Wednesday, November 30, 2016

cfp CILIP conference 2017

The (UK) Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) Conference 2017 takes place 5-6 July 2017 at the University of Manchester, UK. There is a call for proposals: the deadline is 10 February 2017. There are 2 strands.
Strand 1 - Future Trends is "aimed at Heads of Service, Senior Managers and Decision Makers, who want to understand, discuss and share insight into key issues that will affect our sector, both today and in the future." The 6 session topics are: Public Policy; Law; Technology; Learning (which includes "Classroom of the future"); Society (which includes Information Literacy); Social Justice.
Strand 2 - Workshops "will be run by experts in a specific field to encourage discussion, sharing of knowledge and offer practical advice. This strand is aimed at practitioners, front line staff and managers who are looking to learn from other sectors, share experiences and knowledge and take away key messages and tools that can be applied in the workplace." One of the 6 workshop topics is Information Literacy. More information at http://cilipconference.org.uk/
Photo by Sheila Webber: the Hogwarts Express, WB Making of Harry Potter, November 2016 (the set was amazingly like the real Kings Cross station)

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Rate proposals for the Innovative Library Classroom 2017

The organisers of the one-day conference, The Innovative Library Classroom 2017 (taking place on May 11, 2017, in Radford University, Virginia, USA) want help in rating the proposals they have received for the conference. "In addition to using the traditional peer review process, we are crowdsourcing reviews of the proposals by opening up public voting on the proposals. Although conference coordinators will make the final selections, the decisions will be made based on results from both the peer review process and the public voting. Anyone who is considering attending TILC 2017 can vote. All voting is anonymous, and we ask that you please vote only once." Voting closes on December 16. information on the proposals + voting is at http://tinyurl.com/TILC2017Voting the conference website is at http://theinnovativelibraryclassroom.weebly.com/
Photo by Sheila Webber: Hogwarts model, WB Making of Harry Potter, November 2016

Comment on ACRL research agenda

There is a new draft ACRL ([US] Association of College and Research Libraries) research agenda on "library contributions to student learning and success". From my reading of it, this is aiming to identify an agenda for research that will demonstrate and evidence library impact on student learning and success (rather than one for impacting student learning and success).  Input and reactions are sought by December 16, 2016. Since you are asked to indicate "region" this is aimed at ARCL mebers, but there is an "other" box so interested non-US people may wish to contribute.
Project website: http://www.oclc.org/research/themes/user-studies/acrl-agenda.html
Draft agenda: http://www.oclc.org/content/dam/research/themes/acrl-research-agenda-nov-2016.pdf "First, a brief literature review is provided to overview some of ACRL’s work on the value of academic libraries and to describe how this work informed development of a codebook, which was then used to identify the themes of 357 relevant readings. Next, an overview of methods is provided, followed by a presentation and discussion of findings from content analysis of the readings and analysis of the focus group interview transcript. The paper concludes by outlining key takeaways from the work completed to date by the team." Thus this document is useful for those interested in academic library impact, even if you don't want to give feedback.
Feedback form: http://www.oclc.org/research/forms/feedback-acrl-agenda.html
Photo by Sheila Webber: model of Dumbledore's room, WB Making of Harry Potter, November 2016

Monday, November 28, 2016

Critical Information Literacy in Art and Design Libraries

3 items- (1) Just one session - but this caught my eye: At the ARLIS/NA 45th Annual Conference taking place in New Orleans (whole conference is 5-9 February 2017): On Wednesday, February 8, 1:15pm - 2:15pm: Critical Information Literacy in Art and Design Libraries with Siân Evans, Stephanie Grimm and Jennifer Ferretti. https://arlisna2017.sched.org/event/8jgo/critical-information-literacy-in-art-and-design-libraries
(2) Accessible to all, there is a dialog between Evans and Ferretti on the ACRLog (May 23 2016, "#libeyrianship: Pop Culture and #critlib in Information Literacy Programs") in which they talk about the LibGuide Beyoncé’s Lemonade and Information Resources. http://acrlog.org/2016/05/23/libeyrianship-pop-culture-and-critlib-in-information-literacy-programs/
(3) I will remind people about the section on ACRL Information Literacy in the Disciplines resource related specifically to art: http://acrl.ala.org/IS/is-committees-2/committees-task-forces/il-in-the-disciplines/information-literacy-in-the-disciplines/information-literacy-in-the-disciplines-art/
Photo by Sheila Webber: Model of Diagon Alley (there was a section devoted to the art and design work), WB Making of Harry Potter, November 2016

