Digital Savvy Citizens

There is a new publication from the Carnegie Trust
White, D. (2017). Digital Savvy Citizens. ISBN: 978-1-909447-75-2. https://www.carnegieuktrust.org.uk/publications/digital-savvy-citizens/
"How do we navigate information, privacy and security issues online? Digital Savvy Citizens presents new research data which looks at where we find information on breaking news stories and local services; how we use public wifi; and how we manage privacy and security settings on our phones. The data, compiled for the Trust by Ipsos MORI, highlights key differences in behaviour by age, gender and socio-economic group, as well as differences between England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland."
There were indeed interesting variations by age group, by socio-economic group, and by home nation.
Photo by Sheila Webber: hydrangea, October 2017

Playful learning in libraries #uklibchat

The next uklibchat is Playful learning in libraries. The chat takes place in Twitter using the #uklibchat hashtag, on 7 November 2017, between 18.30 and 20.30 UK time (which is e.g. 1.30pm to 3.30pm US Eastern time). "This chat will be focused on the possibilities of playful learning approaches and pedagogies for engaging clients, teaching information and digital literacies as well as developing and managing staff, inspired by the latest Playful Learning conference" There is an article introducing this chat topic at https://uklibchat.wordpress.com/2017/10/27/feature-post-45-playful-learning/ The chat agenda, that you can read and add to, is at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1F8ypObziBhP89WRnEB-EonMbWVTcUPBXRZpsDk6dXk8/edit?usp=sharing

MIL CLICKS Twitter discussion #GlobalMILWeek

As one component of Global MIL Week 2017, the MIL CLICKS Twitter Webinar is being held tomorrow 28 October 2017 on the topic Privacy online: How important is it? in the form of Twitter Q&A sessions. The webinar will virtually gather a group of experts in the field of media and information literacy and privacy, as well as youth leaders, to discuss the topic through tweets and to answer questions from interested people around the world.
There are three time slots for different time zones. Each slot has a duration of 1 hour. Each presenter (intervening via Twitter) can choose one or several slots to participate. The detailed time slots are below:
- Asia-Pacific: 15:00 – 16:00 (Beijing and Singapore Time)
- Africa and Europe: 14:00 – 15:00 (Cape Town, Cairo, Belgrade and Paris Time)
- North America and South America: 11:00 – 12:00 (Washington and Kingston Time)
During the allotted time, the presenters along with the UNESCO @MILCLICKS Twitter page will tweet around the topic using the hashtag #GlobalMILWeek.
Presenters will tweet to discuss the topic and share relevant resources.Anyone holding a Twitter account can tweet to ask questions in connection with the topic to any of the presenters in using the @ function (a list of presenters' Twitter handles will be made available on social media and on the webpage of the MIL CLICKS webinar)
Tagged presenters who receive a pertinent question shall respond and give an answer, comment or opinion in one or several tweets with the hashtag #GlobalMILWeek.
Presenters will tweet on their own Twitter page. The @MILCLICKS Twitter account will also post relevant content. See more about MIL CLICKS at: https://en.unesco.org/milclicks.

MIL in Latin America, CIS, China, Sweden #globalmilweek

The last plenary at the Global Media and Information Literacy Week conference is on Incorporating MIL in education policies and other social policies and programmes.
The session was moderated by Carolyn Wilson (Chair, GAPMIL International Steering Committee, Lecturer, Western University, Canada). The first speaker was Tomas Durán-Becerra (National Research Director, National Unified Corporation of National Education, Colombia) who talked about MIL in Latin America. He started by acknowledging the work of Jesus Lau. They had undertaken a content analysis of documents relating to policies, curricila etc. in 11 Latin American countries, as well as a literature review, and examination of relevant statistics. They identified whether there were relevant national agencies or campaigns. A questionnaire was produced: asking questions about MIL curriculum, policy, MIL industry and telecommunications industry, MIL and civil society, and other MIL activities. The speaker presented findings in terms of literacy rates, internet users etc.
In terms of some larger conclusions: on the good side, for example, there is a variety of OERs, all countries have departments for education and access to and policies on technology, but there were problems in a number of MIL-specific areas e.g. few countries had MIL agencies/departments, there were few MIL policies, there is a huge emphasis on digital skills, but little development of media competence. (There was lots of detail in this presentation, I couldn't capture a lot of it)
Out of all this they calculated the MIL-readiness, Costa Rica came out as the most MIL ready and Ecuador the least (using the UNESCO assessment framework). There were big differences in some specific categories, e.g. Civil Society.

