Critical Library Practice: Beyond the Service Model #KRIK

The final session of the KRIK conference in Zagreb is of three short papers with the theme Critical Library Practice: Beyond the Service Model
Firstly, Rethinking the Reading Mission in Academic Libraries by Ana Barbarić & Monika Batur(presented by the latter). This started with the question - where is reading in the academic library? It may be seen as an invisible competency - reading is everywhere (required in order to do learning, writing etc.) but not seen as a competence in its own right. Critical and deep reading were in focus here. Also although it matters, it is not always measured, in particular it is not measured in a library context. Looking then at library standards: e.g. in the Croatian standard (2022) it appears more as a cultural activity; it is not featured in the ACRL library standard (2026), although it was slightly present in the 2023 standards.
Also "the faster information becomes, the more we need to slow down" as depth may be the victim of speed. Thus reading may be a skill of the future, as it is valuable to enable critical thought. It was essential in the past, invisible now, but critical for the future.

Reading Vesna Parun in Dubrava: A Neighbourhood Festival as Critical, Feminist Practice was presented by Rebecca Mikulandra. She reflected on experiencing the library as a safe space as a child, stimulating her to work in a library. She talked about the concept of situated knowledge and the need to question "neutrality". Then she talked about the library hosting poetry events including a festival focused around the poet Vesna Parun, with users as co-creators (involving students, a care home etc.)  Evaluation is built alongside the programme - measurable elements are required, but they also aim for participatory action research. She told the story of a book club for 14-20 year olds, which previous research would predict to fail, but in fact, although it took a while to build, in the end it is successful (showing you shouldn't just follow the metric!) This is consistent with the idea of the library as an inclusive, open space, with the book as still a meaningful component.

Reimagining the Public Library: Contemporary Art and Critical Librarianship in Prozori Gallery / S. S. Kranjčević Library by Petra Dolanjski Harni.  Prozori means "windows" (the gallery has long windows) and the gallery and library share a space. The gallery windows and the library space are used to present art. They have about 10 exhibitions a year. Harni selected some that intersect with the library. One artist presented about 50 picture books that explore ideas of social justice etc. Another interaction involved buying books for the collection, Another project explored girlhood, and included girls having reading groups, artwork creation etc. The critical librarianship side is asking questions like - whose voices are not being heard? who is underrepresented? This approach can intersect with contemporary art. Contemporary art is a good companion as it can create new insights, it can question, make you see new perspectives, stimulate transformation. Another project was looking at LGBTGIQ users in public libraries, with focus groups and artist documentation (also including artwork on the windows), and leading to a proposal for a working group. The final project mentioned was on menopause and ageing, talking to 200+ women, then creating an attractive artist book of 9 chapters, and a calendar.
Photo by Sheila Webber: Cable car, Zagreb, September 2026

Academic Libraries between their Critical Mission and Institutional Constraints #KRIK

Next from the KRIK conference in Zagreb is a panel session: Academic Libraries between their Critical Mission and Institutional Constraints with the panellists: Monika Batur (University of Zagreb, Croatia); Sunniva Evjen (Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway); Dejana Golenko (University of Rijeka, Croatia); Mario Hibert (University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina). Invited comment: Marko Kovačić (University of Rijeka, Croatia) and moderator: Dijana Šobota (University of Zagreb, Croatia).
This involves rounds of questions. Firstly, Golenka, responded to a question on the status of librarians. She felt that responsibilities have expanded, but recognition from management has not kept pace. Looking at law librarians, you need understanding of legal aspects, and they are likely to have a law certificate as well as information science. Also there is a need to understand research and scholarly communication: the role has become even more important with AI, with increased need to distinguish accurate legal information. Law librarians are now participating directly in the educational process.
Asked about academic libraries and democratic mission, Evjen talked about the Norwegian Library Act which identified libraries as democratic institutions: however this applies to public libraries and does not address academic libraries. She felt that the macro protection of academic libraries' democratic mission was not there, although the librarians were aware and wanted their democratic mission. The government body responsible for academic libraries was closed down, so there were less safeguards. It is important how libraries are placed in the organisation, in the strategic plans, and in terms of the number of managers between the library and senior university managers (so that you have a voice in decisions). Evjen also talked about freedom of expression and increased debates about this in the university as a whole, and in seeing the library as an arena & hub for discussion. Golenka added that there was an issue in that librarians were classified as staff rather than faculty, and this did not aid visibility and being heard.

