Call for proposals: #LILAC25

There is a call for proposals for the LILAC (UK information literacy) conference, to be held in person 14-16 April 2025 at Cardiff University, Wales. They welcome proposals about information literacy in all sectors and contexts.
The deadline is 14 November 2024 at 16:00 GMT (and they are strict!) Various options are available: short/ long presentations, workshops, panel discussions, lightning talk and wildcards (other types of contribution).
Further information at https://www.lilacconference.com/lilac-2025/call-for-presentations-1

Call for proposals: Empirical Studies in Libraries Summit #ESiLS

There is a call for proposals for the Empirical Studies in Libraries Summit (ESiLS) online conference taking place 26 March 2024. The proposal deadline is 20 December 2024. "This summit aims to bring together scholars, practitioners, and students who are engaged in empirical studies that advance our understanding of library practices, user behaviors, the impact of libraries on their communities, and more!" It is particularly aimed at practitioners who are interested in research methods and approaches.
Options are for a short or long presentation or asynchronous poster. Proposals are encouraged for:
- Innovative methodologies in library research
- User experience and satisfaction studies
- Data-driven decision-making in library services
- Impact assessment of library programs and services
- Trends in information seeking and user behavior
- Collaboration between libraries and community organizations
- The role of libraries in promoting digital literacy
- Case studies highlighting successful empirical research in libraries.
More information at https://www.esils.org/
Photo by Sheila Webber: carving, Greenwich Park, October 2024

New articles: LibGuide assessment; Formative assessment; Question formulation skills

An articles from the "Failure" section of the open access journal Hypothesis (Vol. 36 No. 2, 2024) "Hypothesis: Failure is a peer-reviewed regular column and the brainchild of Column Editor Heather Holmes. The column is intended to provide a pioneering platform to share experiences that didn't end as expected (or that didn't end at all)."
- Question Formulation Skills Building Among Dental Hygiene Students: A Randomized Controlled Trial by Jonathan Eldredge, Ms. Nathe ("Surprisingly, the students' average post-test scores were 41.75 for the Control group and 43.67 for the Intervention group on a 70-point scale, which were not markedly different. Apparently, some contamination occurred.")
Further selected articles from this issue
- Combining Web Analytics and a Web-Based User Survey for LibGuides Assessment by Carmen Howard, Jung Mi Scoulas, Allan Berry, Deborah L. Lauseng
- Librarian and Clinical Faculty Collaborative Use of Formative Assessment in a Longitudinal Evidence-Based Medicine Curriculum by Sa'ad Laws, Mai Mahmoud, Moune Jabre, Amal Khidir, Ziyad Mahfoud
Go to https://journals.indianapolis.iu.edu/index.php/hypothesis/issue/view/1761 "
Photo by Sheila Webber: candles (not real ones) in Southwark Cathedral, October 2024

Webinar: Information as a Discipline: what's the difference #MILClicks - book now!

I'm excited to be part of a free webinar on 24 October 2024 at 16.00 BST (which is, e.g., 11am US Eastern time): Information as a Discipline: what's the difference.
My fellow panellists are Dr. Karen Kaufmann (Assistant professor, School of Information, University of South Florida, USA), Bill Johnston (activist and retired academic, Scotland), Dr Clarence Maybee (Associate Dean for Learning and the W. Wayne Booker Endowed Chair in Information Literacy at Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies, USA) and Dr Syeda Shahid (Assistant Professor, Towson University, USA).
This event is co-organised by the CILIP Information Literacy Group, the Purdue University Institute for Information Literacy, USA, and the University of Sheffield Information School, Libraries and Information Society Research Group. UK.
"If Information Literacy is taken seriously as a discipline, if people aren't shy to say that Information Literacy is a real subject of study and research - what changes? What could be different, not just for educators, students, researchers and librarians, but also for people of all ages outside formal education, and in different parts of the world? That is the focus of this international panel session which celebrates Global Media and Information Literacy Week 2024."
We are all members of the international group of researchers and practitioners, ILIAD: Information Literacy Is A Discipline, advancing scholarly conversation around the idea that information literacy is a maturing discipline (Webber & Johnston, 2017).
"The panel will identify changes that could come about from seeing Information Literacy (IL) as a discipline. Each panel member will identify a longer term change that could happen if IL was more widely recognised as a discipline, and note some of the conditions needed to achieve this. There will then be time for participants to debate what IL as a discipline entails and the changes that could be achieved."
Register at https://www.tickettailor.com/events/cilipinformationliteracygroup/1381222

