Don Latham earned his Ph.D. in English from the University of Georgia and his M.S. in LIS and Specialist degrees from Florida State University. His research interests include young adult literature, information behavior of youth, and information literacy. He has published articles on information literacy among college undergraduates, constructions of literacy and identity in young adult literature, the Peritextual Literacy Framework, and has authored two books: David Almond: Memory and Magic and (with Melissa Gross) Young Adult Resources Today: Connecting Teens with Books, Music, Games, Movies, and More, and he has two edited volumes forthcoming: one on the Peritextual Literacy Framework and the other on implementing the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education.
He and Melissa Gross have completed a project funded by the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS), entitled "Attaining information literacy: Understanding and responding to the needs of non-proficient students." This three-year project investigated information literacy skills among community college students and developed an intervention for addressing the needs of students with below-proficient skills. With Melissa Gross and Shelbie Witte (FSU College of Education), he has completed a one-year IMLS-funded research project on teacher/librarian collaboration to teach 21st Century Skills. And with Melissa Gross, he has completed a project funded by the ALAN Foundation to investigate peritextual literacy among middle school students in an after-school nonfiction book club.
He teaches Information Needs of Children, Information Needs of Young Adults, Diverse Resources for Children and Young Adults, Graphic Novels in Libraries, Technical Communication, and Theory and Foundations of Information Sciences. He is a member of ALISE, ALA, ACRL, YALSA, and the Children's Literature Association.
Education
- PhD in English, University of Georgia (1995)
- Specialist in Library and Information Studies, Florida State University (1999)
- MS in Library and Information Studies, Florida State University (1997)
- MA in English, Clemson University (1984)
- BA in English, Clemson University (1981)
Research Interests
- Information literacy
- Information behavior of young adults
- Nonfiction resources for young adults
- Young adult literature
Policy on Conducting Surveys: The College of Communication & Information (CCI) at Florida State University does not endorse studies which involve CCI students that are made by outside investigators.
Teaching Interests
Information Needs of Children, Information Needs of Young Adults, Diverse Resources for Children and Young Adults, Graphic Novels in Libraries, Technical Communication, Theory and Foundations of Information Sciences
Publications & Research
Select Publications
Refereed Journal Articles
Latham, D., Gross, M., & Julien, H. (accepted). Implementing the ACRL Framework: Reflections from the field. College & Research Libraries. Manuscript submitted for publication, 27 pages.
Julien, H., Gross, M., & Latham, D. (2018). Survey of information literacy instructional practices in U.S. academic libraries. College & Research Libararies, 79, 179-199.
Gross, M., & Latham, D. (2017). The Peritextual Literacy Framework: Using the functions of peritext to support critical thinking. Library & Information Science Research, 39, 116-123.
Gross, M., Latham, D., Underhill, J., & Bak, H. (2016). The Peritext Book Club: Reading to foster critical thinking about STEAM texts. School Library Research, 19, 16. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/aasl/slr/volume19/gross-latham-underhill-bak
Latham, D., Julien, H., Gross, M., & Witte, S. (2016). Teacher and librarian collaboration to support high school science students: An exploratory study. Library & Information Science Research, 38, 193-201.
Witte, S., Gross, M., & Latham, D. (2015). Mapping 21st century skills: Investigating the curriculum preparing teachers and librarians. Education for Information, 31, 209-225.
Gross, M., & Latham, D. (2013). Addressing below proficient information literacy skills: Evaluating the efficacy of an evidence-based educational intervention. Library & Information Science Research, 35, 181-190.
Latham, D., & Gross, M. (2013). Instructional preferences of first-year college students with below-proficient information literacy skills: A focus group study. College & Research Libraries, 74, 430-449.
Latham, D., Gross, M., & Witte, S. (2013). Preparing teachers and librarians to collaborate to teach 21st century skills: The views of LIS and Education faculty. School Library Research, 16, 23. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/aasl/slr
Gross, M., Armstrong, B., & Latham, D. (2012). The Analyze, Search, Evaluate (ASE) Process Model: Three steps toward information literacy. Community and Junior College Libraries, 18, 103-118.
Gross, M., & Latham, D. (2012). What's skill got to do with it? Information literacy skills and self-views of ability among first-year college students. Journal of the American Society for Information Science & Technology, 63, 574-583.
Gross, M., Latham, D., & Armstrong, B. (2012). Improving below-proficient information literacy skills: Designing an evidence-based educational intervention. College Teaching, 60, 104-111.
Gross, M., & Latham, D. (2011). Experiences with and perceptions of information: A phenomenographic study of first-year college students. Library Quarterly, 81, 161-186.
Latham, D., & Gross, M. (2011). Enhancing skills, effecting change: Evaluating an intervention for students with below-proficient information literacy skills. Canadian Journal for Information and Library Science, 35, 367-383.
Gross, M., & Latham, D. (2009). Undergraduate perceptions of information literacy: Defining, attaining, and self-assessing skills. College & Research Libraries, 70, 336-350.
Latham, D., & Gross, M. (2008). Broken links: Undergraduates look back on their experiences with information literacy in K-12 education. School Library Media Research, 11, 1-17. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/aaslpubsandjournals/slmrb/slmrcontents/volume11/contents.cfm.
Gross, M., & Latham, D. (2007). Attaining information literacy: An investigation of the relationship between skill level, self-estimates of skill, and library anxiety. Library & Information Science Research, 29, 332-353.