Wang Tiande (Zhejiang University of Media and Communications, China) presented on the research status of China's media literacy education. He said that media literacy was effectively introduced into China in 1997 as a research topic. In 2003 the first international media literacy conference was hosted in China. Strands of ML research included: developing ML theory and focusing on ML practice (including looking at ML education in schools and teacher training). Distinctive specialisms, relating ML to other subjects, also have emerged.

Monika Johansson and Tobias Ruhtenberg (University of Borås, Sweden) talked about Media and Information Literacy in education. They described a course, of the same name, based on the UNESCO Media and Information Literacy framework. It is an online course, with the target learners being educators and librarians. Topics include the MIL concept, digital tools, professional development, collaboration between teachers and school librarians, social media and big data, source evaluation, the digital divide, action research, and sustainability of MIL development.
Collaborators are the Swedish Media Council, the Swedish Educational Broadcasting Company, Filmpedagogerna, and the Nordicom Clearinghouse at the University of Gothenburg. Additionally the two speakers come from different departments (librarianship and education). Course work consists of a report on a practical MIL project and a wiki-page demonstrating critical skills. Following on from this they are talking with Kenyan partners on extending the course and incorporating intercultural dialogue.

Tatiana Murovana (UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education, Russia) was the next speaker. She identified that there had been an increase in activities and awareness of MIL in the Commonwealth of Independent States. For example, there are secondary school curricula incorporating MIL in Moldova and Armenia, Russia had a government programme on the information society (but the latter only focusing on media literacy, rather than MIL). There has been localisation and promotion of the UNESCO MIL curriculum for teachers in Russia.
Nevertheless , media education is a sensitive issue as regards values and social effects, which can hinder its acceptance and development. The speaker felt that there was a need to have a more unified MIL brand and definition,
Finally Leo Pekkala talked about Shifts in Media Literacy education paradigms. He contrasted school education in the 1950s with the current Finnish approach which supports learners constructing their own reality, and this includes developing multiliteracies. He said that there had been a Media Literacy Week for 6 years in Finland, and there is also a gaming week. As an example, one thing they developed to help develop media literacy in politics is http://www.populismibingo.fi/en On the other hand he warned against seeing ML as a solution for everything. Pekkala referred to the term “expansive learning”, which is required for being able to learn about/discover new ways of doing things in a changing world. Finally, Media Literacy was not needed for itself, but for what it can support or enable e.g. peace.
Photo by Sheila Webber

MIL in the workplace #globalmilweek

I just gave my own talk at the Global Media and Information Literacy Week conference, and I'll do a blog post on that session later.
Following that, I attended a session on MIL in the workplace. The presentaters were all packing a lot of interesting material into a short time, so I hope this account is reasonably accurate. Yanqiu Zhang (Communication University of China) talked about a study of Chinese government officials' training in media literacy. The Government has encouraged public sector agencies to engage with social media to deliver better services etc. There were differences by region and by profession. Similarly there were variations on what was studied and the approach to teaching. Mostly the people who received training were spokespersons, with responsibility for communication. One of the conclusions was that there was an aspect specifically to do with using social media as an organisation rather than as an individual.