Youth Data Literacy

The Pratt Institute, USA, received a US National Science Foundation award to develop resources to support Youth Data Literacy, with involvement from the young people "for use in after-school STEM programs at the public library". The resources include a Youthy Activity Guide, and results of a survey for how teen like to learn. https://sites.google.com/pratt.edu/data-activism-for-youth/home?authuser=0

AI in libraries

Volume 90 issue 2 of South African Journal of Libraries and Information Science focuses on AI in Libraries. Articles include:
- Use of artificial intelligence in libraries a systematic review, 2019-2023 by Karen Martínez Concha, Fernanda Palacios Zenteno, Josefa Tello Alfaro
- A proposed framework for a digital literacy course for artificial intelligence in academic libraries by Josiline Chigwada
- A review of artificial intelligence implementation in academic library services by Nombuso Phamela Zondi, Ayogeboh Epizitone, Ntando Nkomo, Peggy Pinky Mthalane, Smangele Moyane, Mthokozisi Luthuli, Mbalenhle Khumalo, Samkelisiwe Phokoye
- Emerging technologies and skills to improve service delivery in digital libraries by Neli Tshabalala, Luyanda Dube
- Utilisation of artificial intelligence for the provision of information services at the University of Limpopo libraries by Phuti Concilia Rabatseta, Mashilo Modiba, Patrick Ngulube
- Leveraging artificial intelligence for sustainable knowledge organisation in academic libraries by Madireng Monyela, Adeyonka Tella
- Artificial intelligence-based literature review adaptation by Selema Tebogo Molopa
- Academic librarian competencies and artificial intelligence by Andrew Cox
Go to https://sajlis.journals.ac.za/pub/issue/view/143
Image by Sheila Webber with Midjourney AI

Not too late to register: International Conference on Information Literacy

The International Conference on Information Literacy (ICIL-Africa) takes place 14-17 October 2024 in Alexandria, Egypt, and online.There is simultaneous translation English – French – Arabic. It is a priced conference and the rates are here on the registration page (there are different rates for students, LIS professionals or academics, and for residents in Eygypt/ those elsewhere) https://bibalex.org/baifa/en/page/ICIL-Africa2024Registration The programme is here (times obviously in local time in Alexandria) https://bibalex.org/baifa/en/page/ICIL-Africa2024Programme

New books: Training Library Instructors

ACRL has published Training Library Instructors, Volume 1: A Guide to Training Graduate Students (US$60.00, Item Number 979-8-89255-603-3 paperback https://alastore.ala.org/training-library-instructors-vol-1-guide-training-graduate-students?) and Training Library Instructors, Volume 2: A Guide to Training Librarians (US$60.00, Item Number 979-8-89255-601-9, paperback https://alastore.ala.org/training-library-instructors-vol-2-guide-training-librarians?). Both are edited by Matthew Weirick Johnson. As well as individually, you can buy them as a 2 volume set of ebooks (US $70.00, Item Number 979-8-89255-528-9).
Photo by Sheila Webber: Hydrangea, August 2024

Webinar: Librarian & Faculty Perceptions of AI in the Disciplines

A free webinar is: Librarian & Faculty Perceptions of AI in the Disciplines on 16 October 2024 at 13.00-14.00 CST (which is, e.g., 19.00-20.00 BST). It is sponsored by the ACRL ULS Professional Development Committee and presented by Tessa Withorn (Science Librarian and an Assistant Professor); Courtney Stine (ssociate Professor and the Director of the Bridwell Art Library) and Amber Willenborg (Instruction Coordinator and an Associate Professor). They are all at the University of Louisville, USA.
"What does an artist, writer, and scientist have in common? They all have hopes and fears about how artificial intelligence (AI) is changing their professions. In higher education, instructors in all disciplines are grappling with how to address AI in their classes, but how similar or different are their approaches? Librarians are in a unique position to start conversations with faculty in their areas about critical issues with AI. Is AI the new Photoshop?
"Art librarians and faculty can encourage students to use AI responsibly in their research and creative practice, as well as how to protect their artistic output from AI image generators. Is AI the new writing assistant? Composition librarians and faculty in first-year writing courses can help students use AI to be a better writer, while understanding the limitations of AI and implications for academic integrity and citation. Is AI the new internet? STEM librarians and faculty are excited by the possibility of AI-powered search and evidence synthesis tools, but need to understand how the growing commercialization of AI will impact scholarship.
"Presenters will share findings from interviews with faculty in their disciplines on the opportunities and challenges of using AI in their teaching, as well as how they think AI is impacting their disciplinary research or creative activity. Based on these conversations and their own experience with teaching students about AI, librarians will share small-scale, practical ways of integrating AI literacy into information literacy instruction in both one-shot workshops and online learning."
Register here: https://ala-events.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_z7O3SRvZTFm-aseAUW8CYw#/registration
Image created by Sheila Webber, using Midjourney AI

