Report on the #emilforum, in Second Life on 4 June

I will give a personal report from the First European Media and Information Literacy Forum (held in Paris, France, 27-28 May) in the virtual world, Second Life.
Time: 4 June 2014, 12 noon Second Life time (which is 8pm UK time, see http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?iso=20140604T12&p1=234 for times elsewhere)
Venue: Infolit iSchool, our island in the virtual world, Second Life (SL). You need a SL avatar (signup free on the SL website http://secondlife.com) and the free SL browser (not the normal web browser) installed on your computer in order to participate. Email me s.webber@sheffield.ac.uk if you want any help with this. The direct SLURL (once you have your avatar and browser) is http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Infolit%20iSchool/136/239/22
What: Sheila Webber (i.e. me, my name is Sheila Yoshikawa in SL) will give a report on the Media and Information Literacy Forum http://www.europeanmedialiteracyforum.org/. I already liveblogged some of this (see http://information-literacy.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/emilforum) I will be highlighting some of the projects and resources, and also giving my personal perspective on the issues and challenges: including the issue of getting the "Information Literacy" part of "Media and Information Literacy" better understood ;-)

Impact of school libraries on learning

A free workshop on the Impact of school libraries on learning is being run on 19 June (Edinburgh, Scotland) and 3 September (Aberdeen) by Professor Dorothy Williams, Caroline Wavell and Katie Cooper (a Robert Gordon University Making Connections workshop). It will explore the findings from their 2013 research for the Scottish Library and Information Council on the impact of school libraries on learning and attainment (http://www.rgu.ac.uk/research/research-institutes/institute-for-management-governance-and-society-research/news/impact-of-school-library-services-on-learning). Workshop activities will explore the available evidence of impact and the relevance to developments in Scottish schools.
To book a place email a.kruk-omenzetter@rgu.ac.uk stating your Name; Job title; Organisation; Address; Email; Dietary/Other requirements and the venue you want to attend. Closing dates for applications are 13 June 2014, for the Edinburgh workshop, and 29 August 2014, for the Aberdeen event.
Photo by Sheila Webber: UNESCO gardens, Paris, May 2014

Informal Education, Social inclusion and Media and Information Literacy #emilforum

Next at the European Media and Information Literacy Forum 2014 at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France a session is focusing on Media and Information Literacy (MIL) and information/social contexts. As with other sessions, the focus is more on media literacy than information literacy, and I will pick out some of the contributions. Firstly, Francine Cunningham talked about an initiative of the European Newspaper Publishers Association, What’s your news. The website for this is at http://www.enpa.be/en/publications/whats-your-news-_62.aspx

Abdel Jalil Alami (Doha Centre for Media Freedom, Qatar) talked about the important issue of children who are outside schooling. He felt that media literacy should be linked to literacy, and was concerned about how we could form initiatives to get children into schooling. I was not sure whether Alami was meaning this specifically, but I know there is a serious problem of, for example, Syrian refugees, who do not have access to schooling.
Olli Vesterinen (Finnish Society on Media Education) talked about initiatives in Finland. I will save my effort by linking to a recent report http://ppemi.ens-cachan.fr/data/media/colloque140528/rapports/FINLAND_2014.pdf and his slides are here http://t.co/31aEfh4IEy. He also showed a video about young people making "how to" videos for each other, using quotations from research with young people who make these videos: there is a prezi about this here. Pleasingly, he also mentioned libraries as partners in media literacy education.
Manuel Pinto talked about a Portuguese group on media literacy which has an interestingly broad membership. Unfortunately I can't find it by Googling ... so I may add the name/link later. He identified the benefits of working with different kinds of organisations to further the media literacy agenda. One project he mentioned was "7 days with the media" - which challenges citizens to think about the role that media has in their lives. There is some information about it here
Photo by Sheila Webber (as are the others blogged from the conference, as usual): spot the delegate: she might have been rehearsing a speech, or perhaps she was just on the phone, in the UNESCO gardens.