Julie Roberge (a poor photo of one of her slides of herself is shown) talked about MIL in the context of the Canadian Armed Forces (she had been Senior Public Affairs Officer), and specifically in serving in Afghanistan. She talked about the low literacy rate, and the lack of schooling, especially for girls. Only 14% of Afghani recruits were literate, so that had issues for training them (which is what they were doing). Roberge stressed how important cultural understanding was, particularly in this situation where they were there to train. It was difficult to know who to trust, and it was a challenge to convince the local population that you were there to help. There were seven local languages, and a translator was needed, especially as communication had to be verbal.
Thus she felt that the development of intercultural skills prior to a mission was vital, including for the mental health of soldiers on their return. Roberge felt that use of mobile phones did combine with MIL to give more hope, enabling Afghani citizens to connect internationally. There is also a serious game on cultural competency in Afghanistan which soldiers can take prior to deployment

Daniela Cornelia Stix (University of Applied Science and Art, Germany) talked on Perception and usage of online social network (OSN) sites in youth work and its influence on educational relationships. She saw OSN as "performatively constructed spaces". She used ethnographic methods including interviews and a grounded theory approach for analysis. I think there were about 20 interviews of youth workers. For the youth workers who were subjects of the study, there was more emphasis on informing and creating a profile, rather than social interaction. She looked at how the youthworkers were using social media in the context of engaging students educationally. For example, by being on Facebook the youth worker can create communication offers, and also individual barriers (e.g. expressed worries from a young person about clashing with some other people) can be overcome (e.g. saying what alternative spaces could be used). Thus OSN provide a direct channel, a personal one, and also one that can be maintained.
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Better Internet experiences through MIL #globalmilweek

I'm attending the second day of the Global Media and Information Literacy Week conference in Jamaica, and the first plenary focused on Better Internet experiences through MIL (opportunities for learning, engagement, and advocacy; respect for privacy, cyber security and safety. It was chaired by Keith Campbell (CEO,Public Broadcasting Corporation of Jamaica)

Hopeton Dunn (Jamaica, Director, Caribbean School of Media and Communication) was the first speaker. He pointed out the widespread adoption of the internet globally. There were numerous positives and opportunities, and he noted that these (with other technological developments) have led to “the fourth industrial revolution”. However he noted that digital productivity and literacy are not necessarily outcomes of investment in high-end digital infrastructure; it does not necessarily address the digital divide (which replicates the economic divide). For example, Africa accounts for just 10% of internet users. It can be noted that, in particular, use of networks via mobile phone is growing in Africa, that still is likely to be the more affluent section of the population. As an example, in Nigeria, challenges include “rights of ways”, distance and equipment cost. In Africa, the Caribbean and elsewhere although people may have access, they may not have sufficient access to be able to use the internet effectively for education etc. High roaming charges were also a barrier.
Dunn proposed various policy and regulatory changes, and also measures such as including MIL in the curriculum, to counter these barriers. He presented a model of the 21st century media practitioner. He felt that MIL offered the best chance to enable people to navigate the challenges of the 21st Century successfully. It was important not to become the "tool of our tools" i.e. we should be focusing on what technology is good for, it should not be vealued for its own sake. Dunn also emphasised the importance of identifying indigenous solutions, not relying on solutions from putside ("uploading and not downloading")

Gabriella Thinsz (Executive Producer, UR, Swedish Educational Broadcasting Company), talked about a media education toolkit aimed at Tunisian young people. It is available in English, French and Arabic, as an app and a website, and has four themes. The website with more information is here https://www.edumedia.tn/en/. They had involved young Tunisian people, educators and media professionals in creating the project. She gave an example of where a vlogger had cooperated in a humerous film that highlighted how vloggers may be biased in recommending items they've been paid to recoemmend. The speaker also noted that there had been a lot of media literacy education in schools, and the result was that young people seemed to be more aware of issues than adults.

Monowara Begum Moni (Vice president, German Journalist Union, and freelance journalist) talked about ICT and its effect on the young generation. She defined "communication" and identified how it can arise from words, singing, movement etc. and also that conflict tends to involve communication problems. To solve problems, there is a need to keep people engaged and communicating. Technology has had a significant impact on communication. The speaker felt that effective communication between young people and their parents was important, and have discussion around issues of identity and use of technology.

