Last chance for early bird for #ifla Artifactual Literacies conference

There is an IFLA information literacy pre-conference in Chicago, USA: Information and Artifactual Literacies: Engaging Minds in Libraries and Museums, taking place August 11-12, 2016, co-sponsored by the IFLA Information Literacy Section, ACRL, and DePaul University. This event precedes this year's IFLA main conference in Columbus, Ohio, USA. "Along with an exciting keynote by Emily Graslie, Chief Curiosity Correspondent at The Field Museum of Chicago, the satellite will include presentations, workshops, panels, and poster sessions featuring innovative ways to use primary sources, special collections, and museum resources to engage students, faculty, and visitors in learning experiences." Register at http://iflainfolit2016satellite.org - early bird rates end on May 31
Photo by Sheila Webber: my apple blossom, May 2016

#QQML2016 : Strategies for building and assessing the long-term impact of research projects

The final session at the QQML conference was a plenary session from Hazel Hall (Edinburgh Napier University) entitled What happens next? Strategies for building and assessing the long-term impact of research projects.
She has produced an excellent overview of it here: https://hazelhall.org/2016/05/27/strategies-for-building-and-assessing-the-long-term-impact-of-research-projects-closing-plenary-at-qqml2016/ and it is also on Slideshare (see below).
I may do one more post about QQML after I have trawled for further presentation links etc. Next year the QQML conference is in Limerick, Ireland.

What happens next? Strategies for building and assessing the long-term impact of research projects from Hazel Hall

#QQML2016 information literacy assessment: the threshold achievement test

At the QQML conference, liveblogging a few of the sessions. Carolyn Radcliff (co-author Kevin Ross) presented on The next generation of information literacy assessment: the threshold achievement test. Radcliff started by introducing the ACRL Framework for information literacy. Radcliff works with Carrick Enterprises, who (as I blogged a little while ago) have a project to develop an assessment instrument based on the ACRL Framework: they aim to "measure dispositions and knowledge" and "assess at various stages of student development", with the assessment tool available on a variety of devices, and capable of being completed in the scope of a 50 minute class.
Firstly Radcliff considered "dispositions". They have identified : productive persistence; tolerance for ambiguity; feeling responsible to the community; mindful self-reflection. They have mapped the ACRL Framework to 4 modules, each of which can be covered in a 50 minute session. For each module they identify the dispositions and knowledge outcomes which are relevant.
Radcliff talked about the challenging (though fun) activity of writing test items (they have multiple choice, rating items etc.). They are aiming to include higher order items. They have tested and piloted the test in various ways (detailed feedback from students, larger scale pilots etc.)
I have already expressed some doubts about this testing approach, but it is obvious they are going about this in a very thoughtful and thorough way, and that a lot of people are interested. The website is at https://thresholdachievement.com/
Photo by Sheila Webber: staircase in Senate House, a clever advert for their Shakepeare exhibition

#QQML2016 Gamifying Business Information Literacy

Next in liveblogging from the QQML conference, Jordan Nielsen (San Diego State University) talked about Gamifying Business Information Literacy: using digital badges to incentivise the acquisition of business information skills.
He decided to create a series of online business tutorials, and applied for a small research grant so he could use gamification in the tutorials: in this case to see whether digital badges engaged the students. Nielsen focused a specific course on Rhetoric and Writing, where he had reached 250 students in the first engagement with students, and 430 second engagement.
In terms of the tutorial, he considered using Adobe Connect, Blackboard and a homegrown system. He decided on Blackboard, as it does have a badging option, and also a means of enrolling all students in the tutorial. The tutorial has 3 sections, Finding, Evaluating and Using information, and in each section there are 2 subsections, one on company and on industry information. Nielsen used text, images, link, videos on Youtube, videos he created using Powtoons etc.
Badges on Blackboard are issued when they are triggered (so you set the trigger) and badges can be exported. The badged tutorials are going to pilot this autumn, with students surveyed, and also there will be a comparison between classes that have used the tutorials and classes which have had teaching in class.
Photo by Sheila Webber: lunchtime fruitplate, QQML conference

#QQML2016 : Collaboration and information literacy in Portuguese school libraries