Get Online Week webinars

The Good Things Foundation is hosting some webinars aimed at the public, which could be promoted to your own public/ clients. This is to celebrate Get Online Week (14-20 October 2024). They are How to spot and avoid online scams (October 15), How to find affordable internet for your home (October 16) and Getting started with AI (October 17). You can find further details here https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/live-learning-for-get-online-week-3624809?just_published=true
Image created by Sheila Webber using Midjourney AI

Award winners: Esther Grassian and the state of New Jersey

The Universal Information Literacies Association (UiLA), Washington, DC USA has announced that the 2024 UiLA Paul G. Zurkowski Esquire US Individual and State Award winners are Esther Grassian, "distinguished librarian emerita at the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) for playing a pivotal role in advancing Information Literacy instruction for over two decades and the state of New Jersey, USA, for being the first state in the nation to pass bipartisan legislation requiring K-12 schools to teach information literacy." Congratulations in particular to Esther Grassian, who has indeed made a great contribution to IL.
"This announcement coincides with the 50th anniversary of the launching of IL by Zurkowski in November 1974 and the 15th anniversary of the U.S. Presidential Proclamation designating October as Information Literacy Awareness Month. As part of the proclamation former president Barack Obama stated that, 'An informed and educated citizenry is essential to the functioning of our modern democratic society.'"  The UiLA website is here https://uilaz.info/
The press release photo shows the certificates and accompanying individual press releases

Data literacy articles

All from Information and Learning Sciences (priced publication):
- Höper, L. and Schulte, C. (2024). The data awareness framework as part of data literacies in K-12 education. Information and Learning Sciences, 125(7/8), 491-512. https://doi.org/10.1108/ILS-06-2023-0075
- Oh, S. and Mon, L. (2024). Community-based learning and data literacy: the role of the public library. Information and Learning Sciences, 125(7/8), 456-474. https://doi.org/10.1108/ILS-06-2023-0078
and numerous articles in two special issues:
Perspectives on Data Literacies Part 1 https://www.emerald.com/insight/publication/issn/2398-5348/vol/125/iss/3/4 and
Part 2 https://www.emerald.com/insight/publication/issn/2398-5348/vol/125/iss/5/6Photo by Sheila Webber: autumn, September 2024

Power hour webinars with Phil Bradley/ Bev Humphhrey - #AI Search engines; #ChatGPT; #Canva

- AI search engines – a Power Hour with Phil Bradley - 4 October 2024. £35. "In this Power Hour we will look at how search has developed and changed into something that is far more relevant and helpful for searchers. Delegates will look at over a dozen different AI search engines, carefully curated to provide the very best tools for search." Info and registration at https://tinyurl.com/ycyeb3rp 

- Chat GPT and beyond: demystifying AI chatbots – a librarian’s Power Hour with Phil Bradley.  11 October 2024. £35. "This Power Hour will take a deep dive into chatbots. It covers how they work, what they are good at, and what their limitations are. A key component of the hour is learning how prompt engineering (the search query) works in order to get the best possible results for your questions. Info and registration at https://tinyurl.com/2x6wek4u 

- Creating amazing video content with Canva – a librarian’s Power Hour with Bev Humphrey on 18 October 2024.  £35. "During this session you will learn how to create impactful videos with Canva including how best to record, edit and present your content whilst making use of Canva’s handy AI tools. Canva can also be used to edit and polish videos you have already recorded" Info and registration at  https://tinyurl.com/yffhyx9a
Image by Sheila Webber using Midjourney AI of a man sitting at a computer at home