Aichurek Usupbaeva and Nazira Sheraly (Media Support Center Foundation, Kyrgyzstan) made the final contribution. They had undertaken research to find out how young people use the internet, the vast majority used social media on their mobile phones (spending 1-4 hours a day). Whatsapp and Instagram were the most popular social media. The majority did not have control from their parentsd over their use. Critical thinking seemed to be lacking. Following on from this the are developing a training programme, including a programme for teachers: this will be done through an online platform. It will have resources on media literacy: tutorials, videos etc.
Photo: reflection of me taking a photo here

Global MIL week conference awards #globalmilweek

Yesterday morning at the Global Media and Information Literacy Week conference the  GAPMIL (Global Alliance Partnerships for Media and Information Literacy) global media and information literacy awards were presented. The recipients were: Professor Jesus Lau (pictured here), to the Media Support Foundation in Kurdistan, to the Media Initiatives Center (Armenia) and to Rose-Marie Farinella a French teacher.

Before this, the speakers at the opening session had emphasised the vital importance of MIL in society today. We were all urged to develop MIL and to pressure our governments to support and develop it. The speakers emphasised that critical minds are necessary for peaceful and equal society, as well as access to information. The speakers (pictured) included Ruel Reid (Jamaica) Minister of Education, Olivia Grange (Jamaica), Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sports, Glòria Pérez-Salmerón (Spain), President, International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), and Luz Longsworth (Jamaica) Pro-Vice-Chancellor, University of the West Indies.

Resetting MIL #globalmilweek

This is the second part of my report on the n Resetting MIL session at the Global Media and Information Literacy Week conference.
Meri Seistola (Metka Centre for Media Education, Finland) talked about Make Kids Win. She introduced the concept of phenomenal learning, for which MIL was important, and which could take place with or without technology. She mentioned aspects such as learning analytics, the increased use of educational technology including virtual reality, "the power of joyful learning and games" and also the concept of hacking the classroom. They have developed some learning modules using the CLANED app, including one addressing MIL. Also she mentioned the SEPPO platform for educational gaming.

Wesley Gibbings (Association of Caribbean Media Workers) put forward the value of journalists as heros, and valuable (in contrast to people who saidthat journalists were no longer needed). He felt that resetting MIL should “force us back to our societies” and cause us to reboot our societies: the viability of societies was stake. Gibbings felt that unless there were enlightened populations who wanted to move forward (and that entailed media and information literacy) then there were serious problems. People did not just need information, they needed understanding and ability to take action. He specifically talked about the recent natural disaster that had depopulated islands in the Caribbean region.
Fundamental questions like “What is MIL for”? needed to be asked: it was not enough to have a mechanical process, just to keep media going as before. Gibbings felt that the media industry, which had lost its monolopy, needed to take a hard look at itself, but this didn’t mean abdicating to “citizen journalism” (which he felt was a misnomer). Gibbing felt that media practitioners themselves needed to pay more attention to MIL (so it was about educating the MIL practitioners, not just educating other citizens).

The last speaker in this plenary session was Itay Weiss (Youth representative, Networks of Mediterranean Youth Israel). He talked about the dangers to democracy of social media, for example enclosing you in a filter bubble. So what can be done? Education, not just of young people, was the obvious response, using a variety of tools, and also face-to-face meetings of people from different paths of life.
Photo by Sheila Webber: lunctime at the conference, Kingston, October 2017

