Access to knowledge

Stuart Hamilton has been blogging the IFLA Presidential Meeting, Stellenbosch, South Africa (theme: Access to Knowledge), with informative reports about the sessions. I found the ones discussing indigenous and traditional knowledge particularly interesting, since when knowledge and information take different forms and are transmitted by different channels (e.g. predominently orally; using music and pictures etc.) then the form that information literacy takes will also be different. Stuart is Senior Policy Advisor at IFLA, and his blog is at http://blogs.ifla.org/stuart/ If you are reading this a while on, you need to look at the February 2010 entries. Additionally the papers from this conference are already online at https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/369/browse?type=title
Photo by Sheila Webber: on campus: a poster from a student wanting to be elected to a student union post next week

Liaison librarians' profile, and question about IL for researchers

The lis-infoliteracy list had a couple of interesting posts today: a summary by Emma Woods of ways people said they were raising the profile of the academic liaison librarian (find the post here) and a request from Ruth Stubbings for information about information literacy activities and courses aimed at researchers (the post is here).

Partnerships for HE in FE: the library perspective

There's a call for papers for this conference, which takes place 26 Nov 2010 in Bristol (UK), and is organised by library staff from the University of Plymouth, University of Bath and the University of the West of England. Partnerships for HE in FE - the library perspective will "explore the issues around supporting and delivering library/information literacy provision for students studying Higher Education level programmes delivered in the Further Education environment as part of an inter-institutional partnership." The four themes are: Communication and management within partnerships; Information Literacy and supporting an HE academic experience in FE; Progression/ transition; Programme approval and management.
Email a brief summary of your paper or workshop to ian.collins@uwe.ac.uk or ruth.charlton@plymouth.ac.uk by 19 March 2010.

Photo by Sheila Webber: Foggy this morning.

LOEX of the West

Registration for the LOEX of the West conference opened yesterday. It will be hosted by Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, June 10-12, 2010. Information at http://library.mtroyal.ca/lotw/
Photo by sheila Webber: plant in the snow yesterday.

From scrolling to literacy - creating new models of learning

From scrolling to literacy - creating new models of learning is a talk from Professor Tara Brabazon on 26 March 2010, 2pm - 3.30pm. at St. Augustine's Church, George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, Scotland. It is organised by ISG Scotland. £5, (ISG Members £2.50) Entry fee will be collected on the door, please reserve your place by emailing Paul Hambelton: p.hambelton@nls.uk Closing date for bookings: 19 March.

The changing landscape of search

The changing landscape of search: essential new tools for finding information is a seminar at the University of Manchester, UK, 14 July 2010. It will be led by the experienced information consultant, Karen Blakeman. For more info go to http://www.ukeig.org.uk/training/
2010/landscapeofsearch.htm
This is also a good opportunity to publicise Karen's electronic newsletter
http://www.rba.co.uk/tfttr/index.shtml (headline in the Jan 2010 one "Your Google results are about to get weirder") and her business information sources guide http://www.rba.co.uk/sources/

Digital texts and practices: learning across boundaries

The next seminar in the series Literacy in the Digital University takes place on Monday March 1st in Glasgow, Scotland: Seminar 2: Digital texts and practices: learning across boundaries. There is more information at http://lidu.open.ac.uk/glasgow-mar-2010.cfm
Material from the first seminar ("The relation of new media practices to traditional literacy practices in the academy and the professions") is available online: go to http://lidu.open.ac.uk/edinburgh-oct-2009.cfm
Photo by Sheila Webber: Reflections, Criminal Court, Dublin, Feb 2010

Heidi Jacobs a winner

Heidi Jacobs, who is information literacy librarian at the University of Windsor, has been chosen as the winner of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Instruction Section (IS) Ilene F. Rockman Publication of the Year Award. The winning article was
Jacobs, H. (2008) “Information Literacy and Reflective Pedagogical Praxis.” Journal of Academic Librarianship, 34 (3) , 256-262. "Drawing on discussions within Composition and Rhetoric, this article examines information literacy pedagogy. It considers how academic librarians can work toward theorizing our profession in such a way that we may ask new questions of it and foster creative, reflective, and critical habits of mind regarding pedagogical praxis." The press release is here.
Photo by Sheila Webber: Hakone, Japan, 2005