Friday, November 25, 2016

Seeding local curricula with the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy

Latest open access perspectives on the (ACRL) framework:
Witek, D. (2016). Becoming gardeners: Seeding local curricula with the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy. College and Research Libraries News, 77(10), 504-508. http://crln.acrl.org/content/77/10/504.full
Photo by Sheila Webber: Diagon Alley at the WB "Making of Harry Potter" November 2016

Thursday, November 24, 2016

2 recent articles on using material from websites etc. for systematic review

As you might expect, Systematic reviews is generally useful for the area of systematic review, including searching, and is an open access journal. Just published:
- Stansfield, C., Dickson, K. and Bangpan, M. (2016). Exploring issues in the conduct of website searching and other online sources for systematic reviews: how can we be systematic? Systematic reviews, 5, 191. DOI: 10.1186/s13643-016-0371-9
And thanks to Steven Duffy, who alerted people on LinkedIn to:
- Adams, J. et al. (2016). Searching and synthesising ‘grey literature’ and ‘grey information’ in public health: critical reflections on three case studies. Systematic reviews, 5, 164. DOI: 10.1186/s13643-016-0337-y  Useful for proposing search strategies and (e.g.) approaches to extraction. "We propose the term ‘grey information’ to capture a wide range of documented and undocumented information that may be excluded by common definitions of ‘grey literature’. Information on applied public health research questions relating to the nature and range of public health interventions, and many evaluations of these interventions, may be predominantly, or only, held in grey literature and grey information. Evidence syntheses on these topics need, therefore, to embrace grey literature and information."
Photo by Sheila Webber: apples from my tree, October 2016

How can libraries better serve refugees and asylum seekers? #libraries4refugees

Not strictly information literacy, but an interesting web discussion on: How can libraries better serve refugees and asylum seekers?
Web-conference sessions: November 28, 2016, noon-1:00 pm US CT (which is 6-7pm UK time) and December 2, 2016 10:30-11:30 am CT (which is 16.30-17.30 UK time). Participant link: http://tinyurl.com/pw-room
Twitter chat sessions: November 29, 2016; 1:00-2:00 pm CT (which is 6-7pm UK time); December 5, 2016; 8:00-9:00 pm CT (which is 2-3am UK time) Join the Twitter discussion @MortensonCenter using the hashtag #libraries4refugees
Use the hashtag #welcomepitch to share announcements, resources, CFPs, etc relevant to chat topic or refugees and asylum seekers
Use https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html to determine other local times.
"The Mortenson Center for International Library Programs has partnered with ALA [American Library association] on the IMLS-funded Project Welcome: Libraries and Community Anchors Planning for Resettlement and Integration of Refugees and Asylum Seekers. Project Welcome is a one-year planning grant (May 2016 – April 2017) that aims to learn about and articulate ways libraries can address the information needs of refugees and asylum seekers in order to support and empower them in their resettlement and integration process... As part of the planning grant, we are holding listening sessions to learn from the library and information community: How can libraries better serve refugees and asylum seekers? The input will be incorporated into a thought paper, that will be used to provide background for the 2-day collaborative learning space/meeting" Questions to projectwelcome01@gmail.com
Photo by Sheila Webber: Sheffield, November 2016

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Local Information Literacy news

