Scottish Framework

John Crawford writes "I am pleased to announce that the Scottish Information Literacy Project has secured funding from Eduserv to pilot the draft National Information Literacy Framework Scotland with our Project partners. As part of the funding Eduserv would like there to be an emphasis on looking at the impact which the Framework is having on practice / affecting what is happening in educational institutions. ... A new webpage has been added to the project website http://www.caledonian.ac.uk/ils/frameworkpilot.html - this outlines the specific activities and outcomes we are working to within the piloting exercise."
It is worth noting that Eduserv also hosts the Information Literacy website http://www.informationliteracy.co.uk/ (maintained by the CILIP information literacy group), funded a couple of small scale information literacy and they have donated prizes to my Department for the best information literacy dissertations and topics. Also, of course, they are hosts to the Centre for Information Literacy Research in Second Life.

Photo by Sheila Webber: Autumn 2004

SEDA activities

SEDA is the Staff and Educational Development Association (for educational developers in the UK tertiary sector). They produce a number of (reasonably priced, printed) publications, the latest of which was published in July:
Bostock, S. (2007) e-Teaching: Engaging Learners Through Technology. (SEDA Paper 119) SEDA.
They also run events, for example a session tied into the above publication being held in London on 29 October. Information on the SEDA website at http://www.seda.ac.uk/index.htm

Photo by Sheila Webber: Autumn anemones., Sept 2007

Online courses in education

Oxford Brookes University is providing its regular offering of online short courses in the learning and teaching field e.g.
Assessment: lightening the load, while increasing the learning 10 October - 19 November 2007 Dealing with student plagiarism 13 February - 14 March 2008
Engaging learning with social software 7 November - 7 December 2007
Evaluating e-learning 23 April - 23 May 2008
The Internationalised curriculum 2 April - 2 May 2008
Reflective learning 9 April - 9 May 2008
Details at http://www.brookes.ac.uk/services/ocsld/online

Konstanz Workshop on Information Literacy

The Konstanz Workshop on Information Literacy (KWIL) takes place in Konstanz (Germany) 8-9 November 2007. The focus is particularly on information literacy for students taking postgraduate degrees. There is a good programme of speakers, though perhaps I shouldn't say that as I am one of them. I will be talking about information literacy for Masters students. There are speakers from The US, Switzerland, Germany, China and the other speakers from the UK are Susie Andretta, Rosie Jones and Debbi Boden.
The main information page, with link to the programme, is at http://www.ub.uni-konstanz.de/bibliothek/
projekte/informationskompetenz/kwil.html
The registration form (only 30 Euros to register!) is at http://www.ub.uni-konstanz.de/bibliothek/projekte/
informationskompetenz/kwil/
registration-form.html

Photo by Sheila Webber: apples from the garden

IL in Germany

Thomas Hapke blogs about an issue of BIT online (German language publication) which has a number of articles about information literacy: Wilfried Sühl-Strohmenger talks about goals and curricula of classes in soem German universities; Luzian Weisel talsk about the need to develop information literacy in schools and in cooperation with public libraries, and Gabriela Blum compares initiatives in Germany and the USA. The issue is only available to subscribers at http://www.b-i-t-online.de/ but the editorial is freely online:

Fuhlrott, R. (2007) "Informationskompetenz und Soziale Software - oder Auswirkungen des Sputnikschocks von vor 50 Jahren" [Information literacy and social software: or the fallout from the sputnik shock from 50 years ago] BIT online. (3) http://www.b-i-t-online.de/heft/2007-03-edit.htm

IL in disciplines

I prepared some material for a discussion in Second Life about information literacy in different disciplines. It was mostly notes, but I added a few references and resources, including:

ACRL’s Information Literacy in the disciplines page. (This has pages for a number of disciplines, with links to any discipline-specific IL frameworks and a selection of discipline-specific articles. There are also links to “accrediting bodies” which are specific to the USA) http://www.ala.org/ala/acrlbucket/
is/projectsacrl/infolitdisciplines/index.cfm)

INTUTE’s tutorial on information literacy in different subject areas: http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/

Manuel, K. (2003) Selective Bibliography on Discipline-Based Information Literacy & Library Instruction. New Mexico State University Library. http://lib.nmsu.edu/instruction/disciplinaryIL.htm

Jones, C. et al (2004) Academic Use of Digital Resources: Disciplinary Differences and the Issue of Progression. (An example of a research article exploring disciplinary differences in use of e-resources) http://www.networkedlearningconference.org.uk/
past/nlc2004/proceedings/symposia/symposium9/
jones_et_al.htm

I also cited our research e.g. Webber, S., Boon, S. and Johnston, B. (2005) A comparison of UK academics’ conceptions of information literacy in two disciplines: English and Marketing. _Library and information research_, 29 (93), 4-15. http://www.cilip.org.uk/specialinterestgroups/
bysubject/research/publications/
journal/archive/lir93/article93b.htm
Photo by Sheila Webber: Intro week is this week - today was talking to new students.