Next, Hibert was asked to reflect on macro issues and the tension between the service function and empowerment mission of academic libraries. Hibert felt there was an important responsibility on teachers of library and information students to make librarians prepared to be critical. He emphasised that librarians should be educated to be proactive rather than passive, and to reflect on issues of viewpoint, values, neutrality and ethics. Also the teacher should offer different perspectives on a topic, encouraging the students to reflect and question. Šobota followed this up by questioning whether this should be an individual responsibility, but whether, rather, it should not be a responsibility of the institution to provide an enabling environment.
Batur was then asked how student librarians and information scientists saw themselves (note that they have undergraduates as well as postgraduates) - what did the students think of their profession? Batur said that their views tended to be based on the individual student's own personal experiences of libraries. Also, the experiences are decreasing, with students having fewer library experiences (Batur contrasted this with her experience in the war when the public library was an important place). Therefore the library educator had to introduce what a library, and a librarian's profession, could be. The follow up question was what students thought of the future of the profession. Batur noted that fewer students identified themselves as communicators at the start of the undergraduate programme, so they had to work on these skills. By the end of their studies, however, students are mostly full of enthusiasm, aware that the profession is constantly changing and should be met with creativity.
Following a question from me about educational policy, Golenka mentioned how information literacy is now mentioned in an Act, so the library can go with this remit to argue for IL development: however IL is still not in strategic documents in the university, which makes it difficult to engage with disciplinary departments to implement IL education. Also Hibert talked of a UNESCO MIL project to implement a MIL curriculum in Bosnian school libraries, and how the educational representatives involved in the projects thought of IL as a new school subject, and did not think of the librarians' expertise (whereas Hibert proposed the obvious (to us) solution of librarians talking charge of this curriculum). Golenka also mentioned that now there is a topic, IL, in Croatian primary schools, but IT teachers have responsibility for teaching it, not librarians.

Moving to the topic of digital capitalism, Golenka talked about the importance of her PhD work in leading to her being involved in a digital working group, and being involved in AI Literacy development. Batur added comments on library professionals' roles and capabilities in this area. Evjen prefaced her commentary by remembering how she had taken a year out from academia by becoming an academic librarian. She talked about how she had been introduced around as a new librarian in a helpful, friendly way, and she also worked on a youth library project where the librarians said it was "all about relationships". This led to her reflecting on how important relationships were, and how we should address this aspect more in library and information education. She later interviewed school librarians, who are mostly solo librarians, and who have to develop relatonships with the school communities, which is a complex task. Student/new librarians can be insecure and need support in developing confidence.
Batur noted that she wanted her students to not just become critical librarians but also critical thinkers. She also talked about activities to support students' development of the ability to paraphrase (using pen and paper). However, still it seemed that people had done little of their own thinking (as evidenced by their use of words that didn't actually fit the context, if they had thought about the writing). Then they discussed that in class, which hopefully motivated students to deblop their own thinking.
Hibert was asked to comment on critical pedagogy and how it might be enacted. He went back to the UNESCO project, where UNESCO recognised the library role, but the managers and teachers etc. they were dealing with did not. Hibert felt we needed to go out of our boxes to reach this critical pedagogy, making strategic partnerships e.g. with activist communities. Another question that Šobota posed was about whether AI might give opportunities to develop more democratic curricula.

Kovačić came in at this point to provide a commentary stimulated by the conversation so far. Institutions used to have a more stable and well defined mission, that is changing, and so are the people that institutions serve. Added to that, there is the neoliberal idea that you justify yourself by numbers, rather than impact or outcome (also with the idea of people being consumers or clients). He referred to recent European publications: one on libraries [I think this]which identifies the importance of culture and libraries, and another policy document [I think this] on the "democratic shield" which doesn't mention libraries or the great value of culture. So libraries are acknowledged as important, but this is not followed up with funding and strategic positioning.  Kovačić talked about a project looking at two public libraries, and identifying various activities, but not [I think] events to do with critical citizenship. He also also looked at the learning outcomes of LIS curricula as to whether they were educating for community youth work and [I think] critical pedagogy - and finding the learning outcomes did not cover this.