Some librarians are good at getting stories and press releases into their local news sites. Firstly, a small guest column about information literacy in a local US newspaper, which includes a reminder that President Obama designated October Information Literacy month:
- VCAL/VSLA/VLA Information Literacy Working Group. (2016, November 3). Guest Column: Vt. [Vermont] librarians speak up about information literacy. Williston Observer. http://www.willistonobserver.com/guest-column-vt-librarians-speak-up-about-information-literacy/
IL month is also celebrated in this local US news story, which summarises the events and awards a college had organised:
- e-news Park Forest. (2016, October 28). 3rd Annual Information Literacy Month Closing Event Held at South Suburban College. e-news Park Forest. http://enewspf.com/2016/10/28/3rd-annual-information-literacy-month-held-south-suburban-college/
Finally, from Ireland, Dundalk Institute of Technology announced the winners of its Bi-annual Information Literacy Awards:
- Dundalk Democrat. (2016, November 1). DkIT literacy champs are honoured at event. Dundalk Democrat. http://www.dundalkdemocrat.ie/news/home/222032/dkit-literacy-champs-are-honoured-at-event.html
Photo by Sheila Webber: autumn leaf and water feature, Sheffield, November 2016

Awards at Global Media and Information Literacy Week 2016 #MILweek2016

Awards were made during Global Media and Information Literacy (MIL) Week 2016 in São Paulo, Brazil, earlier this month. The Global (and international) MIL Awards winners for 2016 are: Divina Frau-Meigs (4th from the right in this picture taken at the European MIL Forum in June) and Bérangère Blondeau, from France’s University of Sorbonne Nouvelle; Thomas Röhlinger, Founder and Editor in Chief of Radijojo World Children's Media Network, Germany; and the Child and Youth Media Institute, Thailand. There is more information at http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/resources/news-and-in-focus-articles/all-news/news/awards_at_global_media_and_information_literacy_week_2016_t/

Monday, November 21, 2016

cfp i3 2017 #i3rgu

There is a call for papers for the 2017 i3 conference: information: interactions and impact, 27-30 June 2017, that at usual is held in Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland. Deadline for abstracts is 25 January 2017. They are calling for proposals for full papers, short papers and round table discussions. Research papers concerning impact of information, information behaviour, information literacy etc. are solicited "The conference focuses on the quality and effectiveness of the interaction between people and information and how this interaction can bring about change. i3 will look beyond the issues of use and accessibility of technology to questions about the way people interact with the information and knowledge content of today's systems and services, and how this might ultimately affect the impact of that information on individuals, organisations and communities." This is one of my favourite conferences. More information at http://www.rgu.ac.uk/research/conferences/i-2017/overview/
The photo shows me at i3 2015 with three of my then PhD students (now all "Dr", having achieved #phdsuccess): l to r: Joseph Essels, Me, Syeda Hina Batool, Kondwani Wella

Information literacy research: dimensions of the emerging collective consciousness: a reflection.

Bruce, C.S. (2016). Information literacy research: dimensions of the emerging collective consciousness: a reflection. Australian Academic & Research Libraries, 1-6. Open access at http://eprints.qut.edu.au/100095/
This is a short reflection on an important earlier work by this infolit guru: the original article is here http://eprints.qut.edu.au/46274/

Friday, November 18, 2016

#ECIL2016 presentations

Many (the majority) of the presentations from the European Conference on Information Literacy are available on the ECIL website http://ecil2016.ilconf.org/ Go to the Programmes tab and then you select the day. For your convenience the pages are Monday morning (10th October) , Monday afternoon, Tuesday Morning, Wednesday morning, Wednesday afternoon, Thursday morning. They don't seem to have the programme up any more (to tell what was on, when) but this is the book of abstracts in pdf - there should be something of interest to everyone there!
Photo by Sheila Webber: autumn colour by the Mappin building, November 2016

Thursday, November 17, 2016

Rewired: Research-Writing Partnerships within the Frameworks

A new book from ACRL: McClure, R. (2016). Rewired: Research-Writing Partnerships within the Frameworks. ACRL. 978-0-8389-8904-3. US $68.00 (print: http://www.alastore.ala.org/detail.aspx?ID=11923); US $48 (e-book: http://www.alastore.ala.org/detail.aspx?ID=11924)
"Colleges and universities tend to be siloed spaces where we work within our own departments, divisions, and units and don’t always recognize the connections we have with the work of our colleagues down the hall. Rewired: Research-Writing Partnerships within the Frameworks highlights the clear connections between two important disciplinary documents—the Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing (CWPA, NCTE, and NWP, 2011) and the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education (ACRL, 2016)—and examines partnerships between librarians and their colleagues who are teaching information literacy in new and impactful ways."Section 1 is Developing a Shared Understanding; Section 2 is Partnering Research & Writing; Section 3 is Assessing Writing & Information Literacy. There is a list of contributors at the above links.
Photo by Sheila webber: autumn beech, November 2016