A final day of liveblogging from the QQML conference. Ana Novo presented on Collaboration and information literacy in Portuguese school libraries. This presentation was based on PhD work (interviews with 20 teacher-librarians) and also work with Masters students (perceptions of 32 Masters students who were teacher-librarians). In Portugal they have to be qualified as teachers as well as librarians to work in schools. Novo identified some of the models that could be used for IL in the classroom e.g. Herring's and Kuhlthau's. She identified that part of the teacher librarian's role was convincing a school's director, teachers etc. that it was worth spending curriculum time on information literacy. Novo said that collaboration with teachers was important, but the teachers had more of an individualistic culture (my class, my pupils...). She cited Montiel-Overall (2005, 2006) as identifying that collaboration can impact school achievement, and Montiel-Overall also proposed 4 models of collaboration (coordination, cooperation, integrated instruction, integrated curriculum).
In the 20 interviews for the PhD study only the first two models were identified (coordination, cooperation). For the 32 Masters students, 12 each were in the first and 2nd model, 2 in the third and 6 were in transition (between 1st and 2nd and between 2nd and 3rd).
The conclusions were that there are difficulties in intergrating IL, with teacher very focused on his/her class.
Masters students had recommended e.g. training and awareness for teachers, flexible opening hours, organisisng events in the library, publicising it in the school newspeper etc.

#QQML2016 : Teaching Media Literacy, Did we Forget Literacy

At the QQML conference. Leena Pylkkö (whose coauthor was Pauli Pylkkö) talked on Teaching Media Literacy, Did we Forget Literacy. She is at Turku City Library (Finland) and she was talking about their multiliteracy initiative. Multiliteracy is part of a "culture path" designed in collaboration with local schools. Children come at different stages of education, and activities are attended by 82% of children at 2nd and 4th grade (8/9 years and 10/11 years). For older children, there is QR code orientiering and a session on the representation of people in the media.
Pylkkö described some of the activities e.g. making a video blog; making a picture collage of representations in the media; filling out activity sheets on a tablet.
She has been reflecting on how this connects to thinking skills, information literacy and reading skills. Children say that the most difficult things in the activities are e.g. thinking what to say on the vlog; understanding text (so challenges that have been around a long time - how to think and understand).
In order to explore these issues further Pylkkö contemplated Kuhlthau's model, but decided that a more suitable framework for her own context were Nelson Goodman's ideas. These are that paintings, photos etc. are worlds of their own each with their own system of codes. Thus, Understanding worlds = reading their symbol systems, and Not understanding = not understanding the symbol system.
Adapted to libraries; the librarian can be the person who introduces the learner to worlds and their symbols. This provides a framework for the librarian, and "literacy" is seen as competence in a specific semiotic system. Pylkkö also felt this helped to distinguish between ICT and literacy (and she talked at this point OECD and other research which showed that ICT use did not necessarily bring improvement in learning outcomes).
Pylkkö concluded that, using this approach, you would also embrace "traditional" concepts and content. She said that "Knowledge IS literacy, that is, ability to use different symbol systems in order to "make worlds"" - the worlds were e.g. "the library", "music", "art", "Books, DVDs, Video games" (the latter could be more than one world, also). Thus the librarian could concentrate on introducing the children to each of these worlds.
The presenter has written a paper (based on a talk at this conference 2 years ago) on a similar topic here http://www.qqml.net/papers/December_2014_Issue/3412QQML_Journal_2014_Pylkko_Dec_909-916.pdf

#QQML2016 : Methods for Authentically Assessing Information Literacy Instruction

Lvebloggong at the QQML conference this afternoon, a session on information literacy started with a presentation from Giovanna Badia (McGill University): Give Back to your Students! Methods for Authentically Assessing Information Literacy Instruction to Innovate your Teaching. The picture shows her coping with admirable calmness while various people tried to sort out the technical problems with the room's computer, before her talk started.
She started by defining authentic assessment as allowing students to chose their own topics to research for assessment. The context for the intervention she was describing was one taken by 90 chemical engineering students. She posed the questions to herself: could students understand her lecture on searching and could they apply it to their own search questions. Therefore she did a follow up questionnaire asking, for example, if they had used peer reviewed articles for their term paper topic (which they had chosen themselves) and asked them to search on Scopus for their topic and copy their search history. Gift cards were given as incentives. 40% of the class responded and 10 students took up an offer for further search help. From the survey: students found relevant results on avaerage in 3 different sources. Common issues were over-broad topics and too many search results.
As a response to this, Badia took an action research approach and designed an activity. She put the students in groups. They had to create a research question incorporating one or more words from a list (the list was compiled by looking at previous students' term paper topics). She made it into a game, where there was a prize for the best research question - as the activity progressed students got better and better at critiquing the research questions.
She also introduced a pre and post test which included ranking search strategies. Then, once again she had a follow up survey, adding a search strategy ranking exercise. Whilst the post test showed improvement in search strategy judgement, the responses to the later survey showed the students had slipped back somewhat. This time a finding of note was that students were using insufficient numbers of concepts. Badia aims to introduce a new activity to help with this issue, the next time the class runs. Badia gave some tips at the end, including that she got better responses to surveys by handing them out in class, and if they are in colour they stand out more (a colleague suggested that perhaps students felt guilty walking out of the clas without doing it, when the paper was such a distinctive colour!)