Global Alliance for Partnerships on Media and Information Literacy #emilforum

This afternoon's session at the European Media and Information Literacy Forum 2014 (at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France) started with a focus on the Global Alliance for Partnerships on Media and Information Literacy. Carolyn Wilson (University of Toronto, Canada) introduced the strategic goals for GAPMIL and its priorities for the short term. Its terms of reference are being finalised currently. The website for GAPMIL is at http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/media-development/media-literacy/global-alliance-for-partnerships-on-media-and-information-literacy/
Maria Torras Carme (representing the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions - including the information literacy section) talked about the importance of partnerships. She also identified that the information literacy and media literacy needed to identify their common ground and work together to support Media and Information Literacy worldwide. Common themes in the ML and IL included the inclusion and intergration of MIL into the curriculum, the concern that MIL should not just be seen as a technical issue, and the critical thinking aspect of ML and IL. Maria stressed that the interpersonal and physical aspects of MIL are important. She called for a cross professional intercultural dialogue: dialogue between ML and IL experts. Finally Maria mentioned areas were there could be active collaboration e.g. working with librarians to develop teachers' MIL.
Following this Alan Rosenblatt (Turner 4D, USA) mainly advocated active use of social media to promote awareness of MIL. He urged us all to tweet why we though Media and Information Literacy was important (so obviously I did - see https://twitter.com/search?f=realtime&q=%23milit&src=typd). The last of the speakers to provide their perspective on GAPMIL was Chido Onumah (GAPMIL) who stressed the important of identifying key partners in the African context, including ones concerned with particular issues such as journalists' freedom. He also mentioned the need for a national platform on MIL in Nigeria (a project I think they are working on with UNESCO), the need to create discussion on the intergration of MIL curriculum, and the need for world market in media. Ismail Abdel Ghafar (Arab Academy, Egypt) chaired the session and made a nice summing up of the presentations before the session was opened to the audience.

Family media literacy: report from #emilforum

A further report from the European Media and Information Literacy Forum 2014 at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France. As the first session this morning I chose one on the family and media literacy. There were presentations on media literacy initiatives from different countries.
Marco Ricceri started with a challenge to look beyond an individual perspective on Media Literacy (ML), and to consider ML in the family and community. There was then a presentation from Carmen Garcia Galera on IC-Media Spain http://www.icmedianet.org/, which it seemed had a strong focus on "harmful" media content, so teaching children and families about safe use of media, and pressing complaints about media. They were concerned about a generation gap, with parents apparently “lost” as regards their children’s media habits, and they organised training for those. They worked a lot with school teachers.
Lusine Grigoryan (Media Initiatives Center http://www.mediainitiatives.am/) talked about Media Literacy in Armenia. She described it as being in the early stages. Initiatives include a handbook for teachers, including an online game for children, a mobile media museum (travelling installation) and a regional TV project for young people
Sirkku Kotilainen talked about Towards parental consciousness of media education, presenting on research from her research group the University of Tampere, Finland. They found that the change in media relationship (with/within their children) could seem confusing for parents. They have done a couple of studies “Children’s mediabarometer 2010 and 2013”. Amongst other things they characteristed “babies online in parent’s arms” developing “genderlike taste” from the age of 3 or 4. They also discovered “girl-like habits” (with more social activity) and “boy-like habits” (with more gaming, publishing). Interestingly, they adopted the Freirian concept of concienzacion, for familial concienzacion of media education (awareness of themselves and their children as users of media and information). There is a website at http://www.mediaeducation.fi/.
There was a further interesting presentation which I'll blog later.