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Recent articles: nursing; IL job ads; credit class; paper activity

Selected from journals of 3 ACRL chapters:
Sproles, C. and Detmering, R. (2016). Working Information Literacy: The Instruction Librarian Specialty in Job Advertisements, 1973-2013. Codex: the Journal of the Louisiana Chapter of the ACRL, 3(4), 10-32. http://journal.acrlla.org/index.php/codex/article/view/118 A snippet from the end of the article "In the past 40 years, the concept of information literacy transformed from new concept to an accepted tenant of librarianship. As the concept of information literacy blossomed throughout the years, so did the number of job ads, the amount of requirements for the positions, and the percentage of ads that requested teaching-related requirements (Table 8). This trend demonstrates the application of theory to practice and the growing demand for librarians as teachers."

Deal, E. (2016). Teaching Information Literacy and Library Skills to Online Nursing Students: A Selected Annotated Bibliography. Codex: the Journal of the Louisiana Chapter of the ACRL, 3(4), 33-54. http://journal.acrlla.org/index.php/codex/article/view/116

Frank, E. and MacDonald, A. (2016). Eyes Toward the Future: Framing For-credit Information Literacy Instruction. Codex: the Journal of the Louisiana Chapter of the ACRL, 4(4)[sic: I think it should actually be volume 4 issue 1, as the one before is volume 3 issue 4],9-22. http://journal.acrlla.org/index.php/codex/article/view/124

McIllece, E. (2016). Build-a-Paper: Old tools With a New Twist. Nebraska Libraries, 4(4), 20-22. "The build-a-paper activity provides a hands-on method for students to learn about using sources in an academic paper." http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/neblib/17/ (the pdf of the whole issue)

Miller, M. and Neyer, L. (2016). Mapping Information Literacy and Written Communication Outcomes in an Undergraduate Nursing Curriculum: A Case Study in Librarian-Faculty Collaboration. Pennsylvania Libraries: Research & Practice, 4(1), 22-34. http://palrap.pitt.edu/ojs/index.php/palrap/article/view/121 From the abstract"A syllabi study was conducted by the health science librarian and nursing faculty members in a baccalaureate nursing program to map information literacy and communication learning outcomes. Nursing course syllabi and assignments were examined for particular evidence of information literacy and communication learning outcomes in relationship to three sets of standards from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing and the Association of College & Research Libraries, and the rubrics of the Association of American Colleges & Universities. ... The resulting analysis led to a change in the librarian’s practices with greater involvement with the nursing department."
Photo by Sheila Webber: Sheffield Botanic Gardens, November 2016



Monday, November 14, 2016

cfp European Conference on Information Literacy #ECIL2017

There is a call for papers for the 2017 European Conference on Information Literacy (ECIL) which will take place in Saint Malo, France, September 18-21 2017. "ECIL aims to bring together researchers, information professionals, employers, media specialists, educators, policy makers and all other related parties from around the world to exchange knowledge and experience and discuss recent developments and current challenges in both theory and practice." The main theme is Workplace Information Literacy, and there are some subthemes connected with that, but papers on other IL topics are also encouraged (e.g. IL and citizenship, IL in different educational contexts, teaching IL, IL and technology). Abstract submission deadline is 15 February 2017. Several kinds of proposal are possible e.g. panel session, paper, workshop, pecha kucha, doctoral forum, poster. For full information go to http://ecil2017.ilconf.org/