#QQML2016 : Designing Services for a Federated University - and some Shakespeare

Another talk from the QQML conference, where I am today. Jackie Marfleet, Senate House Librarian, University of London (the venue for conference) talked about Collaboration and Co-operation: Designing Services for a Federated University. She explained the special position of Senate House library, which acts as a "second library" to the various universities which make up the federated University of London (which consists of University College London, King's College London, London Business School etc.). Primarily it serves researchers (rather than undergraduate students). Being in that position, the library very much has to demonstrate its value. One way of doing this is collecting statistics, e.g. there are 7.5 million individual accesses of electronic resources per annum, but it also has to demonstrate impact.
Marfleet talked about the difference between cost, value and quality, and how quality had to be defined by the target population. Strengths of the library included unique colection, helpfulness of staff, physical location: although it isn't open 24/7 a large majority also are happy with opening hours (since, again, it is used mainly by faculty and research students - who I suppose are less likely to want to be in the library in the middle of the night completing assignments - they will be up in the middle of the night writing in their own homes/offices). Feedback has been that people like the library because it is somewhere quiet and studious (as an alternative to noisier collaborative spaces): highlighting again that people do not have standard, uniform wants and needs. Marfleet also talked about public engagement e.g. the major Shakespeare exhibition currently on (which has its own microwebsite): http://shakespeare.senatehouselibrary.ac.uk/ and here's a nice video shot in the library

#QQML2016 Trends and Challenges to Future Libraries: Exploring Research Approaches

This morning at the QQML conference I gave my invited talk: Trends and Challenges to Future Libraries: Exploring Research Approaches. It is embedded below: in it I present an exaggerated view of the challenging future of (academic) libraries, describe examples of phenomenographic, ethnograpic, autoethnographic, case study and action research, and finally explain how qualitative research can develop librarians and libraries and enable them to meet challenges. It includes all the references, in the last few slides.

Trends and Challenges to Future Libraries: Exploring Research Approaches from Sheila Webber

#QQML2016 impact of training on information seeking behaviour

At the QQML conference Beatriz Candon presented research undertaken by Mariza Talim (University of Minais Gerais, Brazil: there was a 3rd author Sergio Talim) on the impact of training on information seeking behaviour. The group studied were health professionals, aiming to investigate the impact of tarining in use of the Virtual Health Library Portal and PubMed. The Kirkpatrick model was used to evaluate training. This involves examining learners' perceptions of training, the knowledge acquired, what is different inb behaviour afterwards and finally the organisational benefits resultng from the training. This study looked at the first 3 of these 4 elements.
Mariza Talim (a medical librarian) taught 15 hours (including similar sessions offered to different groups). The training concentrated on search strategy, using functions of the two databases etc. There were 82 participants. Data was collected through 3 questionnaires: pre and post test questionnaires, and the third administered 4-5 months after training. This third one asked them about a critical incident, and aimed to determine impact on practice. There was also a pre and post test. The data was analysed descriptively and comparing the before and after questionnaires.
The large majority of participants' perceptions of the training was positive. Trainees reported increased use of conference papers, systematic reviews etc., less use of Google and more frequent use of MEDLINE etc. The pre and post tests and questionnaires showed an increase in skills. The third questionnaire (asking them to think of a search incident before and after training) showed that participants who responded (I think it was 21) were getting more information after training and they were still using Google less and health databases more.

#QQML2016 Scholarly sharing of articles

Another post from the QQML conference. Carol Tenopir (with a presentation coauthored with prject partnered) reported on an international study which is investigating researchers' behaviours with sharing articles etc. They have undertaken focus groups in the USA and the UK and administered a questionnaire survey in various countries. They have discovered that people are sharing both informally and informally, in all sorts of ways e.g. via email, reference management software, printing things out. 16.7 full text articles and 8.6 links/references were on average shared by respondents (asked what they had shared in their last project). The mean number of articles downloaded per project were 65 (with a range between zero and 500, so working out percentage of those shared based just on average items shared seems too simplistic). Just over half of the downlaods came from library collections. Out of the works shared (whether their own work or others) the large majority were of the published version of the article.
There were some differences based on age e.g. people under 30 and over 60 shared less. Also there were some disciplinary differences e.g. engineers shared more via email and through other informal methods, social scientists shared a lot and shared more on social media. The project website is  http://libraryconnect.elsevier.com/beyond-downloads and Carol Tenopir's publications on Researchgate are here: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Carol_Tenopir/publications
There is, for example, a paper about this research here (so here I am, as a social science researcher, sharing links informally....)