European Media and Information Literacy Forum 2014: 2nd report #emilforum

Continuing my reports from the European Media and Information Literacy Forum 2014 at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France. The second session this afternoon is New action lines: European Project's recommendations. Ola Erstad (Norway & European Science Foundation) had done a review of ML, and saw ML rather broadly as "the way we read and write" including social practices with media. Erstad also reported briefly on views from a project of the ESF "Forward Look", identifying four key areas. I think this is the report Media in Europe: New Questions for Research and Policy which has been distributed to research bodies and policy makers.
Mihaela Banek Zorica (Organising Committee, ECIL) highlighted the lack of IL at the conference, and stressed the need for ML and IL experts to work together. Divina Frau-Meigs (Universite Sorbonne Nouvelle, France) talked about the COST project. She also mentioned the translit http://www.translit.fr/ website and various other strategic and advocacy issues which I have not been quick enough to capture.
Jose Manuel Perez Tomero (Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain and director of the Emedus media literacy project) gave an interesting discourse on the need for new literacies and for change, to empower people as citizens and not just consumers.

European Media and Information Literacy Forum 2014: 1st report

I am attending the European Media and Information Literacy Forum 2014 at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France. Despite the title, the focus is mainly on media literacy, influenced by the fact that this is also the final conference for the EMEDUS project (http://www.eumedus.com). However it also reflects the fact that media literacy has more of a hold on national and international agenda (something that information literacy people have to take action on...)

In the session at the moment ("Formal Education: New Curriculum"), the focus is on Media Literacy in the curriculum, with contributions from different countries. Firstly Sara Pareira (University of Minho, Portugal) has highlighted the lack of ML in the curriculum in Portugal, hwoever now there are being introduced ML guidelines for several levels of education. Other important documents include the Braga Manifesto on Media Literacy (2011) and National Educational Council's (2011) recommendations for ML. However these have had relatively little impact, and more is expected of the new Guidelines.
Next, Lazslo Hartai (Hungarian Institute of Educational Research and Development) has explained that media literacy only becomes a separate option at upper secondary level (before that it was, I think, seen to be part of visual literacy).

Unfortunately I have just lost some of my blogging (connection problem, grrr), but I will try to remember what I blogged! Carmen Campos (Spain) stressed the importance of having media literacy as a subject, but also intergrated into the curriculum transversally, and she saw teacher education as vitally important (teachers being supported to teach all forms of literacy). Ditemar Schipek (Austria) felt that ML was well intergrated in Austrian school curricula. He cited the work of the Austrian national library, broadcasters etc. in developing children's ML and also mentioned a conference on gaming aimed at young people. He identified "doing" as important - e.g. children learning how to be broadcasters. He also talked about ways of assessing whether schools are dealing adequately with ML (a "minimum standard"). Patrick Verniers (Belgium) pinpointed ways in which ML might be in the curriculum, but felt that at the moment it was rather reliant on the teacher's individual enthusiasm/ initiative. He proposed a framework for media literacy education (I took photos of those slides, so I may blog that later).

At the moment in the session, the speakers are coming forward again to consider ML education in Europe, as opposed to in their specific country. Interestingly, some speakers see things as having got a worse, posibly due to the Bologna Process of harmonisation of education in Europe. Frequent themes are the lack of requirements for media literacy education as part of teacher education, and the lack of a clear policy framework. Laszlo Hartai mentioned the lack of substantial data on what is going on in classrooms around Europe and some confusion around the concepts of ML, information literacy and digital literacy. The contribution from Natasa Slavikova (Slovakia) included mentioning translating the UNESCO MIL curriculum for teachers into Slovak.

Facing the Future: Librarians and Information Literacy in a Changing Landscape

Registration for IFLA Information Literacy Section Satellite Meeting in Limerick, Ireland, 14-15 August 2014, is open. The theme is Facing the Future: Librarians and Information Literacy in a Changing Landscape. The programme is now available. There is a a very international range of speakers. Amongst other highlights I am doing a panel session with Bill Johnston and Dr Shahd Salha on The Active Citizen in a Changing Information Landscape ;-)
Details are at http://iflasatellitelimerick.com/page/21/programme/ and the earlybird discount ends on June 15 2014.
Photo by Sheila Webber: Poppy, May 2014, Sheffield Botanic Gardens.