There was also a lively discussion after this, but as you may have guessed (from the "I think"s), I am flagging a bit in my liveblogging role (it was a long session), so I will finish at this point!
Photo by Sheila Webber: Zagreb, September 2026

Information Literacy and Intellectual Freedom at the Nexus of Social Justice #KRIK

The second day of the KRIK conference in Zagreb started with a quick summary of day one from co-chair Dijana Šobota, and then a short presentation from Arne Sannes Bjørnstad, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway to the Republic of Croatia in Zagreb (acknowledging a Norwegian funded sister project of KRIK). Bjørnstad emphasised the importance of countering misinformation and he stressed the value of libraries, both in that role and in helping to improve reading and literacy. 

Then we had the third keynote: Information Literacy and Intellectual Freedom at the Nexus of Social Justice: Imagining a Path Forward by Laura Saunders (Simmons University, USA).
She started by reflecting on the importance of teaching library and information workers about intellectual freedom, whereas in information literacy we may be telling people to look for the "good" information, so there could be a tension there. Saunders gave the caveats that she is not a philosopher or a lawyer and also she doesn't have the "correct" answer. 
She gave IFLA's definition of intellectual freedom. There is political support for intellectual freedom, obviously varying between countries (in constitutions, laws etc.). Also these political/legal statements may cover freedom of expression, freedom of the press and access to information. Saunders emphasised that access to information is more than just physical (including digital as well as physical). So the first question is whether information exists. However, we also have to be able to make sense of it for it to be of any use. Therefore we need to think of cognitive and social access. As an example she talked about, as someone raised as a Catholic, coming across the book the Last temptation of Christ on her father's bookshelves and being shocked, with her reaction and (lack of) engagement being conditioned by her background. Information literacy should address these three elements of access to information (physical, cognitive, social).
Saunders went on to talk about the challenges to intellectual freedom. One is the issue of governments refusing access to information (or effectively doing so by delaying access or charging huge amounts of money). She showed the Reporters without Borders map of freedom of information. Research has also shown that social media platforms obstruct access to information. In the USA there have been vastly increased challenges to material in libraries (4235 unique titles challenged in 2025; 23,000 challenges in school libraries). There are also changes in the nature of challenges. There is also a move from individual to collective challenges. AI and social media is making this easier, and there is now state sponsored support for these challenges. Saunders gave an anecdote of someone is Texas having to publish a list of books they intended to buy. Also there is the pressure on academic institutions in terms of syllabi, reading lists etc. being monitored. Legislation is also being brought in to ramp up definitions of what is harmful or criminal.
Saunders pointed out that it is difficult to defend intellectual freedom if you take a "neutral" stance. There is a lack of theoretical guidance and there can be a tendency to take yes-or-no approaches (rather than more nuanced one). There can also be a tension with social justice (in that this might say you exclude some views, rather include all views).
Saunders felt that the word "neutrality" was sometimes abused, in that intellectual freedom was seen as "viewpoint neutral", whereas it could also be seen as "objective" (which implies standing back in an informed position). [Apologies, I'm not sure I have captured this part correctly]
Looking at the lack of a cohesive theoretical or philosophical base to all this, she went on to say (for example) that when we restrict access, it is because we anticipate that it will produce a particular reaction (upset them, lead them to violence etc.). However, we can't know these assumptions are correct.
Saunders proposed a framework focusing on the three facets of access. In terms of physical access we would provide whatever access we can, resisting censorship, regardless of our opinions, and also acknowledging that this does not mean we endorse the material.
When it comes to social access, it would be a matter of bridging neutrality and objectivity. This means avoiding assumptions, respecting cultural views and understandings, facilitate new understandings and offer our expertise while acknowledging our own limits. So this can involve dscussion about what is most trustworthy.
In terms of intellectual access, we need to evaluate, offering guidance, and facilitating development of information literacy. This puts IL at the intersection of physical, social and intellectual access. Saunders felt that not enough attention had been give, in particular, to the social access aspect.
Saunders went back to potential clash between social justice and intellectual freedom (e.g. a hate group wants to use your library, what do you do?) It is a question that she hasn't been able to give a definitive answer to, but it is important. She told a story that illustrated that by removing what you think might be offensive, you may be taking away someone's agency to make their own decision about the material or person. She finished by referencing Dante, who identified the person who remained neutral (possibly Pontius Pilate) as one of the damned!
Photo by Sheila Webber: mural in Zagreb, September 2026