#QQML2016 report: Ethnographic study at Long Island University libraries

I'm at the QQML conference (Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries) in London for the next few days, giving a talk tomorrow. I won't be blogging this conference comprehensively as it isn't focusing on information literacy, but just pick out a few talks.
Just now, Valida Dent (pictured, in the red jacket) talked about a mixed methods (mainly ethnographic) study of student research behaviours at Long Island University libraries (USA). They used qualitative and quantitative methods, and aimed to illuminate students’ behaviour when they were doing academic work for assignments etc. The researchers did interviews, a 50-item questionnaire survey (including asking students what apps they were using on their mobile devices), and 32 hours of observation in the library. Observation was informed by findings from the survey to prompt foci for attention. Findings included (just to highlight a couple of things from the survey) that students found the library website confusing, that they were using library databases and google about equally, and they “were bringing their culture with them to their academic studies” on their mobile devices e.g. religious apps. Findings from the observation included that while students were sitting in groups, they were often working individually, including communicating via their phones with people sitting close to them.
There was a presentation on this research at LILAC, which is on Slideshare here http://www.slideshare.net/infolit_group/what-actually-happens-an-ethnographic-investigation-of-student-library-use-eamon-tewell-natalia-tomlin-kim-mullins and an article by the presenter Applying Ethnographic Research Methods in Library and Information Settings on Academia.edu at https://www.academia.edu/2012915/Applying_Ethnographic_Research_Methods_in_Library_and_Information_Settings

New book on visual literacy

Brown, N., Bussert, K., Hattwig, D. and Medaille, A. (2016). Visual Literacy for Libraries: A practical, standards-based guide. ALA Editions [in the UK it is published by Facet, with a discount for CILIP members].
In US$ at the ALA: http://www.alastore.ala.org/detail.aspx?ID=11543 (there is also a sample of the book there)
In UK £ at Facet: http://www.facetpublishing.co.uk/title.php?id=301447&category_code=13#.V0Qg0ObdiZM
The publisher's blurb says "Ideal for the busy librarian who needs ideas, activities, and teaching strategies that are ready to implement, this book: shows how to challenge students to delve into finding images, using images in the research process, interpreting and analysing images, creating visual communications, and using visual content ethically; provides ready-to-use learning activities for engaging critically with visual materials; offers tools and techniques for increasing one’s own visual literacy confidence; gives strategies for integrating, engaging with and advocating for visual literacy in libraries."
Photo by Sheila Webber: My apple blossom, May 2016

Recent articles: discovery search; music; research methods courses; screencasting; flipping

The latest issue (volume 42, no. 3) of The Journal of Academic Librarianship (priced publication) includes:
- Blakesley, E. (2016) Cognitive Bias and the Discovery Layer. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 42(3), 191. (an interesting short think piece!)
- Dempsey, M. and Valenti, A. (2016) Student Use of Keywords and Limiters in Web-scale Discovery Searching. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 42(3),200-206
- Myers, A. and Ishimura, Y. (2016) Finding Sound and Score: A Music Library Skills Module for Undergraduate Students. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 42(3), 215-221
- Adams, C. et al. (2016) A Collaborative Approach to Integrating Information and Academic Literacy into the Curricula of Research Methods Courses. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 42(3), 222-231
- Murphy, J. and Liew, C. (2016) Reflecting the Science of Instruction? Screencasting in Australian and New Zealand Academic Libraries: A Content Analysis. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 42(3), 259-272
- Loo, J. et al (2016) Flipped Instruction for Information Literacy: Five Instructional Cases of Academic Librarians. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 42(3), 273-280
- Lombard, E. (2016) Information Fluency: Not Information Literacy 2.0. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 42(3), 281-283
The contents page is at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00991333/42/3
Photo by Sheila Webber: Blackheath wildflowers, May 2016

Exploring Online Student Engagement: recording

Slides and recordings of the online event Exploring Online Student Engagement: Encouraging Active Learning at a Distance (held on May 4 2016) are available. There were three presentations: Christina Pryor & Kyla Hunt from Amigos Library Services gave practical tips for presentations and learner participation; Victoria Raish from Penn State University described her use of Yammer; Adele Merritt Bernard, Arlene Alleyne-Regis & Selwyn Rodulfo from the University of the West Indies Open Campus shared "their experiences creating a positive and active learning experience and engaging library users across a diverse and distributed university population".
Slides are at https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0BxQDYlcTaXNINDREaGR1X1AydVE&usp=sharing (the ones about using Yammer are the most informative as stand-alone objects)
Event Recording is at https://youtu.be/oKs8Ew4f3TM
Photo by Sheila Webber: Hawthorn stamens, May 2016