Librarian as researcher seminar

For those of you interested in research, the powerpoints from the Librarian as Researcher seminar, that took place at National University of Ireland Maynooth Library, Ireland, on 8 May 2014 are at http://library.nuim.ie/news/librarian-researcher-seminar (they aren't about information literacy) and there is a slideshow of the event at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oPkANh7CxU
Photo by Sheila Webber: part of Sunday lunch, May 2014

Roles, opportunities, and pitfalls of MOOCs

The final webinar in the ALCTS series, Libraries and MOOCs, is on June 4, 2014. Sarah Bardac will look at the roles, opportunities, and pitfalls of MOOCs. The event starts at 11am US Pacific time (which is 7pm UK time). They are priced events. Go to http://www.ala.org/alcts/confevents/upcoming/webinar/060414 for more information.
Photo by Sheila Webber: spot the bee, May 2014

Organising and running your own training sessions

A cpd25 event in London, UK, on 26 June 2014 is Organising and running your own training sessions. It is a priced event: £150 for members and £225 for other institutions. http://www.cpd25.ac.uk/events/staff-development-forum-ii-event-ref-tg1sdf2/

Teachmeet @UCD : upcycle and upskill: 27 June 2014

Teachmeet @UCD : upcycle and upskill is an event on June 27, 2014, at University College Dublin, Ireland. "A free practice exchange between librarians or information professionals who engage in, or would like to engage in, teaching and information literacy". Register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/teachmeet-ucd-upcycle-and-upskill-tickets-11524990557
Photo by Sheila Webber: peonies in a Radford vase, May 2014

Call for proposals: PA Forward Information Literacy Summit breakouts

There is a Call for proposals for breakout sessions for the PA Forward Information Literacy Summit: Building Bridges: Extending the Conversation, Penn State University Libraries, USA, which will be held on July 23, 2014. The deadline for proposals is 30 May 2014. More information, and submission form, at https://docs.google.com/a/sheffield.ac.uk/forms/d/1zQ_7Xeuf-FkqN-bemH7sNwWZFjLfXD6LbsIoSRAkp9Y/viewform
Photo by Sheila Webber: spot the pigeon, May 2014

Journal of academic librarianship latest articles

Articles in the latest issue of the (priced) Journal of academic librarianship (Volume 40, Issue 2, 2014) include:
- Integrating Information Literacy into Academic Curricula: A Professional Development Programme for Librarians at the University of Auckland by Chris Moselen, Li Wang
- Tying Television Comedies to Information Literacy: A Mixed-Methods Investigation by Eamon C. Tewell
- Individual Differences in Social Media Use for Information Seeking by Kyung-Sun Kim, Sei-Ching Joanna Sin, Tien-I Tsai
- Critical Information Literacy: A Model for Transdisciplinary Research in Behavioral Sciences by Claudia J. Dold
- The Role of Perceived Self-Efficacy in the Information Seeking Behavior of Library and Information Science Students by Jenny Bronstein
Journal home page at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00991333
Photo by Sheila Webber: Allium, Sheffield Botanic Gardens (photoshopped), May 2014

Crossover Edinburgh: learning technology in workplace skills development

Crossover Edinburgh is a conference (June 5 2014) and "product forge" (weekend developing learning technology; June 6-7) in Edinburgh, Scotland, focused on using learning technology in the workplace. http://2014.crossoveredinburgh.com/

cfp on financial literacy

The Journal of Business & Finance Librarianship (priced sublication) has a call for papers for special issue on Financial Literacy: "Article submissions should focus on financial literacy -the ability to use knowledge and skills to make responsible financial decisions- in academic, public, school and special libraries, other information organizations, and everyday life contexts. Proposals should be research oriented, and could include empirical research, historical or philosophical analysis, or rigorous case-study research." Articles should be 5-9 thousand words and should be submitted to the editor by July 16 2014. The journal website is at http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/WBFL
Photo by Sheila Webber: no. 13 in my irregular "spot the cat" series. This one is rather hard and is really "spot the cat's tail": Open University, May 2014