Professional Identity, AI and Institutional Change #KRIK

There are short presentations next from the KRIK conference in Zagreb, with the theme of Professional Identity, AI and Institutional Change. As a reminder, the book of abstracts is here https://urn.nsk.hr/urn:nbn:hr:131:308294 The actual presentations are only 10 minutes each so I won't be able to liveblog too much!
Firstly, Professional Identity or Institutional Habitus? from Darren Flynn (University College London, UK). He was presenting from his PhD research. He started by talking about professional identity (about which there is a lot of literature, including specifically librarians' professional identity). Professional context, the professional environment and professional socialisation are contributors to professional identity and Flynn refered to a useful review. However, it isn't simple, and Flynn uses Bordieu's idea of habitus in his research - that how people act and perceive in a given setting is based on "predispositions developed in their sociocultural background". Institutional habitus (a concept from Reay's works) looks at "social composition, predispositions and socio-cultural expectations of an institution".
Flynn wanted to investigate the interaction between social class backgrounds and professional identity. The middle class interviewees felt their professional identity did become more of their personal identity over time, and also felt like librarians when they started working as such, also they perceived the profession as a multi institutional broader place. The working class participants were more likely to keep their personal/professional identity, didn't at once "feel like librarians", and also viewed the profession in a more localised way. Flynn argued that the normatised view of professional identity was more the middle class view.

Next there is Understanding Librarians’ Capacity to Teach AI Literacy: A Participatory SWOT Analysis from Alica Kolarić (University of Zadar, Croatia) (presenter), Ivana Martinović (Strossmayer University of Osijek, Croatia) & Dejana Golenko (University of Rijeka, Croatia). She mentioned the transition of librarians' roles to AI literacy educators, and they wanted to know how Croatian librarians saw themselves in this territory. They used SWOT analysis, gaining their data through workshops, with 90 librarians in total. Strengths are: starting with strong info literacy foundation; teaching capacity (working with various different groups); AI and digital experience and also a readiness to learn and collaborate (including self-reflection, openess). The main weakness prerceived was limited knowledge of AI; some critical and metacognitive gaps; attitudinal issues; organisational constraints. In terms of Opportunities there is: a new educational role; institutional support; professional development (lifelong learning, new tools etc.) and opportunities for collaboration and demand from users.Threats include rapid AI development; resource constraints; changing information environment; and challenges to do with users and ethics. There was also limited recognition of librarians as AI literacy educators.
One of the conclusions is that competencies vary across dofferent library/ user contexts. Another is that librarians are not "starting from zero" and readiness requires building on existing competencies.

Finally in this session, From Awareness to Action: Institutional Readiness of Academic Libraries for Sustainable Development Goals from Branka Marijanović & Ana Marić Turkalj (University of Zagreb, Croatia). They started by introducing the UN SDGs and thinking about what it means to implement them in a specific context, considering how sustainability goals could be implemented. This involves commitment but also needs efficacy (having the resources to do it). They assessed readiness by surveying library managers in 5 categories. They found that commitment is relatively strong, but Strategic Integretion is weak e.g. SDGs are not included in strategic plans. There is also a capacity gap, notably 0% perception of having financial resources to make change.
They have constructed a preliminary maturity model - going from awareness - to emerging integration - to institualised practice - to transformative practice. At the moment the libraries seem to be between awareness and emerging integration (from their survey). They are aiming to tests and develop the model and also develop an evaluation model.
Photo by Sheila Webber: Gulliver mural, Zagreb, September 2026