Using the Framework to Foster Conversations about Information Literacy Instruction

On 31 May at 1pm US Eastern time (which is 6pm UK time) ACRL Instruction Section’s Management and Leadership Committee presents its final Spring online seminar: Using the Framework to Foster Conversations about Information Literacy Instruction. It is led by Sara D. Miller and Amanda Nichols Hess and registration is here http://bit.ly/1NiWM6y "A key strength of the ACRL Framework lies in the potential that its concepts
provide for unearthing tacit assumptions in the process of developing expertise in disciplinary information literacy. The paths from IL novice to expert within in a discipline tend to be murky and filled with assumptions
about concepts, skills, and values unique to disciplinary cultures which "should have been learned” somewhere along the way. It is key for librarians in teaching positions to partner with disciplinary faculty in identifying and addressing critical issues of a discipline’s conventions and ways of constructing knowledge and to intentionally engage students with these questions. This presentation will discuss an ACRL Framework-based workshop designed for librarians and disciplinary faculty to come together to examine and discuss what information literacy looks like from a position of disciplinary expertise. Three goals of the workshop are to help facilitate conversations between librarians and disciplinary faculty, to understand specifically what is meant by information literacy within disciplines, and to identify areas of potential focus for IL instruction."
Photo by Sheila Webber: cherry branch, Limpsfield Churchyard, April 2007

OERs on copyright

CHEER (Copyright in Higher Education Elements Resources) is an "an online repository of reusable works related to copyright in higher education" created by the North American universities: Furman University, Clemson University, and the University of South Carolina. "Our goal is to develop a single place where librarians, copyright offices, and other related offices at colleges and universities can find a variety of resources they can reuse, remix and redistribute." Obviously the specifics relate to US copyright law, but a good deal of material focuses on principles or issues that apply in other countries. They are calling out for other universities to reuse their content and also to contribute material of their own to the repository. The material can be browsed under the headings: Scholarly Communication; Copyright in the Library; Copyright Law and Application; Continuing Education and Copyright; Copyright Across Campus
The repository is at http://tigerprints.clemson.edu/cheer/ and their email is tclcheer@mailbox.sc.edu
Photo by Sheila Webber: crab apple blossom, May 2016

New Media and Information Literacy project in Jordan

#UNESCO and the Jordan Media Institute (JMI) have launched a Media and Information Literacy (MIL) project Jordan. "The program aims to contribute to capacity building of national educational institutions in MIL and transferring skills to new generations, in addition to spreading awareness and knowledge among decision makers, opinion leaders and society." The first involves developing a policy paper and a strategy for introducing MIL into the curriculum. The second phase involves trainingh teachers and introducing MIL to school curricula. There is more information at http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/jordan_media_institute_and_unesco_launch_media_and_information_literacy_project/back/9597/#.Vzw2y-bdiZM
Photo by Sheila webber: cherry branches, May 2016

Survey on digital learning objects

Laurie Borchard has asked for help in collecting some data to present at the (US) Library Instruction of the West Conference. "My co-presenters and I are collecting data on librarian tutorial/DLO [Digital Learning Object] creation. We are curious to know what technologies you use, how the DLO’s support your information literacy programming, and incorporation of the ACRL Framework Information Literacy Threshold Concepts. We’re only looking for participants who create tutorials." The short survey is at https://csunbusiness.co1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_4VnEOHEmqVjQzZP and closes on May 23 2016.
Photo by Sheila webber: pink cherry blossom, May 2016