Resetting MIL; MIL in China #globalmilweek

The second plenary session at the Global Media and Information Literacy Week conference was on Resetting MIL in the present information and media landscape. I was liveblogging, but the wifi connection went down, so this posting has been delayed, sorry.
Zhang Kai (Media Education Research Center, Communication University of China) talked about Research on MIL in China. She mentioned that there is an increasing interest in MIL in China. They carried out field research and mapped the position against the UNESCO MIL Assessment framework,and then reflect on how it suited the Chinese cultural context. They carried out their research in various provinces, and focused of specific schools, at primary and middle school level, plus a normal college. There was a questionnaire for just over 2000 students and parents. There were questions about media usage showing e.g. the dominance of mobile phones (83% using it to access the internet), over 90% used the internet at home. There were questions to identify MIL capabilities, and the researchers found there were differences at school level (actual primary level came out best) and between areas of the country (parents' awareness of what children were doing on media also varied by region: those from the East were less aware). 5% of parents felt digital media is detrimental, 56% said "it depends". Teachers were also unsure about what they were going to do in teaching about digital media, and again there were regional differences in what was taught and how (and about half students found media literacy courses unappealing). MIL educational practice was identified as "lacking sustainability" (relying on the interest of those managing the school). MIL lacked support from government, but also from the grass roots level.
They had looked at Country's MIL readiness (relating this to the UNESCO indicators): access and use was very favourable, MIL policy favourable, but MIL education and MIL supply less favourable.

Renaud de la Brosse (Linnaeus University, Sweden) talked about the need to prevent hate content and propaganda in a terrorist context, specifically in Tunisia. There was the issue of how journalists could avoid the trap of having the narrative they present in the media exploited by terrorists or by political agenda of Governments. An example is how/whether statements by terrorists should be covered. This is a relationship which exists (although not sought by the media) and has to be addressed. Also, pressures to gain coverage and prominence can lead to make media coverage more sensational. The terrorists (and politicians) are also creating their own news media streams (through social networks etc.)
Brosse felt that media /journalists must act responsably and self-critically in presenting the story of terrorist acts. In the Tunisian revolution context, there were numerous prolems in how events and people were represented, breaches of confidentiality, hate messages etc. Brosse linked the way in which media represented the terrorist acts with success in the development of Tunisian democracy (i.e. poor unprofessional representation could harm the development). A bloggers movement was highlighted as a positive development, it focused on checking and countering false information.
Photo by Sheila Webber: Sign at Miami Airport, October 2017

MIL and gender equality #globalmilweek

Media and Information Literacy as a tool for gender equality and advocacy in information environments was the session I attended after lunch at the Global Media and Information Literacy Week in Jamaica, where I'm liveblogging.
Stephen Wyber (Manager, Policy and Advocacy, IFLA) started off by talking about Making the link between information and development: libraries, gender and media and information literacy. He asserted that information can be power, and obviously libraries have been contributing to this for a long time through access to information. However, access alone is not enough if people are unable to use the information etc. Lack of connectivity, lack of acces to technology and social and cultural norms can all be barriers to women having access to information. For example, women may stay in rural (low connectivity) areas while men go to the city, cultural norms may mean girls and women being prevented from their male relatives from using the internet. He cited the World Wide Web Foundation report which said that women are 1.6 more times more likely than men to report lack of skills as a barrier to using the internet. The gender digital divide is also growing, not getting better.
Wyber put forward libraries as being effective "one stop development shops", experienced as welcoming, safe places by women. There were reports from a number of countries that, whereas men tended to use places like internet cafes more, women used libraries more. This enables many of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (apart from the one specifically to do with gender equality, this helps with supporting health etc.)

Secondly, there was a presentation from Isabel Moya (Department of Hender and Communication, International Institute of Journalism, Cuba). She highlighted that photographs provide an essential record of collective and individual memory. From early days this was not just something for the rich. Today it might be that the use of photos has contributed to a narcissistic culture, but certainly it is a background to life now.
However, stereotypes of female images persist, including in selfies. The project Moya was talking about aimed to encourage Cuban teenagers to express themselves playfully in photos. The teenagers became sensitised to the issues, through the project, and also produced a large number of photos, which expressed individual views of themselves and of their community. I think she said that they had been exhibited.

