Abstract

This study examines the relationships among diverse literacy types in the era of digital transformation, and to identify structural shifts in the field’s central configuration. To this end, we reconstructed a keyword network as a shortest path distance-based network and classified individual literacy types as core or peripheral according to their centrality and distance within the network. This approach enables a measurable assessment of the relative relationships among literacy types. By tracking period-specific structural changes in the distance-based network, we further delineate patterns of emergence, disappearance, persistence, and reconfiguration across literacy types. The dataset comprises 7,854 journal articles published between 2001 and October 31, 2025. Comparing the pre- and post-digital transformation periods (2001-2019 vs. 2020-2025), we identified 44 literacy types that disappeared (C1), 71 newly emerging types (C2), 37 persistent types (C3), 18 types that moved forward toward the core (C4), and 14 types that moved backward toward the periphery (C5). Disappearing types were commonly characterized by traditional media-based orientations, educational paradigms formed prior to recent technological and environmental shifts, and literacy concepts confined to specific contexts. In contrast, newly emerging types were closely associated with structural environmental changes, including digital transformation, the diffusion of artificial intelligence, and the advent of socio-cultural “new normal” conditions.