The Postdigital Condition and Critical AI Literacy #KRIK

Next up from the KRIK conference in Zagreb is the second keynote The Postdigital Condition and Critical AI Literacy, by Mario Hibert (University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina). He talked about a lot of different scholars and ideas, and I most definitely haven't captured all of this in my liveblog. However, hopefully it gives a flavour of some of his ideas.
The first part of his talk focused on postdigital science and the postdigital condition. The postdigital condition concerns structural transformations in human-machine entanglements that have become so common that they can be difficult to perceive, they become invisible. Hibert observed that the term postdigital itself had appeared and disappeared in different disciplines, starting with art and moving to subjects such as media studies and critical pedagogy, taking root in the social sciences and education. The questioning of the postdigital has become part of its interest, and there is no one definition (discussing definitions is one way in which the concept evolves). One of the goals of the postdigital field is to understand the "messy relationships" between technology, society, people etc. 
Negroponte coined the term postdigitality, saying that the digital would become part of life and invisible, just as plastics have become integrated and banal. However Hibert felt that what was not banal was the "normalisation of infrastructural violence" by digital technologies. Digital's normality obscures the control that platforms exercise. Although the digital apparently gives us "what we think we want" it has resulted in trolling, misinformation. Lovink has argued that the internet has reached a point of no return, with people reacting to machine made prompts (rather than creating proactively). Capitalism can leverage these developments to sustain itself.
Hibert went on to talk about psychopolitics with the subjugated not aware of their own subjugation and then he talked about possible ways of de-platforming. Doctorow has argued that the AI financial bubble will burst, however as AI companies have formed such a disproportion of the stock market then there will be a destructive crash. Also, the use of AI for war has proved one of the most "profitable" uses, so it is possible that the uses that will survive will be escalating wars, with economic and social destruction. Parikka has also identified harms in terms of data (cognitive exploitation etc.), labour (exploitation, free labour etc.) and the environment (water etc.).
Moving on to Hibert's own work, this looks at "Unpacking black boxes" and "Uncovering the "inevitable"". This visualises 3 extractive processes on: material resources, human labour and data. He cited the work of Kate Crawford and Vladan Joler, including Joler's website https://extractivism.online and their joint project Calculating empires.
Talking about the unlearning of human cognition (accelarated by AI), he mentioned (among other things) that the PISA 2025 survey showed a decline in both maths and reading. Hibert also mentioned the work of Neil Postman, including that technology education "is a branch of the humanities". He thought that AI Literacy should extend beyond functional competence, with questioning technology as an important part of education. Also there was a need for literacy education to not just be a requirement of the individual, but also including questioning systemic issues, inequalities etc.
Hibert talked about digital backlash, "Contemporary disenchantment with digital information systems and media gadgets" which exists in this postdigital context. He positioned his concept of the postdigital as critical instruction and orientation. It can provide a broader critical orientation through which AI etc. can be examined. Mapping the infrastructues of the digital (digital/AI cartography) can be used to foreground critical engagement with the issues concerned.
Photo by Sheila Webber: hill track by Zagreb, September 2026