E-learning

For those interested in e-learning, In Their Own Words "synthesises key findings from the the JISC Learner Experiences [i.e. of e-learning] studies, drawing together themes from the Phase 1 reports and the 5 Learner Voice video case studies." You can download the booklet which summarises findings from previous research etc. and you can alo view or download 5 short videos which have different learners talking about some aspect of learning technology e.g. use of videos and the web for a law student, use of a simulation for nursing students. You can also get a CD-ROM. http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/
programmes/elearning_pedagogy/intheirownwords
Photo by Sheila Webber: reading room, nationallibrary, Copenhagen, August 2007.

Resources for lifelong learners

Jimmy Atkinson emailed me to publicise a page of useful annotated links published on OEDb: Online ducation Database on 18 September. It is called The Self-Directed Student Toolbox: 100 Web Resources for Lifelong Learners and has links to do with: Adult Education Guides, Audio and Video, Blogs, Career, Disabilities, Distance Education, Finances, Resources, School Skills, Travel. The web address is http://oedb.org/library/
beginning-online-learning/
the-self-directed-student-toolbox-
100-web-resources-for-lifelong-learners

Photo by Sheila Webber: Flat white, Sydney. July 2004.

Otis libraries

Thanks to Yazdan Mansourian who emailed me about the Otis Libraries information literacy page. It has a series of headings and links to a few relevant explanations and resources: as Yazdan says, an example of a concise library website which includes some multimedia. http://library.otis.edu/
informationliteracy.html

Photo by Sheila Webber: Apple leaf, Hailsham, September 2007

Potential students' use of ICT

Thanks to Andy Powell for highlighting this JISC study into UK students' expectations about information technology at university. There were 3 discussion groups totalling 27 students plus 500 respondents to an online questionnaire. Instant messaging and sites like Facebook/Myspace were most used. "In the qualitative discussions, the internet emerges as a research resource more than anything, whether for schoolwork or information in general (news, gossip)." The students expect certain IT facilities to be available as a matter of course.

"HEIs need to bear in mind the ubiquity of social networking – 88% of online respondents use these websites, although only in a social context. Respondents found it hard to imagine using social networking sites for coursework or study, and had reservations about this when presented with the scenario. Universities therefore need to explain how social networking tools relate to learning, if they choose to use these methods "

Ipsos MORI. (2007) Student Expectations Study: Key findings from online research and discussion evenings held in June 2007 for the Joint Information Systems Committee. JISC.
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/
publications/studentexpectations.pdf

Photo by Sheila Webber: Little Mermaid, Copenhagen, August 2007.

Presentation on Californian IL

Yesterday I attended a presentation in Second Life (the virtual world) which was originally given at the LOEX conference. This was Esther Grassian & Marsha Schnirring on "Teaching in a TeaHouse". They were principally talking about a survey they had done of libraries in California, to find out what kinds of information literacy education were taking place.
They started by talking about LILI (http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/college/lili/ ) "an acronym for a group of librarians from various types of libraries, investigating information literacy definitions, standards and instruction in California" and in fact the LILI website has the results of the survey.
The audio and chat log from the session are already posted to http://virtualbridges.net/and the PowerPoint presentation is likely to be available on Slideshare. I couldn't find it just now - you might be interested in Esther Grassian's other presentations, though (e.g. “Why Use Anything But Google?” Information Literacy for Teachers/Faculty) just search http:///www.slideshare.com/ for Grassian. However, I found what I think is the right presentation at http://www.csusm.edu/acarr/
materials/TeachinginaTeaHouseFinal.ppt

LOEX 2008

Thanks to Christine Kickels for notifying the LOEX 2008 registration date. It is February 8, 2008 at 1pm (EST) - so stand by your keyboards then as it books out very quickly. LOEX is the major information literacy conference in the USA. They are now accepting proposals, the deadline for them is Friday, November 16, 2007. http://www.loexconference.org/

ALFIN Red

Another thing I have almost missed out on is a website building on the already excellent ALFIN (Spanish) information literacy blog. ALFIN Red at http://www.alfinred.org/ arose from a declaration on Information Literacy in Spain that called for the creation of a forum for development and discussion of information literacy. This site has been created as a project for 6 months, finishing officially in September. The site is still principally focused on the blog with some additional documents: I couldn't explore the "intranet" section, though. (All material in Spanish)

A recent post on the ALFIN blog links to a series of Spanish articles on information literacy which are available as e-prints:

Campal García, Mª F. (2006) "Dossier: Practicando ALFIN." Educación y biblioteca, nov-dec. (156), 48-141. http://eprints.rclis.org/archive/00010964/

Photo by Sheila Webber: Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain, 2006.