Latest issue of Reference Services Review: health literacy special

The articles in the latest issue of Reference Services Review (Volume 44 Issue 2, priced publication) are:
- "Better health through better information:” health literacy and the changing role of health sciences librarianship (Eleanor Mitchell , Sarah Barbara Watstein)
- Health literacy: a natural role for librarians (Theresa S. Arndt)
- Hispanics and public libraries: Assessing their health information seeking behaviors in the e-health environment (EunYoung Yoo-Lee , Tamara Rhodes , Gabriel M Peterson)
- Health literacy education: The impact of synchronous instruction (Tricia Lantzy)
- Promoting Health Literacy Within a Graduate-Level Nutrition Curriculum (Charlotte Beyer , J. Scott Thomson)
- A librarian's role in media effects health literacy (Jill R Kavanaugh , Kristelle Lavallee , Rima Rudd)
- Health literacy and information literacy: a concept comparison (Jane Lawless , Coleen Toronto , Gail Grammatica)
- Health information: print materials assessment in public libraries (Mary Grace Flaherty , Samantha Jan Kaplan)
- A conceptual approach to practitioners’ health information literacy (Ann Hallyburton)
- Health literacy and libraries: a literature review (Jill Barr-Walker)
- Improving Health Literacy: Health Sciences Library Case Studies (Jean P. Shipman , Erica Lake , Alice I Weber)
Go to http://www.emeraldinsight.com/toc/rsr/44/2
Photo by sheila webber: cherry tree in bloom next to the iSchool's building, May 2016

Online courses

Upcoming online short-courses from Library Juice Academy include
- Information Literacy, Composition Studies and Higher Order Thinking (Andrea Baer) June 6 to July 15, 2016 Price: US $250
- Informal Learning in the Academic Library (Lauren Hays and Teresa Slobuski) July 5-31, 2016 Price: US $175
- Games in Academic Libraries (Lauren Hays and Teresa Slobuski) August 1-26, 2016 Price: US $175
- Backward Design for Information Literacy Instruction: Fostering Critical Habits of Mind through Learning Outcomes, Assessment, and Sequencing (Andrea Baer) August 1st to September 9th, 2016 Price: US $250
Details at http://libraryjuiceacademy.com/courses.php
Photo by Sheila Webber: tangle of pink cherry blossom, May 2016

Exploring Academic Integrity Tutorial

The PRIMO "Site of the month" for April was Exploring Academic Integrity Tutorial, authored by Char Booth, Dani Brecher Cook, Sara Lowe, Sean Stone, and Natalie Tagge.
There is a text interview with the first two named authors at http://acrl.ala.org/IS/instruction-tools-resources-2/pedagogy/primo-peer-reviewed-instruction-materials-online/primo-site-of-the-month/april-2016-site-of-the-month/
"The Exploring Academic Integrity Tutorial (EAIT) introduces students to the idea of being part of the scholarly conversation, and by extension the rights and responsibilities that come with being part of a scholarly community. This focus – one of inclusion and participation – was intended by its Claremont Colleges Library creators to present a contrast to many other academic honesty tools, which in our observation tended to focus more on the punitive aspects of academic dishonesty (e.g., the negative ramifications of plagiarism, etc.). The interactive online EAIT consists of four core sections, each with a thematic tie to concepts from information literacy and information ethics. By the end of the tutorial, the goal is that students feel a more personal connection to the production and use of scholarly material, and a more nuanced understanding of academic honesty as a result. The tutorial also features historical images from the Claremont Colleges Digital Library, to personalize it to our campuses."
The site itself is at http://libraries.claremont.edu/achontutorial/pages/
Photo by Sheila webber: white cherry branches, May 2016

JORUM close down: call to depositors

As announced earlier, the UK repository for open Educational Resources, JORUM, is closing down. Some of the items will be migrated to the JISC Content and App store. The JORUM team have looked through all the existing resources and given each item the status of "migrate" or "not migrate" (if it's "not migrate", then the resource will disappear when JORUM closes). They are keen for people who deposited the OERs to check their resources and see what the resource's status is. Things can still be upgraded to "migrate" if the person who owns the resource takes action (e.g. it might require updating links or making source files available) by 15 June 2016.
There is more information available at http://www.jorum.ac.uk/final-status-for-jorum-resources-deposits-cease-date and http://www.jorum.ac.uk/retirement/
Photo by Sheila Webber: plaque lacking information, Phoenix Park, Dublin, March 2016

ALISS articles: Libquizzes, polling, lecture capture...

The latest issue of ALISS quarterly is published (priced, free to ALISS members): as always it contain a number of short articles, including:
- Skills in Seconds (Deborah M. Furness, Head of Reference Services, UCL Library Services)
- Two-way learning with LibQuizzes at UCL Institute of Education (Barbara Sakarya, International Collections Librarian & Information Literacy Coordinator, UCL Institute of Education.)
- All the shapes your learning takes: the development of a library welcome toolkit (Leanne Young, Distance Services Librarian, University of Sunderland and Klaire Purvis, - Academic Liaison Librarian, University of Sunderland)
- Lecture capture: creating and sharing learning resources made outside of the lecture theatre (Angela Newton, Library Learning Advisor (Skills@Library)University of Leeds)
- Using live mobile polling (Poll Everywhere) to engage students in Information Literacy. (Anne Archer, Assistant Liaison Librarian, Newcastle University (formally Library and Information Officer Newcastle Libraries); Joanne Ghee, Library and Information Officer Newcastle Libraries; Dr David Archer, University of Sunderland)
- Disability- higher education, libraries, teaching and learning. Bibliography- January 2016- (Heather Dawson)
Subscribers can log in at http://alissnet.org.uk/aliss-quarterly/aliss-quarterly-current-issue/ Non subscribers can purchase single issues (£14) or enquire about membership http://www.alissnet.org.uk
Photo by Sheila webber: Peacock butterfly, April 2016