The Inconvenient Library #KRIK

We're just starting the KRIK conference in Zagreb with a welcome from the conference co-chair, Sonja Špiranec. As usual there is the caveat that this liveblogging is my immediate interpretation of what is being said, and the limits of my typing.
Špiranec explained how the conference was part of the EU KRIK project. The acronym (KRIK) also means scream, which seems appropriate as a scream may follow on from silenc, silences that need attention paid to theme. Špiranec talked about how an essay by Emma Coonan stimulated her to reflect further on the pressures on, and changes forced on, those working in universities, including university libraries. The requirements to perform, to measure performance and so on brings into question what a university is and what a university library is for: what larger civic goals are they meeting? (actually there was more richness to the question, but I wasn't quick enough to catch it). This also brings in the concept of empowerment - the empowerment of the communities we are in and our own empowerment. This includes empowering people to question.
This was followed by the first keynote I'm liveblogging is The Inconvenient Library: Friction and Dissonance as Central to Developing Critical Literacy presented by David White (University of the Arts London, UK). He started by introducing the concept of cognitive surrender where people surrender their own judgement to that of another - for example AI (this is distinct from cognitive offloading - "strategically outsourcing a discrete task to an external tool"). This concept of cognitive surrender could be seen as yielding the means of production (where the product are our thoughts and ideas) to the tech bros.
White explained how his university had developed a set of AI principles (he has a lead role in this), which do have to deal with the the very wide range of feelings and attitudes and practice to do with AI. The principles include "Be intentional" "Be responsible" and "Think of AI as a machine" (he has blogged the principles). Talking about what AI means, also involves reflecting on what it means to be human and what is said (as opposed to thought etc.) only represents a small part of what it means to be a live human. Following on from this, AI is a simulation of language, and language is only a small part of being a human.
White then showed us a diagram of learning as a process of being/ becoming, with presence, pedagogy and placemaking intersecting (including facilitating connections, nurturing belonging and fostering agency). He also quoted from Jarvis' Learning to be a person in society. Building on this, if the "learning" has consisted of cognitive surrender, then there has been no learning/ becoming. White said that "frictionless learning is not learning". This friction used to be built-in, in that it took effort to avoid, so friction didn't have to be designed in.
White said that students "needed moments of friction" in the library so that it could enable their learning. He pointed up the conflict between the library as service and the library as educator, and felt it should go more towards the educator role (with its friction). He mapped information seeking to library-as-service and (critical) information literacy (which he identified with meaning making) to the educator role. White felt that students needed to be taught how to think (critically) before engaging with their subject disciplines. He encouraged academic librarians to connect with academics who had the same philosophy (of critical education), although the academics will mostly not call it information literacy.
White proposed that "Make cognitive production abundant ... and the scarce thing becomes verification" (a matter of understanding, meaning etc.). He also talked about the designers of technology abrogating responsibility and letting the technology (currently AI) do its irresponsible thing.
From discussion with a librarian, he identified 3 stances of librarians on AI: avoidant, person centric (identity is key) and the third one was focused on source quality. There could also be other positions. White felt that these different positions could be positive sources of friction - fitting in with his idea of the library as "designed friction": "promote the library-as-education; promoting dialogue-as-a-service; different members of staff taking different approaches; Teaching students/researchers how to design their own friction." This involves telling students that learning and education are difficult things and involve work and friction.
He finished by talking about friction as possibility (referring to possibility studies), with "library staff as experts in designed friction".
Photo by Sheila Webber: library in Zagreb "Audit in progress", September 2026

#KRIK conference

On 17 and 18 September I'll be attending the KRIK conference in Zagreb, Croatia, hopefully doing some liveblogging. The conference title is Missions in Motion: From Service to Empowerment in the Era of AI and Digital Capitalism. The book of abstracts is here https://urn.nsk.hr/urn:nbn:hr:131:308294
I'm not presenting, but I'm a "Conference invited commentator" so I will need to pay attention! ;-)
Photo by Sheila Webber: Zagreb Cathedral (under restoration), September 2026

Project CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments)

Project CORA (https://projectcora.org) is planning improvements and they welcome suggestions on what would make it more usefu. Project CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments) "is a free, open-access collection of lesson plans and teaching resources for information literacy and research instruction.
There is a "short, voluntary, anonymous survey about where you look for teaching ideas and which features, topics, and community activities would be most valuable in a resource like CORA. You don't need to have used CORA before to participate"
Deadline is 30 October 2026.
Go to https://mylmu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6Wi46turK9K9YCa for the questionnaire. Contact Susan Archambault (susan.archambault@lmu.edu) with any questions
Photo by Sheila Webber: sculpture A Family in Residence by Ivan Murray, Sptember 2026

World Patient Safety Day

World Patient Safety Day (a World Health Organization official day) takes place on 17 September and the theme is: Safe care for noncommunicable diseases.
The official website is here: https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-patient-safety-day/2026
The World Patients Alliance has a ten-day social media campaign from 8th to 17th September 2026, with each day focusing on a specific theme aligned with the objectives, and I've highlighted the one most directly to do with information (medication safety and clear information).
Their World Patient Safety Day 2026 social media Toolkit is at https://www.worldpatientsalliance.org/world-patient-safety-day-2026/social-media-toolkit/

Programas de alfabetización informacional desarrollados en universidades mexicanas