Libraries Without Walls

I hope to be getting back to more normal blogging again, and apologies for letting Sunday's post on the UNESCO database go a couple of days with the uninformative title "photos". In the meantime, Moira Bent has been doing some interesting posts from the Libraries Without Walls conference that she is attending in Greece, several posts a day which is better than I manage nowadays! There are posts on the 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th and 19th September so far.

Photo by Sheila Webber, Copenhagen, August 2007.

UNESCO database

There is a new database from UNESCO, which has information on the Information for All Programme projects (IFAP). "It contains basic information on projects, up to date information on their implementation, statistical data as well as some concrete stories demonstrating how access to information and knowledge can change people’s lives." This includes some Information Literacy projects that UNESCO has funded e.g. "Development of Information Literacy through School Libraries in Southeast Asian Countries"
http://www.unesco-ci.org/cgi-bin/ifapprojects/page.cgi?d=1
Photo by Sheila Webber: Helicopter, Copenhagen, August 2007.

Librarians' value

Just a short news item:
Thompson, L. (2007) "Key to literacy, librarians now 'highly endangered'". Seattle times, 15 September. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/
snohomishcountynews/2003881008_librarians12n0.html
(talks about how librarians are still important for literacy and information literacy)

SCONUL WGIL

Last Friday I attended a meeting of the SCONUL Working Group on Information Literacy. There is information about the Group at http://www.sconul.ac.uk/
groups/information_literacy/ including downloads of the Seven Pillars model. We are rewriting the narrative that goes with the 7 Pillars (with a short explanation about each pillar) and I will blog when it goes up. There is a new Chair for the Group, Jan Howden, Associate Director Learning Support, Glasgow Caledonian University.
My blogging is a bit intermittant at the moment since I am staying with my mother who broke her arm and it is a case of hunt the internet cafe.
Photo by Sheila Webber: National Library, Copenhagen, August 2007.

Information collected by Google

I see from the Google Friends newsletter there is a video on Youtube which explains what kinds of information Google collects when you search it e.g. cookies. It is straightforward, with a female talking head and some writing on a flip chart, but nicely done and could provide a starting point for discussion on data privacy. Some of the comments are also thought-provoking (I wasn't thinking of the "She's hot!" comment, but I suppose that indicates that the video will appeal to a wide audience ;-)
Google Search Privacy: Plain and Simple http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLgJYBRzUXY

Information Literacy: IFLA/ UNESCO

I was not able to attend the IFLA conference this year, but there were as usual interesting IL activities there. There is a report about a pre-conference workshop in:
Botswana daily news archive (2007) "Information literacy alleviates poverty." 16 August. http://www.gov.bw/cgi-bin/
news.cgi?d=20070816&
i=Information_literacy_alleviates_poverty

They also launched a competition for an international logo to symbolise information literacy globally (a challenge!)- for information go to the website at http://www.infolitglobal.info/
I notice that the site has been redesigned for the better since I last visited, with links to the latest additions to the resource directory etc., key publications and translations highlighted and so forth.

I have also highlighted already the programme page for the 2007 IFLA conference which has full text of papers, sometimes in several languages, but I think there are some further papers added since I mentioned it a few months ago http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla73/Programme2007.htm
Photo by Sheila Webber: Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen, August 2007.

IL test

There is a news story about an information literacy test run at Purdue University (USA) as a competition with prizes (in the university newspaper)
Mahasneh, N (2007) "Competition exercises critical thinking, Internet navigation skills." The exponent, 30 August. http://www.purdueexponent.com/
?module=article&story_id=6793 Note that whilst the organiser said "we need people to be thinking critically now, more than ever", the winner says how "I was prepared to hit Google as hard as possible."

Photo by Sheila Webber: Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen, August 2007.

