Book Review: Handbook of Research on New Literacies

Abstract

This edited handbook has six main parts with a total of 38 chapters. The first main part is about Methodologies, the second Knowledge and Inquiry, the third Communication, the fourth Popular Culture, Community, and Citizenship in the Context of Everyday Literacies, the fifth Instructional Practices and Assessment, and the final chapter Multiple Perspectives on New Literacies Research. The book also provides descriptive information about the authors writing the chapters. There are two carefully-prepared indexes at the end, one for the authors and the second for the subjects. It appears that the authors, most of whom are internationally recognized scholars in the field of new literacies, have been selected on the basis of their leadership and innovative research in their particular areas of investigation. Considering their academic backgrounds and professional accomplishments, it is clear that each author has an established reputation in his/her respective research area. The authors taking part in the book usually come from the areas of social semiotics and multimodality, online research methodology, ethnographies of new literacies, multimedia learning, cognition and instruction, social blogging, gaming research, information science, instant messaging, computer-mediated communications, e-learning and learning management systems, cultural influences on educational technologies, online navigation, reading comprehension, child and adolescent literacy, qualitative research methods, experimental research, and many other relevant areas of inquiry that are taking place in and around new literacies today. The editors indicate that during a period when the Internet has deeply altered our literacy lives, the Handbook of Research on New Literacies provides a central resource to support the emergence of new literacies research. It brings together leading scholars from around the world to review research in their area, from the perspectives they find to provide the greatest insight. The editors also expect that the Handbook provides central leadership for this newly emerging field, directing scholars to the fundamental issues, theoretical perspectives, and/or interdisciplinary research on new literacies.