Hilary Nicholson (World Association for Christian Communication, Jamaica) then talked on Gender focused media monitoring for building critical media and information literacy skills. She talked about the Global Media Monitoring Project, is a news monitoring project which is carried out every 5 years. It uses "a gender lens to monitor news worldwide". Various elements are analysed (see the slide at the top of this post). 22,136 stories were analyed from over 100 countries (with trained local team), in the 2015 survey. In traditional news 24% women were covered: the male domination was linked to the coverage of politicians, businessmen etc. Spokesmen and experts (e.g. quoted in news stories) in particular were predominantly male. These differences seem to persist across countries and over time (there was little change from the 1995 survey). The gender gap in those reporting news is closing, but still only 37% of news reporters are female. Women were more likely to appear in stories written by women (so perhaps if there were more female reporters, perhaps more women would be in news stories). Additionally, women are three more times more likely than men to be portrayed as victims, and their family status is more likely to be mentioned. The website is http://www.whomakesthenews.org

Propaganda, campaigns, misinformation, MIL #globalweekweek

I'm continuing to liveblog the session on MIL as a defence against misinformation etc.at the Global Media and Information Literacy Week (this is a photo of break time).
Renee Hobbs (University of Rhode Island, USA) talked Finding truth in an age of digital propaganda, talking about the new media forms. She proposed relacing the term "fake news" with more precise terms like propaganda, satire, errors, hoax, disinformation etc. The motives and potential outcomes for these forms of "fake news" were different. Hobbs talked at more length about propaganda. She felt that "virality" (as a process of interpersonal influence) was something that should be taught at schools, encouraging citizens to think about who influences them and who they influence. She mentioned the tool Videoant https://ant.umn.edu and her own website http://mindovermedia.ushmm.org
Tara Susman-Pena from IREX talked about their Learn to Discern campaign, which included training the trainers, a distance learning course and various other activities. https://www.irex.org/projetlearn-discern This was a 9 month pilot project in Ukraine, and there was a lot of evaluation afterwards: people self reported increased discernment, and 90,000 people were reached indirectly. They also did some qualitative research into the project. The initiative seemed to work because it followed demand: of people's joy in teaching (a detailed curriculum was developed, but there was flexibility in how it was taught) and in learning (ownership of the project by teachers and learners was encouraged). Great care was taken in choosing examples to study, aiming to find relevant examples that was not going to ignite conflict. People were also encouraged to move from "shock" to action. Susman-Pena finished by flagging up future developments and also cautioning us not to encourage people to distrust everything.
The final speaker was Ana Kozlowska (a librarian at Dickinson College, USA) who talked about Is fake news the only problem? How information literacy helps first year students develop critical habits of mind while evaluating information found online. She talked about how they had created a programme on teaching undergraduates to detect bias, to understand the implications of their action on social media and also that information has value. The librarians selected four classes in which they would teach these elements. They had pre class activity (reading and 48 social media monitoring). Then they had discussion in classes focused around issues of polarisation, bias etc. This did have some limitations, such as self-censoring in reporting media use and also faculty's hesitation about the project. Then the students had to find two news articles covering the same issue from different angles and pose themselves critical questions about both articles. There was evidence that the students became more aware of differences in ways of presenting information.