Deep Web Searching and Content Mining

There is a CILIP East of England Information Services Group/ UKeiG event on 11 May 2016 at Cambridge University Library, UK: Deep Web Searching and Content Mining. "Typical search engines like Yahoo! and Google only pick up about 1% of the information available on the Internet. The rest of that information is considered to be hidden in the deep, or invisible, web. So how can you find all the rest of this information? Come along to the ISG East of England meeting held around their AGM and in association with UKeiG, which will try to answer this and other questions."
More info at http://www.cilip.org.uk/uk-einformation-group/events/deep-web-searching-content-mining
Photo By Sheila webber: white cherry blossom, April 2016

Practical Tips for Facilitating Research

A book from Moira Bent, that is worth acquiring:
Bent, M. (2016). Practical Tips for Facilitating Research. London: Facet. 9781783300174. Price: £49.95; CILIP members price: £39.96. "This practical guide offers innovative tips and reliable best practice to enable new and experienced library and information professionals to evaluate their current provision and develop their service to meet the evolving needs of the research community."
There is a sample from it on the Facet website http://www.facetpublishing.co.uk/title.php?id=300174#.Vyk2P-bdiZM and a review of the book at http://www.libfocus.com/2016/04/practical-tips-for-facilitating.html
Photo by Sheila Webber: my cherry blossom, May 2016

Skills for Success: Show and Tell

The CILIP Academic & Research Libraries Group runs an event on 20 May 2016 at Plymouth Central Library, Plymouth, UK: Skills for Success "A day for sharing and discussing creative approaches to supporting skills for success in FE and HE: lifelong learning, academic and employability skills, information skills, digital literacies and more." The day starts with the ARLG SW annual general meeting, and the seminar programme starts at 11.30. Short presentations include: Ludo Sebire, UWE: 'Developing Academic Literacy for all at UWE'; Jolanta Peters, Somerset College: 'Raising literacy standards through library initiatives at Somerset College'; Jane Tomlinson, Petroc - 'Scheduled Online Learning Assessment (SOLA) lessons to support the development of digital literacies skills both for learners and staff'; Rachel Browning & Rosie Enys, Falmouth University: 'Facilitating Liminality: entering a new pedagogical space'. In the afternoon there is a talk from Steve Wheeler.
Cost: £25 +VAT for CILIP or ARLG members, £30 +VAT for non-members. Full details and a booking form are available at http://www.cilip.org.uk/academic-research-libraries-group/events/skills-success
Photo by Sheila Webber: new beech leaves in the breeze, April 2016

Documented library contributions to student learning and success

The latest from the Assessment in Action program (http://www.ala.org/acrl/AiA) is a report which summarises key evidence from the two years of the AiA project (a US project about evaluating impact and value of libraries in Higher Education). The report title is fairly self-explanatory:
Brown, K. and Malenfant, K. (2016) Documented library contributions to student learning and success: Building Evidence with Team-Based Assessment in Action Campus. Projects http://www.ala.org/acrl/files/issues/value/contributions_y2.pdf
One of the conclusions is that "Information literacy instruction strengthens general education outcomes. Several AiA projects document that libraries improve their institution’s general education outcomes and demonstrate that information literacy contributes to inquiry-based and problem-solving learning, including critical thinking, ethical reasoning, global understanding, and civic engagement."

There is a reflection on the report from Barbara Fister, here: https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/library-babel-fish/lasting-value-libraries
Photo by Sheila Webber: luminous pegs on the clothes hanger, April 2016

Emerald award winners: rich variety: Ukachi, Huvila, Seeber, Halpern, Helberger, Yu, Duff, and more

Commercial publisher Emerald has "best paper awards every year ("winner" and "highly commended"). The whole list is at http://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/authors/literati/awards.htm?year=2016 (note that most papers on Emerald are subscription-only; I have sought out open access versions for some of those listed below, but I didn't have time to look for them all). This year, ones of possible interest to information literacy include (in fairly random order):