Saturday, November 12, 2016

New articles: badges; reflective writing

The latest issue of SCONUL focus (open access) mainly has items relating to librarians' Continuing Professional development, but it also includes:
Rizvi, M. (2016). Been there, done it, badge it! Information literacy and the use of digital badges at Middlesex University. SCONUL Focus, (67), 89-93. (an interesting short article as the cohorts targetted were in the UK and in China).
Additionally there is an article about reflective blogging, referring to library students, but the points could also apply to other cohorts: Burns, J. (2016). Pedagogical approaches to teaching blogging and reflective writing to library school students. SCONUL Focus, (67), 17-19.
The issue is at http://www.sconul.ac.uk/page/focus-67
Burns refers to an article in which a former colleague of mine discusses how we use reflection on a module here at Sheffield University iSchool, so I will cite that as well:
Sen, B.A. (2010.) Reflective writing: a management skill. Library management, 31(1–2), 79–93. (the open access version is here: http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/10336/)
Photo by Sheila Webber: apple, October 2016

Friday, November 11, 2016

Staying safe in your digital world

There is a free online course from the Tinder Foundation (a UK organisation which has a focus on enabling access) Staying safe in your digital world aimed at the general public "In this course you will learn how to keep you and your family safe in your digital world. The course covers ways to avoid your personal information being shared on the internet, how to protect yourself when using social media and how to avoid scam telephone calls. The internet is great for keeping in touch and helping us save time and money but it’s good to understand some simple steps you can take to ensure the information you’re sharing is being used safely and securely and who to contact if you ever have any problems." There are 5 topics: It’s a digital world; Safe sharing with companies; Safe sharing with people; Spotting a scam; Safety challenge. Go to https://www.learnmyway.com/courses/staying-safe-in-your-digital-world
Photo taken by Sheila Webber in second Life, July 2016

Thursday, November 10, 2016

12 apps of Christmas #RUL12AoC

Regent’s University London is running its 12 apps of Christmas 23-things type activity, starting 1 December 2016. They say "It is tailored for academic staff (lecturers, librarians, student support staff and others) at . We will be covering the basics and some more advanced tips on using 12 educational apps. However, if you are from a different institution or do not work in Higher Education at all, you are welcome to join the course. Over the twelve days of the programme, I will publish a post with the day’s task here at 10am, so that you can work through it whenever you have ten minutes or more spare in the day. Don’t worry if you get a bit left behind – you can always catch up! Each post will contain instructions on a different app, together with tailored suggestions of how to use it with your students and how it might work effectively for you in your professional context. Each task shouldn’t take you much more than ten minutes a day .." The site is at https://openeducation.blackboard.com/mooc-catalog/courseDetails/view?course_id=_811_1 The hashtag is #RUL12AoC
Photo by Sheila Webber: Aberystwyth, October 2016

Wednesday, November 09, 2016

UNESCO launches #MILCLICKS

I have mentioned UNESCO's #MILCLICKS initiative, and it is now launched. #MILCLICKS stands for Critical thinking and creativity, Literacy, Intercultural, Citizenship, Knowledge and Sustainability. "These are all elements that UNESCO includes in its composite concept of Media and Information Literacy (MIL)." The idea is that you use the hashtag #MILCLICKS to share tips etc. about being media and information literate. "UNESCO MIL CLICKS on social networks will share knowledge, tips and resources and provide people with insight about “how you know what you know?”. Through channels on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and others, MIL CLICKS social media strategy will engage people to play, learn and use MIL skills, know how to evaluate information and how to identify and to find credible sources. “Critical engagement goes hand in hand with encouraging people online to get involved into peace building, dialogue, promote tolerance, diversity, equality and freedom of expression,” says Alton Grizzle" [who developed the MILCLICKS concept]. A bit more information at http://en.unesco.org/news/milclicks-new-movement-media-and-information-literacy-social-networks and below is the video.




Sponsored place at LILAC

CILIP's ARLG (North East) group are sponsoring a free place at the LILAC Conference (to be held 10-12 April in Swansea, Wales) for librarians living or working in the North East of England. The conference sponsorship includes 3 days attendance at all LILAC sessions and social events (networking evening and conference dinner) and up to £200 towards travel and accommodation. To be eligible you must be a personal member of CILIP or ARLG, be currently living, working or studying in the North East in an Further Education, Higher Education or research library and a first time delegate to an LILAC conference. North East region covers Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, County Durham and the Tees valley areas. Apply by 20 January 2017 to Helen Ashton at helenashton1203@btinternet.com with approximately 200 words describing how your attendance at the conference will impact on your professional development and how you plan to share your conference experience with others, including the ARLG North East community. The successful applicant will have to write a short report on the conference for ARLG which will be used for publication. You should also include your CILIP membership number, your job title and the name of your institution.