Alcuin and Clemens Library Information Literacy Award

I like to highlight institutional information literacy awards, and College of St Benedict/St John's University, USA, has the Alcuin and Clemens Library Information Literacy Award to "recognize faculty members who have notably contributed to promoting information literacy". Information on the award is here http://www.csbsju.edu/libraries/faculty-award The winner for 2013 was just announced as Christi Siver, assistant professor of political science.

Ctitical Pedagogy in Libraries chat on 20th May #critlib

#critlib is a chat about critical pedagogy in libraries which takes place every two weeks: the next one is on May 20th. Unfortunately (for me) they take place at 2am UK time, they are at 6pm US Pacific time (see http://tinyurl.com/lk8cnht for times elsewhere). However I will have to prop my eyelids open to join in one now and then. The "cheat sheet" gives times and topics for upcoming talks http://tinyurl.com/critlibx. Here is an introduction: http://pumpedlibrarian.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/introducing-critlib-chats.html
This is the zotero of readings: https://www.zotero.org/groups/critical_library_pedagogy/
Photo by Sheila Webber: rocks/garden, Open University, May 2014

Innovating pedagogy reports

Horizon Report style reports from the Open University, identifying what experts at the OU see as important innovations in pedagogy (with an emphasis on use of technology). The 2013 Innovating pedagogy report identifies: MOOCs, Badges, learning analytics, seamless learning, digital scholarship, geo-learning, learning from gaming, maker culture and citizen inquiry. There are 3 pages on each item, including a short resource list (with, as with the Horizon reports, mainly web resources but at least this report does include some research items as well).
The blog has links to download the full reports from 2013 (published in September) and 2012 http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/innovating/
Photo by Sheila Webber: Foam of cow parsley, Open University, May 2014

Spreading the benefits of digital participation

Congratulation to Scottish colleagues who, through robust their responses, have managed to get information literacy firmly onto the agenda in the recently released report from the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Spreading the benefits of digital participation. The final report now passes the "find information literacy" test, with statements including “Information literacy is essential in the modern information age; literacy, numeracy and digital skills are required by everyone if they are to effectively find and use information and enjoy their right to personal expression.” (p8) and “In the 21st Century, information literacy is a prerequisite for digital engagement.” (p44: a very quotable quote!) The report notes, for example, the need for improving the extent to which information literacy is embedded in the Scottish curriculum.
Royal Society of Edinburgh (2014) Spreading the benefits of digital participation. Edinburgh: The Royal Society of Edinburgh http://www.royalsoced.org.uk/1136_FinalReport.html
Photo by Sheila Webber: foam of cow parsley, Gravesend, May 2014

Healthy days identified through Google search analysis

Attracted by a headline "Online Searches for ‘Health’ Information Occur Early in the Week" I tracked down the original article, in which medical researchers aimed to "determine whether contemplations for healthy behaviors ... follow circaseptan [weekly] rhythms". By analysing Google search logs they found that health related searches "peaked on Monday and Tuesday, thereafter declining until rebounding modestly on Sunday." I'm sure there must be implications for information literacy education here, but the authors of the study were more interested in implications for health promotion.
Ayers, J. et al. (2014) What’s the Healthiest Day? Circaseptan (Weekly) Rhythms in Healthy Considerations. American Journal of Preventive Medicine
http://www.ajpmonline.org/article/S0749-3797%2814%2900099-3/abstract
Photo by Sheila Webber: Bluebell wood last year, Hellingly: bluebells are still out in Sheffield

Developing a shared curriculum; and #ALDinHE presentations

Presentation from Jane Secker, Emma Coonan and Maria Bell given at the ALDinHE conference 2014: their title is Developing a shared curriculum in higher education: from theory to practice and it's embedded below. ALDinHE is the Association for Learning Development in Higher Education and the presentationd for 2013 aren't up yet, but the ones for 2013 are work browsing https://sites.google.com/site/aldinheconference2013/ (note: the keynotes and workshop sessions aren't there, but there are many presentations from parallel sessions, including one on information literacy).