Researcher-Librarian Partnership

The Researcher-Librarian Partnership provides the opportunity for new library and information science professionals to develop and refine their skill, knowledge and confidence in conducting research. The Partnership is sponsored by the Library Theory and Research Section of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA). The Partnership is open to practising librarians who have no more than seven years professional experience in the library and information sector at the time of application. The Partnership is not open to individuals occupying research or teaching positions.
The purpose of the Partnership is to provide the opportunity for recipients to receive expert coaching and guidance as they undertake a research project on a selected library or information issue. Up to six recipients will be selected to take part in the Partnership in 2010. The successful recipients will be matched with a mentor who has experience in conducting research.
Nominations close on 3 May 2010 and for further information go to http://www.ifla.org/en/library-theory-and-research/projects

Photo by Sheila Webber, Jan 2010

Recent articles from JAL

Luo, L. (2010) "Web 2.0 Integration in Information Literacy Instruction: An Overview" Journal of academic librarianship, 36 (1), 32-40. "Survey and semi-structured interviews were conducted in this study to examine the adoption of the Web 2.0 technology in information literacy instruction. Findings suggest that librarians use Web 2.0 tools in three different levels, and overall it has a positive impact on teaching and learning" The 3 levels were: using them themselves, using them to deliver material, and a more interactive level.

Pinto, M., Fernández-Marcial, V., and Gómez-Camarero, C. (2010) "The Impact of Information Behavior in Academic Library Service Quality: A Case Study of the Science and Technology Area in Spain Pages" Journal of academic librarianship, 36 (1), 70-78. "This research explores the extent of service quality in Spanish university science and technology libraries, based on the expectations and perceptions of their users: faculty and researchers. Users' information behavior is analyzed with the specially designed BiQual tool, which reveals specific needs such as the greater importance of electronic collections and improved electronic access."
Photo by Sheila Webber: Howth, sunlight/shadow, January 2010

Collaborative Information Literacy Assessments

A new book (at least in the UK) is
Mackey, T. and Jacobson, T. (Eds) (2010) Collaborative Information Literacy Assessments: Strategies for evaluating teaching and learning. London: Facet. ISBN 978-1-85604-706-7
This book concentrate son collaborations between librarians and academics; "each chapter includes a detailed literature review, a model for practical implementation, a discussion of the partnership process, and an examination of assessment data. The teams also share guidance for overcoming a variety of collaborative obstacles and challenges, and report on how their assessment process significantly improved student learning outcomes" http://www.facetpublishing.co.uk/
Photo by Sheila Webber: snowy frond, Sheffield, January 2010

Information Literacy at primary level

Another good blog post from ... someone else (this week has been very hectic!): Christine Irving talking about a primary school class: she is undertaking work to develop information literacy at the primary level. http://caledonianblogs.net/nilfs/
2010/02/09/
information-literacy-in-primary-1 /

Photo by Sheila Webber: "Love info literacy" in Second Life.

Georgia Conference on Information Literacy

There is a call for proposals for the 2010 Georgia Conference on Information Literacy, taking place October 1st and 2nd 2010 in Savannah, USA. The call closes on April 14th.http://ceps.georgiasouthern.edu/conted/infolitproposals.html

Using cases for information literacy

I saw a nice blog post from Spencer Jardine on the Idaho State University blog. He talks about
Spackman, A. and Camacho, L. (2009) "Rendering Information Literacy Relevant: A Case-Based Pedagogy." The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 35 (6), 548-54. (subscriber only access, abstract is here)
and their wiki of "Cases", business-focused problem scenarios that students could be given to work through, which is at at https://lib.byu.edu/casewiki/index.php/Main_Page (part of the article describes some of these cases, then it gives results from a simple student satisfaction survey)
Spencer's post is at http://spencerjardine.blogspot.com/2010/02/case-based-library-instruction.html

Photo by Sheila Webber: another picture of St Basil's cathedral, Moscow, December 2009.