Edited Books
Witte, S., Latham, D., & Gross, M. (Eds.). (in press). Promoting media literacy through peritextual analysis in the classroom. Manuscript under contract for publication, American Library Association and National Council of Teachers of English.
Refereed Book Chapters
Latham, D. (in press). Peritext and YA nonfiction: A case study of "The President Has Been Shot!". Manuscript submitted for publication, 16 pages.
Latham, D., & Gross, M. (in press). Peritext and pedagogy: Supporting critical thinking through young adult nonfiction. In Mike Cadden, Karen Coats, & Roberta Seelinger Trites (Eds.), Teaching Young Adult Literature (15 pages). New York: Modern Language Association.
Witte, S., Gross, M., & Latham, D. (2017). Using the Peritextual Literacy Framework with young adult biographies: Introducing peritextual functions with adolescents in social studies. In Paula Greathouse, Joan F. Kaywell, & Brooke Eisenbach (Eds.), Adolescent Literature as a Compliment to the Content Areas: Social Science and the Humanities (pp. 69-82). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Refereed Proceedings
Witte, S., Gross, M., & Latham, D. (2014). Preparing future teachers and librarians to create 21st Century Skills partnerships. In M. Searson, & M. Ochoa (Eds.), Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2014 (pp. 2033-2043). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.
Gross, M., & Latham, D. (2012). Understanding the impact of information literacy instruction: A multi-method approach. In Anabel Quan-Haase, Victoria L. Rubin, & Debbie Chaves (Eds.), 40th Annual CAIS/ACSI Conference (pp. 5). Wilfrid Laurier University / University of Waterloo. Retrieved from http://www.cais-acsi.ca/conferences.htm
Latham, D., & Gross, M. (2011). Enhancing skills, effecting change: Evaluating an intervention for students with below-proficient information literacy skills. In Canadian Association for Information Science, CAIS/ACSI 2011 Conference. Fredericton, NB, Canada.
Latham, D., & Gross, M. (2011). The ASE Process Model: An evidence-based approach to information literacy instruction. In In Fiesta de Excelensia: Celebrating Excellence in Library Instruction LOEX Annual Conference 2011. Forth Worth, TX.
Latham, D., & Gross, M. (2010). Bridging the gap: Building a community college--LIS school partnership. In In Bridging and Beyond: Building Infrastructure LOEX Annual Conference 2010. Dearborn, MI.
Latham, D., & Gross, M. (2010). Including student voices in instructional design: Community college students with non-proficient skills talk about IL Instruction. In Canadian Association for Information Science, CAIS/ACSI 2010 Conference. Montreal, QE, Canada.
Latham, D., & Gross, M. (2009). Deconstructing the ARCS Model: Designing interventions for non-proficient students. In Treasure Mountain 2009 Conference. Charlotte, NC.
Gross, M., & Latham, D. (2008). Self-views of information seeking skills: Undergraduates' understanding of what it means to be information literate. In Canadian Association for Information Science Conference 2008. Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Gross, M., & Latham, D. (2008). Understanding information literacy in context: Undergraduates' perceptions of skill level and attainment. In American Library Association Annual Conference 2008. Anaheim, CA.
Gross, M., & Latham, D. (2007). "Better than average": Information literacy skills, self-estimates of performance, and library anxiety. In LOEX 2007. San Diego, CA.
Latham, D., & Gross, M. (2007). What they don't know CAN hurt them: Competency theory, library anxiety, and student self-assessments of their information literacy skills. In Association of College and Research Libraries 13th National Conference. Baltimore, MD.
Grants & Awards
Gross, M., & Latham, D. (Jan 2016–Dec 2016). Promoting peritextual literacy: Reading to foster 21st century skills. Funded by The ALAN Foundation. Total award $1,500.
Latham Jr, Don L (Co-PI), & Gross, Melissa R (PI). (Dec 2014–Mar 2016). PG: High School Principals' Views of Teacher and Librarian Collaborations to Promote Student Acquisition of 21st Century Skills. Funded by FSU CRC. Total award $13,000.
Latham Jr, Don L (PI), Gross, Melissa R (Co-PI), & Witte, Shelbie (Co-PI). (Oct 2013–Sep 2015). Supporting 21st Century Skills in High School Math & Science Students through Librarian and Teacher Collaboration. Funded by Institute of Museum and Libraries. (LG-55-13-0160-13). Total award $47,390.
Latham, D. L., Gross, M., & Witte, S. (Dec 2010–Nov 2011). Preparing teachers and librarians to teach 21st Century Skills: A needs assessment. Funded by CRC. Total award $12,000.
Latham Jr, Don L (Co-PI), & Gross, Melissa R (PI). (Oct 2008–Dec 2011). Attaining Information Literacy: Understanding and Responding to the Needs of Non-proficient Students. Funded by Institute of Museum and Libraries. (LG-06-08-0049-08). Total award $415,673.
Latham Jr, Don L (Co-PI), & Gross, Melissa R (PI). (Jan 2007–Jan 2008). Self-Views of Information Seeking Skills. Funded by Online Computer Library Center. Total award $14,757.
Latham Jr, Don L (Co-PI), & Gross, Melissa R (PI). (Apr 2006–Jun 2007). Attaining Information Literacy: An Investigation of the Relationship between Skill Level, Self Estimates of Skill & Library Anxiety. Funded by FSU CRC. Total award $8,480.
Expertnet Profile