Developing a shared curriculum in higher education: from theory to practice from Jane Secker

Flipped classroom and critical pedagogy: a couple of links from #loex14

I did some more scanning through tweets from the LOEX conference (which is just finishing), and found a couple of interesting links:
- Nice list of readings and resources related to the "flipped classroom", from Kimberley Miller http://urli.st/06t-The-Flipped-Canvas-Inverting-Info-Lit-Instruction
- Critical pedagogy bibliography from Naomi Stuesser and Sarah Brandt: https://docs.google.com/a/westga.edu/document/d/1MkGCxIJpKMMXMWQhpZAvdJT2ERiPST5MjVziLreP8tE/edit?pli=1
Photo by Sheila Webber: Gravestones in St Georges' churchyard, Gravesend, May 2014.

#loex14 tweeting

The major US information literacy conference, LOEX, is taking place at the moment in Michigan USA (8-10 May). You can follow the twitterstream using https://twitter.com/search?f=realtime&q=%23loex2014&src=hash
I had a really packed day so I haven't been able to follow it live, but I've picked out a couple of links. It was a bit like a detective puzzle: I think that this evaluation survey in one tweet must be of the people who were taking the Professional Skills for Educators Certificate Program described in this blog post. The blog post has links to course materials.
Also, some tutorials from Loyola Marymount University: http://library.lmu.edu/research/researchtutorials/
Photo by Sheila Webber: Jasmine outside the door, May 2014 - pity I can't include the jasmine fragrance!

SMIRK resource for use on mobile devices

SMIRK is "an information literacy and communication skills resource developed especially for use with tablets and smartphones" from Glasgow Caledonian University. It is based on the SMILE resource and has numerous sections of information and advice. Topics include Evaluating information, Writing skills, and Your Digital Footprint. http://www.gcu.ac.uk/library/SMILE/SMIRK/Start.html
Photo by Sheila Webber: St Georges church, Gravesend, May 2014

#lilac14 - some presentations and reports

The LILAC team has already put presentations and posters from the LILAC conference on Slideshare, with many there already. I will highlight a few I found on LILAC's Slideshare, plus a few other non-Slideshare items that I discovered myself.
1. The official LILAC 2014 conference page which the presentations etc.link from: http://www.lilacconference.com/WP/past-conferences/lilac-2014/

2. CILIP IL Group/LILAC Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/infolit_group

3. Alison Head's keynote, Truth Be Told: How Today’s Students Conduct Research, which got a lot of positive tweets: http://www.slideshare.net/infolit_group/truth-be-told-how-todays-students-conduct-research-keynote-alison-head

4. A couple of other Slideshares from the LILAC page (picked out because they caught my eye + there was enough text to tell what the presentation was about. Increasing numbers of presentations are rather enigmatic in themselves: it is great that people aren't crowding out their presentations with text nowadays, but having practically no text makes them less useful afterwards....)
- An ID&AL Loop - David Parkes and Alison Pope (about feedback and "better grade" events at Staffordshire University): http://www.slideshare.net/infolit_group/an-idal-loop-david-parkes-alison-pope
- Launching high school teaching support at the University of Oslo Science Library - Anders Mattias Lundmark and Jessica Lönn-Stensrud: http://www.slideshare.net/infolit_group/launching-high-school-teaching-support-at-the-university-of-oslo-science-library-anders-mattias-lundmark-jessica-lnnstensrud
- Between the sheets: the affordances and limitations of social reading tools and their potential role in developing critical and information literacy skills - Alison Sharman: http://www.slideshare.net/infolit_group/sharman-34170677
- Information literacy when there is no information: the case of rare and orphan diseases - Hannah Spring: http://www.slideshare.net/infolit_group/spring-34170376