- Ukachi, N. (2015). Exploration of information literacy skills status and impacts on the quality of life of artisans in Lagos, Nigeria. New Library World, 116 (9/10), 578 - 587. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/NLW-01-2015-0006. Ukachi's Reserarchgate site is here with preprints

- Huvila, I. (2015). Situational appropriation of information. Aslib Journal of Information Management, 67(5), 492 - 504. "In contrast to the interest of describing and managing the social processes of knowing, information science and information and knowledge management research have put less emphasis on discussing how particular information becomes usable and how it is used in different contexts and situations. The purpose of this paper is to address this major gap, and introduce and discuss the applicability of the notion of situational appropriation of information for shedding light on this particular process in the context of daily information work practices of professionals. The study is based on the analysis of 25 qualitative interviews of archives, library and museum professionals conducted in two Nordic countries." To quote Isto's blog "The paper is freely available to download for one year on the Emerald Insight website. Preprint of the text is available on this site."

- Seeber , K. (2015). Teaching “format as a process” in an era of Web-scale discovery. Reference Services Review,   43(1), 19 - 30. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/RSR-07-2014-0023 a preprint is here. "This paper aims to present academic librarians with a framework for teaching and assessing information literacy in response to advancements in online discovery. Advancements in online discovery require academic librarians to develop new means of teaching and assessing information literacy, with an emphasis on having students use critical thinking to evaluate sources. "

- Halpern , R and Tucker , C. (2015). Leveraging adult learning theory with online tutorials. Reference Services Review, 43 (1), 112 - 124. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/RSR-10-2014-0042

- Helberger , N., Kleinen-von Königslöw , K. and van der Noll , R. (2015). Regulating the new information intermediaries as gatekeepers of information diversity. info,  17 (6), 50 - 71. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/info-05-2015-0034 "The purposes of this paper are to deal with the questions: because search engines, social networks and app-stores are often referred to as gatekeepers to diverse information access, what is the evidence to substantiate these gatekeeper concerns, and to what extent are existing regulatory solutions to control gatekeeper control suitable at all to address new diversity concerns? It will also map the different gatekeeper concerns about media diversity as evidenced in existing research before the background of network gatekeeping theory critically analyses some of the currently discussed regulatory approaches and develops the contours of a more user-centric approach towards approaching gatekeeper control and media diversity."

- Yu , L. (2015). Back to the fundamentals again: A redefinition of information and associated LIS concepts following a deductive approach.  Journal of Documentation,  71(4), 795 - 816. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JD-12-2014-0171

- Duff , A. (2015). Cyber-Green: idealism in the information age.  Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society, 13 (2), 146 - 164. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JICES-10-2014-0049

- Canuel , R. and Crichton , C. (2015). Leveraging apps for research and learning: a survey of Canadian academic libraries. Library Hi Tech, 33(1), 2-14.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/LHT-12-2014-0115  "The purpose of this paper is to assess the response of Canadian academic libraries to the rapid proliferation of mobile application (apps), many of which are useful for research, teaching, and learning. "A survey was conducted to identify existing initiatives that address the use of mobile apps to facilitate research, teaching, and learning at the libraries of the 97 member institutions of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC). Based on this survey, this paper describes how apps are promoted, curated, organized, and described by today’s academic libraries. A review of the literature places this survey in its broader context."

-  Renaud , J. et al  (2015). Mining library and university data to understand library use patterns. The Electronic Library, 33 (3), 355 - 372. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/EL-07-2013-0136. "Library data are often hard to analyze because these data come from unconnected sources, and the data sets can be very large. Furthermore, the desire to protect user privacy has prevented the retention of data that could be used to correlate library data to non-library data. The research team used data mining to determine library use patterns and to determine whether library use correlated to students’ grade point average."

This is another (non-IL) I thought looked interesting: Sun , Q and Kang , H. (2015). Infusing work-based learning with Confucian principles: a comparative perspective. Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, 5 (4), 323 - 338. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/HESWBL-04-2015-0019
Photo by Sheila Webber: My cherry blossom, April 2016

Threshold Achievement Test for Information Literacy

Carrick Enterprises is developing the Threshold Achievement Test for Information Literacy (TATIL), which "helps faculty and academic librarians better understand the level of information literacy achievement of their students. The Test is inspired by the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education which was adopted in February 2015." It is being trialled at the moment. Frankly, I wouldn't have thought a testing approach was altogether consistent with the Framework philosophy, but if you are interested go to https://thresholdachievement.com/
Photo by Sheila Webber: thrown-away sweater, London Marathon, April 2016: the early route is strewn with disgarded gloves and sweaters, sometimes you have to duck to avoid them