement other resources such as Frequently Asked Questions, research guides, tutorials, and class handouts to meet our students’ needs. In this session, participants will learn about free tools and design principles for creating instructional infographics, and work collaboratively to translate common library processes into engaging visualizations. We’ll also discuss critical considerations of equity and inclusion in infographics through access, representation, language, and accessibility.

Tessa Withorn, Online Learning Librarian, California State University Dominguez Hills
Fri 11:30 am - 12:30 pm
Engaging in Practice