Published earlier this year, the open-access book (Spanish language) on information literacy in Mexican universities: Programas de alfabetización informacional desarrollados en universidades mexicanas: Un recuento de experiencias y un vistazo al futuro, edited by José de Jesús Cortés Vera and Ma. Lourdes Tiscareño Arroyo, published by the Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, ISBN: 978-607-520-566-3
The abstract reads "Este libro está enfocado en dar a conocer los esfuerzos realizados y experiencias adquiridas en programas de alfabetización informacional (ALFIN) que promueven el desarrollo de competencias informacionales. El propósito es reflexionar sobre los avances logrados en este tema en el contexto de la educación superior en México en los últimos veinticinco años, además de intentar un ejercicio de prospección, en una visión de corto plazo, buscando anticipar los factores que estarán afectando a estos programas en los próximos años. Los textos que se presentan en la obra son el resultado de la experiencia de varios autores desde hace algunos lustros, con quienes se buscó cubrir una diversidad de aspectos sobre el tema y, además, reflejar las visiones de varias instituciones, todas ellas mexicanas."
Go to https://elibros.uacj.mx/omp/index.php/publicaciones/catalog/book/353
Photo by Sheila Webber: ice plant, September 2026

Delivering effective online training

CILIP Cymru/Wales is combining its AGM on 18 September 2026 at 13.00-14.00 BST with a free CPD event: Delivering effective online training led by Marta de Abreu. 
"Increasingly library and information staff are asked to deliver online training, our informative session with Marta de Abreu, CILIP Learn Development Manager, introduces practical strategies to engage learners, and create sessions that are memorable and meaningful. All CILIP members are welcome to attend." (so that implies you have to be a CILIP member, although you don't have to provide a membership number on registration...) Register here
Photo by Sheila Webber: Mermaid statue by Damien Hirst, on the Thames, August 2026

International Media and Information Literacy Institute

The International Media and Information Literacy Institute (IMILI) was launched in April 2026, as a partnership between the Federal Government of Nigeria and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). 
It is based at the National Open University of Nigeria and "aims to serve as an international observatory for Media and Information Literacy development and catalyst for sustained research that offer empirical evidence on the social impact of MIL globally." A number of the resources are "under construction" but there is an interesting first issue of their newsletter. 
Go to: https://www.imilinstitute.org/

Webinar: Prebunking the Feed: Shielding The Next Gen from Online Extremism and Disinformation

The CILIP School Libraries Group with Shout Out UK have organised a webinar: Prebunking the Feed: Shielding The Next Gen from Online Extremism and Disinformation, on 12 November 2026 at 16.00-17.00 BST. This will be "a talk given by Matteo Bergamini, the founder of Shout Out UK whose book Man Enough: protecting boys from online misogyny will be published on 14 September 2026." 
Free to CILIP members, £15 to non members. 
Go to https://my.cilip.org.uk/events-calendar/cilip-slg-shout-out-uk-prebunking-the-feed-shielding-the-next-gen-from-online-extremism-and-disinformation/
Photo by Sheila Webber: Creepers over the park grass (which have just been mown awayY, September 2026

Register Your Event for Global Media and Information Literacy Week 2026

UNESCO's Global Media and Information Literacy (MIL) Week will again take place 24 October-30 October, although this year they are encouraging a looser interpretation of "week" to include events September-November. The theme this year is We All Play a Part – Media and Information Literacy for the People. There will not be a single flagship conference, but regional conferences: at the moment ones in Cairo, Nairobi, Montreal, Chișinău, New Delhi and Bishkek are announced.
Also "MIL stakeholders worldwide are invited to contribute to the celebration by organizing and registering their own event or activity in their community, city, municipality or region. Events can take place online or in person during September, October or November 2026 and may include workshops, conferences, debates, exhibitions, training sessions, youth activities, campaigns and other MIL initiatives." Therefore, do register your information literacy events!!
- Information about Global MIL week is here https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/global-media-and-information-literacy-week-2026
- You register your event here (it doesn't look like it has to exactly match the theme, just relate to MIL): https://forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=Uq5PHbM5-kuwswIpVrERlBWhhgVs9XdMvveTwgiLYAhUQkRHUUgyMlkyT01OWlNJQ1FDNlFPVlA0Wi4u
- There is more information about the groups who are considered particularly important when "We all play a part" here (perhaps we could lobby for librarians to be included? though obviously they are partially covered by "educators") https://www.unesco.org/en/weallplayapart