MIL as a defence against misinformation and false news #globalmilweek

MIL as a defence against misinformation, false news, disaster risk reduction and management was the theme of the first plenary at the Global Media and Information Literacy Week in Kingston, Jamaica today, and this is a liveblog of it.
Alice Lee (Department of Journalism, Hong Kong Baptist Universy) chaired the session and spoke first. She proposed an integrated model of MIL consisting of critical thing, reflective things and positive thinking in combination. Lee characterised this as "mindful access" with reflexive and positive interpretation of what they discover (for example, considering of taking positive action in their own lives or affecting others). Reflective use and constructive creation followed on from this. This model could guide people at a personal level (leading engaged and meaningful lives) and at a societal level (taking positive action and fight against isinformation).
Rose-Marie Farinella (a public school teacher in France) spoke next. She described her initiative with her children on media lteracy - this included taking an oath on their computer mouse that they would use their computer responsibly. She said that one has to understand what "true" information is, before you can understand what false information is. She runs role playing games (e.g. of a car accident) which helps them understand the contradictory news that might be presented about the same event. Thus the pupil understands the different points of view of participants, and the cognitive bias.
Building on this, they investigate the truth and falsehood, and part of this involves learning how search engines work and asking key questions (what, where, who, why etc.) Pupils learn the importance of contextualising text and images, and ways of identifying fake images etc. She mentioned use, for example of Google images and maps to help authenticate. Farinella said how the students had created texts, drawings and videos during this project, expressing what they find (one of them is at the head of this blog entry)
Liar Liar pants on fire (re-loaded) was the next talk from someone at Deutsche Welle (apologies, I didn't catch his name and he wasn't on the programme - I'll add this when I discover it). He identified the huge number of people on social media, and also the false news created as click bait, and it also meant that any breaking news incident was immediately surrounded by a wealth of false news. This includes memes (e.g. people who are regularly accused of involvement), altered videos and old videos of similar incidents passed off as new new news. Sometimes this misinformation got trapped in the news ecosystem for some time.
Then there were people and organisations deliberately spreading misinformation because of their agenda (e.g. political). Finally, the pants on fire refers that "anything can happen on social media" even a nuclear threat. He saw the deliberate misinformation campaigns as "a pointed gun to journalsim itself", trying to erode trust in journalism and the free press. To combat this there was a need to train people, gear-up and finally co-operate. He mentioned relevant initiatives being mentioned on the DW blog http://blogs.dw.com/innovation
I'll continue in another post!

Global Media and Information Literacy week starts! #globalmilweek

This week is global Media and Information Literacy week, sponsored by UNESCO. There are a number of events, including a conference taking place in Kingston, Jamaica, which I am attending and should be blogging from. This video from the director general of UNESCO introduces the week. The website is at https://en.unesco.org/global-mil-week-2017

Themes and Trends in Library and Information Research

To be held on 8 November 2017 Themes and Trends in Library and Information Research is an event at Canterbury Christ Church University organised by CILIPinKent. Talks include The value of practitioner research, the impact of such research activity (on individual career paths as well as services provision) and current areas of research interest (Professor Hazel Hall), Reaching saturation point? Reframing information literacy research (Alison Hicks) and Examining the information needs and behaviors of first year Fine Art undergraduates at the University for the Creative Arts (Rebecca Daniels). Register by 31 October at http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/themes-and-trends-in-library-and-information-research-tickets-38251596555
Photo by Sheila Webber: Iceland, 2003

23things for digital knowledge #23ThingsEdUni

The University of Edinburgh has just started a 23 things initiative (where you are introduced to a new "thing" and normally have to do an activity and blog about it). The digital knowledge "things" are: Thing 2: Blogging; Thing 3: Digital Footprint; Thing 4: Digital Security; Thing 5: Diversity; Thing 6: Accessibility; Thing 7: Twitter; Thing 8: Facebook; Thing 9: Google Hangouts/Collaborate Ultra; Thing 10: Wikimedia; Thing 11: Copyright; Thing 12: Open Educational Resources; Thing 13: Video (YouTube/Vimeo/MediaHopper); Thing 14: Audio (Podcasts/SoundCloud); Thing 15: Digital Curation; Thing 16: OneNote/ClassNotebook; Thing 17: Geolocation Tools; Thing 18: Augmented & Virtual Reality; Thing 19: Altmetrics; Thing 20: LinkedIn / Academia.edu / ResearchGate; Thing 21: Online Games & Learning Tools; Thing 22: Fun and Play; Thing 23: Reflection. (Thing 1 is "introduction: not sure that's a real thing!)
You can still get a lot out ofit if you are not at Edinburgh University (if you ARE then there is access to extra videos, and prizes).
http://www.23things.ed.ac.uk/
Photo by Sheila Webber: taken in the Deathrow Designs shop in Second Life (TM Linden Lab)