5. A video from Andrew Walsh, related to his LILAC session, which gives definitions of play, games and gamification and examples of games and gamification in information literacy and libraries. Walsh, Andrew (2014) Playing with Information Literacy. http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/20022/

6. A blog post from Brian Kelly: Capturing the Conference Buzz: #LILAC14 as an Example http://ukwebfocus.wordpress.com/2014/04/28/capturing-the-conference-buzz-lilac14-as-an-example/ from whom I found out about :
- LILAC 2014, Sheffield Hallam University: a Storify by Clare McCluskey/ @librarygirl79 https://storify.com/librarygirl79/lilac-2014

7. Jonathan White's collection of notes on the LILAC conference (including notes on the presentations by Head, by Walsh and by Sharman which are linked above): https://www.evernote.com/pub/jonwhite82/lilac2014
Photo by Sheila Webber: Yellow rose and insect, Gravesend, May 2014

Schoolchildren developing their own IL models

A short online article from Andrew Shenton is interesting, in outlining a structure for helping school children develop their own model of information literacy. "There are several benefits of this approach – pupils are given the freedom to create a framework that suits their preferred learning style, reflection is promoted, and the prospect that the skills in question will be transferred across subjects and retained over time is increased."
Shenton, A. (2014, 13 March) Personalised approaches to teaching information literacy. http://www.sec-ed.co.uk/best-practice/finding-and-using-data/
Shenton credits James Herring with the idea of students developing their own frameowrk, citing:
Herring, J. (2010) Improving Students' Web Use and Information Literacy: A guide for teachers and teacher librarians. London: Facet. ISBN: 978-1-85604-743-2
Photo by Sheila Webber: Charlton Station Open Bookcase, May 2014

Penn State information literacy awards

Another nice example of a university having information literacy awards for students: Penn State University (USA). They award prizes as part of an undergraduate research poster exhibition. http://news.psu.edu/story/312610/2014/04/18/academics/information-literacy-judged-2014-undergraduate-exhibition
Photo by Sheia Webber: My Thalia daffodil, April 2014

BeJLT anniversary updates: assessment, plagiarism, research-based learning, and technology-supported learning

The Brookes eJournal of Learning and Teaching (BeJLT) is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a special issue (volume 6, issue 1, 2014) in which the authors of the most cited papers of the previous years update the papers and/or reflect on developments since the paper was written. An interesting read for those who involved in learning and teaching: The papers are:
- Quality enhancement of Undergraduate Research – further strategies to increase student engagement in research dissemination: Helen Walkington
- Reflections on ‘The student experience of e-learning in higher education: a review of the literature’ Rhona Sharpe and Greg Benfield
- Where is the new blended learning? Whispering corners of the forum: Richard Francis and George Roberts
- Online formative MCQs [multiple choice questions] to supplement traditional teaching: improving retention, progression and performance – the longer view: Paul Catley
- Revisiting the management of student plagiarism in the light of ideas outlined in 2005: Jude Carroll
- ASKe Manifesto seven years on: so what did change? Margaret Price, Chris Rust, Berry O'Donovan
​​http://bejlt.brookes.ac.uk/issue/vol-six-issue-one-may-2014-special-10th-anniversary-issue/
Photo by Sheila Webber: crab apple blossom, Sheffield, April 2014

3rd Annual National Health Literacy Research Conference (UK)

At Keele University, UK, on 20 June 2014 is the 3rd Annual National Health Literacy Research Conference. The theme is "Healthy Living". "There is a limit of 100 delegates so it will be first come first served." Delegate rate for full day including tea, coffee and lunch is £90, and deadline for registration is 30 May 2014. More info at http://www.healthliteracy.org.uk/index.php/conference