Monday, November 07, 2016

New articles: Bibliography of #infolit; First Year experience; ACRL Framework; Interview with Hinchliffe

Reference Services Review volume 44 issue 4 (priced publication) has been published. It includes the annual annotated bibliography of information literacy items: this year they list 488 items (but only 4 (!) of them relate to public libraries):
- Library Instruction and Information Literacy 2015 by Latisha Reynolds, Samantha McClellan, Susan Finley, George Martinez, Rosalinda Hernandez Linares
- A Constellation to Guide Us: An Interview with Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe about the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education by Christine Bombaro, Pamela Harris, Kerri Odess-Harnish
- The Framework Is Elitist by Christine Bombaro
- A Survey of Information Literacy Credit Courses in U.S. Academic Libraries: Prevalence and Characteristics by Nadine Cohen, Liz Holdsworth, John M. Prechtel, Jill Newby, Yvonne Mery, Jeanne Pfander, Laurie Eagleson
- Buy, borrow, or access online? Format behaviors among college freshmen in a reading-intensive course by Diane Mizrachi
Contents page at http://www.emeraldinsight.com/toc/rsr/44/4
Photo by Sheila Webber: autumn in Sheffield, October 2016

Friday, November 04, 2016

New research grants from CILIP ILG

The CILIP Information Literacy Group has awarded research grants for two projects. One is on Lost in information? New Syrian Scots’ information literacy way-finding practices and the other looks at the impact of mis-information on young people. More information at http://www.cilip.org.uk/news/new-research-information-experiences-syrian-refugees-scotland-impact-mis-information-young-people
Photo by Sheila Webber: St Georges Church, Sheffield

How can published health research be made more accessible to users in low- and middle-income countries?

HIFA (Healthcare Information For All) has organised an online discussion around the question: How can published health research be made more accessible to users in low- and middle-income countries? The discussion starts on 7 November and continues until 2 December 2016. "HIFA has more than 15,000 health workers, librarians, publishers, researchers and policymakers, committed to improve the availability and use of healthcare information. One-third of members are based in Africa, one-third in Europe, and one-third in the rest of the world." You have to join HIFA (free) to participate. More information at http://www.hifa.org/news/new-hifa-thematic-discussion-how-can-published-research-be-made-more-accessible-users-low-and

Wednesday, November 02, 2016

Feedback wanted: Roles and Strengths of Teaching Librarians

The ACRL Instruction Section charged a Task Force with revising the Standards for Proficiencies for Instruction Librarians and Coordinators and this Task Force has completed a draft of a new document, Roles and Strengths of Teaching Librarians in Higher Education. They invite feedback on this draft by December 1 2016. "Major changes in the revision include a shift in language from proficiencies to roles and from “instruction librarian” to “teaching librarian,” a structural change from a list to a conceptual model, and a change in focus from skills to strengths needed to thrive in each of the roles. The document is intended to help both clarify roles which may be assumed by a proficient teaching librarian as well as inspire new roles." The document is available as MS Word, Google Doc and pdf
Word document: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5FvOK9b5e6kazh5d25odU9zUWM
Google doc: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1pPEu3CRDavR8OD0Iq0pna1dmoBtfT_6JuILMfpO9ts4
PDF: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5FvOK9b5e6kOEh4Tk9yOGI3VWc
They are going to create a post on the ACRLog which you can reply to with comments, but that isn't there at time of writing. The alternative is to email teachinglibrarianroles@gmail.com with your comments - if you submit comments this way identifying information will be removed (I assume this means - unless you specifically say you WANT yourself identified) and posted to a publicly available Google doc. A summary of comments will be prepared by the Task force. there is more information about the initiative in the document itself.
Photo by Sheila Webber: autumn leaves, November 2016