Task cards for teaching AI Literacy & AI competence

Faktabaari (a Finnish "digital information literacy and fact-checking service") has published a pdf with 286 "Task cards for teaching AI Literacy & AI competence descriptions for learners " in English.  Each card (a page in the pdf) has an outline of a lesson plan for teaching some aspect of AI Literacy, and there are cards for all levels of education from kindergarten to university (with a lot fewer at university level, but that seems fair). "Each card is based on the principle of AI as supporting tool in which AI can be used to support human thinking, learning and action, not as a source of information or a substitute for decision making."
For example, there is an activity for those age 1-5 "Sometimes the machine does something silly" "Staff show an example in which the machine does something silly or wrong, for example draws an odd picture. Notice together that the machine does not always get it right. Wonder that a picture made by a machine
is not a photograph and is not true, but something the machine has made." (with more tips for the teacher). Each card also makes links to the Finnish national curricula and the OECD AI literacy framework.
The introduction is here https://kivinen.wordpress.com/2026/09/02/task-cards-for-teaching-ai-literacy-ai-competence-descriptions-for-learners/
The pdf is at https://faktabaari.fi/images/ai_task_bank_by_level_en.pdf
Photo by Sheila Webber, taken in Second Life, interior design by me, August 2026. This is not a machine-made picture, as I spent hours choosing and arranging each part of the furnishings and then taking pictures, on the other hand it is entirely virtual. I think it will also be important to think about the difference between "real screenshots" (of virtual worlds, games tec.) and AI-created screenshots.

Recent articles: algorithmic literacy; writing with AI

The latest issue of open-access College & Research ibraries News (Vol 87, No 86) includes:
- Putting Algorithmic Literacy into Conversation with the ACRL Framework: Insights, Ideas, and Innovations by Sarah Morris
- When the Program Becomes the Author: A Librarian’s View from the Threshold by Anna Małgorzata Kamińska (discusses writing and AI)
- AI as Assessment Partner: Practical Applications and Critical Cautions, Part 2 by Becky Croxton, Megan Oakleaf (this is about evaluation of services or programmes, not assessing learning)
Go to https://crln.acrl.org/index.php/crlnews/issue/view/1701/showToc
Photo by Sheila Webber: adopt a phone box, August 2026

International Literacy Month Celebration: Literacy for People, the Planet and Prosperity

The Library and Information Service and the Faculty of Humanities North-West University, South Africa, has a hybrid (online and in person) event on 15 September 2026, 10-13.00 Central Africa Time (9.00-12.00 BST): International Literacy Month Celebration: Literacy for People, the Planet and Prosperity 
Register at https://nwu.libcal.com/event/17225008 
Photo by Sheila Webber: tiny park, September 2026

Critical Thinking Bootcamp 2026: Strengthening AI Literacy

The publishers Sage have made available material from an event held in July 2026: Critical Thinking Bootcamp 2026: Strengthening AI Literacy. It comprises recordings of speakers (all from North America) e.g. The rationality of distrust: Information integrity beyond individualism by Brooklyne Gipson (Rutgers University), and "a crowdsourced list of AI literacy and critical thinking resources, including teaching materials and reading recommendations shared by attendees of the 2026 Bootcamp" (i.e. a list of curated links).
Go to https://www.sagepub.com/our-initiatives/critical-thinking/critical-thinking-bootcamp-2026
Photo by Sheila Webber: lowering weather in North Greenwich, August 2026

Recording: the Information Literacy Handbook

There is a 51-minute recording of a session, held on 13 August 2026 in the School of Information, Journalism and Communication (IJC), University of Sheffield (UK), in which I, Bill Johnston and Dr Pam McKinney introduce the Information Literacy Handbook. The chair is Dr Dani Madrid-Morales (Co-Lead of the Disinformation, Information Integrity and Literacies (DIIL) Research Cluster in the IJC, University of Sheffield). 
It starts with an introduction to the Handbook and to ILIAD, then Bill and I highlight some aspects of our introductory chapter, then Pam talks about her Theory of Change chapter and finally I talk about my chapter on Autoethnography. There is alos a short question session at the end. You can enable captions if you wish. 
The recording is at https://digitalmedia.sheffield.ac.uk/media/Launch+of+the+Information+Literacy+Handbook/1_o55e9bc6 and is embedded below.