Research strategies

I am not sure that I have highlighted this book by William Badke. There is a full edition in printed form (or in pdf, price $6)
Badke, W. (2008) Research Strategies:Finding Your Way Through the Information Fog. 3rd ed. iUniverse. ISBN-13: 978-0595477470.
and there is also a free web-based version, shorter, and based on an earlier edition of the book. Helpfully, the author has notes in each section explaining how the web content relates to the printed version. The home page with links to the online material and to places selling the book is at http://www.acts.twu.ca/Library/textbook.htm
Photo by Sheila Webber: snowdrops this morning, February 2010

Next-Generation Presentation Tools

A new briefing from EDUCAUSE: 7 Things You Should Know About...Next-Generation Presentation Tools http://www.educause.edu/
Resources/
7ThingsYouShouldKnowAboutNextG/
194558
Photo by Sheila Webber: Sheffield, January 2010

IL case studies

Interesting new free article
Irving, C. (2009) "Collecting case studies / exemplars of good practice to enrich The National Information Literacy Framework (Scotland)." Library and Information Research, 33 (105). "This paper discusses the challenges, process and reasons for collecting case studies / exemplars of good practice from practitioners to enrich The National Information Literacy Framework (Scotland). The lessons learned show that there is a tendency for people to think they are not doing anything special and therefore do not respond to emails for exemplars of good practice. They are however once contacted happy to share their practice. It is therefore essential to use networks of contacts, leave plenty of time to talk, visit and work with people on submitting their work as a case study / exemplar. Sharing practice also contributes to professional development both for the individual and their community and to the field of research." http://www.lirg.org.uk/lir/ojs/index.php/lir/article/view/206/271
It talks about the Sharing Practice website I have mentioned before.

Photo by Sheila Webber: Howth, January 2010.

Working the room

CILIP UCR (SW region) has a free event on 25 February 2010 at the University of Exeter, UK: Working the room: a networking event (speed-dating style). Short presentations include: Plymouth - library promotional video made by students;
Bath - Information Literacy using Moodle;
University of Exeter in Cornwall - Developing online tutorials (Jing, Captivate & Echo360);
UWE - IskillZone information literacy suite.
Contact Alastair Sleat for more info alastair.sleat@uwe.ac.uk

LIS-COPYSEEK Copyright Day Seminar

Linda Purdy (Sheffield Hallam), Mark Summers (Loughborough LISU) and Clare Scott (University of Sheffield) are key contributors to the LIS-COPYSEEK Copyright Day Seminar sponsored by JISCLegal taking place at the University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK, on 31 March 2010. There is a provisional programme and a registration form. If you would like to attend please fill in the form and return it to Mark Summers (m.a.c.summers@lboro.ac.uk) by the end of February 2010. Cost is £35.

Photo by Sheila Webber: Patriachs Ponds, Moscow, December 2009.

Big6 webinars

BIG6 Associates offer BIG6 webinars on February 25 & 26 and March 23, 2010. These priced seminars seem to be open to all, but I think might involve phone connection to the USA. February 25, 2010, 1:00-2:15 p.m. (EST) Big6 Basics "Big6 Skills can help your students navigate information sources to solve problems, make decisions, or complete assignment tasks. Big6 integrates information search and use skills along with technology tools in a systematic process to find, use, apply, and evaluate information for specific needs and tasks. Your students will learn the Big6 in context of real assignments, real curriculum and real needs. Mike Eisenberg, Big6 Co-creator, presents an introduction to the Big6 Skills for 21st Century Skills learning (Grades 3-16)" On 26 February the webinar is on Super3 Discovery Learning [3 core steps for younger children] and on 23 March it's Use the Big6 to Achieve Educational Standards
http://tinyurl.com/big6webinars

Information Literacy 2.0: hype or discourse refinement?

New article (priced journal) Spiranec, S. and Zorica, M. (2010) "Information Literacy 2.0: hype or discourse refinement?" Journal of Documentation, 66 (1), 140-153. "The purpose of this paper is to introduce the term Information Literacy 2.0 as a subset of information literacy, to describe its development and significance and give an outline of its underlying theoretical assumptions."

Photo by Sheila Webber: Sea wall, Howth, january 2010.