IL in the CE European countries

There is a workshop on IL in the CE European countries within the conference programme of the The International Conference on Lifelong Learning in the City-Region, being held at the University of Pécs, Hungary, 23-25 September, 2007. It will be led by Ralph Catts and Ludmilla Ticha. More information at http://www.pascal2007conf.pte.hu/index.htm

Discussion on librarians' image

On September 4th there was a discussion How should Librarians present themselves in Second Life, Facebook, My Space etc? in the office of the Centre for Information Literacy Research in Second Life (SL), the virtual world. Lyn Parker of Sheffield University Library (Maggie Kohime in SL) led the discussion and 10 people were present (plus a few lurkers looking over shoulders in Real Life apparently ;-) The transcript of the session is in two parts at http://sleeds.org/chatlog/?c=124 and http://sleeds.org/chatlog/?c=125

Maggie is on the far left of the photo summing up discussion. There is a fuller description at http://adventuresofyoshikawa.blogspot.com/
2007/09/librarians-in-sl.html

Social networking in teens

Thanks to Gerry McKiernan who once again has highlighted an interesting report. It's a study sponsored by Microsoft, News Corp (owners of MySpace) and Verizon. "A new study released today by the National School Boards Association and Grunwald Associates LLC exploring the online behaviors of U.S. teens and ‘tweens shows that 96 percent of students with online access use social networking technologies, such as chatting, text messaging, blogging, and visiting online communities such as Facebook, MySpace, and Webkinz. Further, students report that one of the most common topics of conversation on the social networking scene is education."
It's obviously more about educational opportunities and challenges, rather than information literacy, as well as only surveying in the USA. However, the issue of creating and sharing material appropriately (ethically, legally etc.) is prominent (where one would think IL education had a role). One finding is "Pay attention to the nonconformists. The survey findings identify this group of students as highly engaged and skilled at social networking and as an influential leadership cadre among their peers."
National School Boards Association. (2007) Creating snd connecting: Research and Guidelines on Online Social — and Educational — Networking. Alexandria: NSBA. http://www.nsba.org/site/docs/41400/41340.pdf

Photo by Sheila Webber: Lakeside, Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen, Denmark, August 2007.

Short courses on learning and teaching

The Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development offers online courses between four and six weeks long They include:
Assessment: lightening the load, while increasing the learning (10 October - 19 November 2007); Dealing with student plagiarism (13 February - 14 March 2008); Engaging learning with social software (7 November - 7 December 2007); Enquiry based learning (4 June - 4 July 2008). For more info: http://www.brookes.ac.uk/services/ocsld/online

Photo by Sheila Webber: Ride, Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen, August 2007

Australian School Library conference

The Australian School Library Association Conference, 2-5 October 2007 , in Adelaide, Australia, includes sessions on Information Literacy, e.g.
Barbara Combes, Lecturer, School of Computer and Information Science, Edith Cowan University, WA. Techno savvy or just techno oriented? How do the ‘Net Generation’ search for information?"A report on the initial findings of a PhD research project which is examining the information seeking behaviour of the Net Generation (children born after 1985)."
Alison Pick, Head of Information Services, Wenona School and Helen Schutz, Santa Sabina College, NSW. Raising profiles: an investigation into teacher awareness of information literacy; and successful strategies for increasing understanding
Marie O'Brien, Manager, Library Services, ELTHAM College of Education, VIC.
Learning through play - It doesn't stop in primary school: building meaningful relationships through cross-age projects using knowledge era information literacies "In this project Grade 5 and 6 students, under the guidance of the Teacher Librarian, design the games and the Year 11 and 12 Information Technology students, under the guidance of the IT teacher, build them."
http://www.asla.org.au/pd/conference/

Photo by Sheila Webber: Punk tree, Melaleuca leucadendra, Adelaide botanic gardens, 2004.

Social networking

Thanks to Gerry McKiernan for alerting me to a report published in April by Forrester research which they did for MySpace. It was a market research survey carried out in the USA and asked about types of media/entertainment/communication devices used, how people felt about MySpace in particular. It being commissioned by MySpace you don't find out what people think specifically e.g. of Facebook ;-) The research included asking people to do collages representing their feelings about life with/without MySpace and asking them about brands (some people want companies like Nike to be their Friends .... hmm)
Fox Interactive (2007) Never ending friending: a journey into social networking.
http://blogs.forrester.com/
Never_Ending_Frieding_April_2007.pdf (there IS that typo in the web address - frieding - BTW)

Photo by Sheila Webber: Peveril Castle, Peak District, August 2007.

Information visualisation

I was looking at the top hits for information literacy on http://del.icio.us/, and one of the top ones was at http://www.visual-literacy.org/ , Visual Literacy: An E-Learning Tutorial on Visualization for Communication, Engineering and Business, an outcome of a European research project. There are materials on Business and communication and Engineering and communication online from modules in these areas. You can look at them as a guest and I think that guest who register can also work through interactive tutorial material, but I didn't try to do that. The conetent includes a small information visualisation wiki. I notice that Edward Tufte's books are still there as classics. The cataloguer in me also notes that they list Harris, R. Information Graphics: a comprehensive illustrated reference. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195135326, with 2 different publication dates (1999 and 2000). The OUP site says 2000.
Photo by Sheila Webber: Nettles, Hailsham, July 2007.