Media and Visual Competencies for Information Professionals in the Arab World: Challenges of the Digital Environment

Visual communication has become especially important within the context of today’s digital society, where information and communication technologies pervade all corners of everyday life. The importance of images and visual media in contemporary culture is determining what it means to be literate in the 21st century. Today's society is highly visual, and visual imagery is no longer supplemental to other forms of information. The pervasiveness of images and visual media means that individuals should be able to critically view, use, and produce visual content. Individuals must develop these essential skills in order to engage capably in a visually-oriented society. Visual literacy empowers individuals to participate fully in a visual culture. This has posed new challenges for users and information professionals alike. This paper addresses the emergence of Media and Visual Literacy as integral component in today's culture and highlights its status in the Arab World. Revision of academic program in Library and Information Science LIS revealed a noticeable lack in the preparation of librarians and information professionals to develop media and visual competencies that would enable them to offer help to users especially in academic settings. A new curriculum to be adopted by Arab LIS schools has been proposed outlining in details its objectives and learning outcome.