International Fact checking Networking

The International Fact-Checking Network is "a forum for fact-checkers worldwide". It is hosted by North American Poynter Institute, which provides jouirnalism training and supports related initiatives. The home page is here https://www.poynter.org/channels/fact-checking
Ther are currently 36 member agencies from 26 countries in the Network (I did that count very quickly, I may be one out). They have to sign up to this Code of Principles. These are agencies that large organisations (like Google) and (in some countries) politicians may consult about concerns with fake news etc.
Photo by Sheila Webber: autumn trees, October 2017, Sheffield

Call for papers: Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries

There is a call for proposals for papers, workshops, posters etc. for the 10th Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries International Conference, which will be held in Chania, Crete, Greece on 22-25 May 2018. There are a wide range of themes (with an emphasis on the Future of Library and Information Science) including information literacy and information behaviour: see http://qqml.org/description-of-the-contribution/ and http://qqml.org/call-of-proposals/ The deadline for proposals is December 20, 2017. Papers are published at http://www.qqml-journal.net (which has past conference papers)
Photo by Sheila Webber: artwork, Sheffield University, October 2017

Theorising information literacy #ecil2017

These are the slides from the panel on information literacy and theory, that I chaired at the European Conference on Information Literacy in September. My co-panellists were Olivier Le Deuff and Bill Johnston. Apologies for not putting them up sooner!

Theorising information literacy: Exploring different expert views and reflections and different national / cultural perspectives from Sheila Webber

2 million page views for the Information Literacy Weblog

This is the first of two self-congratulatory posts ;-) This blog hit the two million page view mark last week. I hope this means that people still find the blog useful! I continue the blog (started in 2005) partly because I like blogging, and the blog is useful to me as a reference database about information literacy. However I certainly wouldn't continue without some evidence that other people find it useful too! So thanks to those who continue to view the blog and mention it to others! However, so this post isn't just about this blog, two international news items:

- Baines, S. (2017, October 14). Digital danger - Youth urged to be careful of social media footprints they create. [An article flagging up some of themes of the forthcoming Global Media and Information Literacy conference being held in Jamaica 25-26 October, which I will be attending] http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/lead-stories/20171014/digital-danger-youth-urged-be-careful-social-media-footprints-they

- The Tribune. (2017, October 13). Media can play only complimentary role in achieving sustainable development: VC. [Highlights a message from a Media and information Literacy seminar taking place in India this week] http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/chandigarh/media-can-play-only-complimentary-role-in-achieving-sustainable-development-vc/482089.html

Webinar: Informed learning: a narration #USQSalon

Infolit guru Professor Christine Bruce is giving a "salon conversation" Informed learning: a narration on 26 October 2017 at 11am-12 noon local (Toowoomba, Australia) time (which I think is 2am-3am UK time). You can watch on livestream with an archived recording afterwards. "In this salon conversation, Christine Bruce, author of Informed Learning, will read the narratives underpinning the book's chapters. The intention is to reveal the narrative thread which reflects a journey of the scholarship of learning and teaching. In the course of that journey, two new academics engage in learning and teaching innovation, securing their own professional development, and creating unexpected opportunities for colleagues and the wider university in the process. Informed learning is a way of thinking about the educational process in terms of using information to learn. Information is often the hidden element in curriculum...present, critical, not always explicitly recognised. Thinking in terms of informed learning provides a language and an approach that highlights the role of information in the learning process, encouraging all members of the learning community to be aware of that role, and benefit from it. The narratives will serve as openers to discussion about the experience of learning and teaching with attention to information environments." More info at https://www.usq.edu.au/learning-teaching/USQSalon/2017/bruce
Photo by Sheila Webber: Arbour, Brisbane, Australia, 2006.

Online course: Engaging with the #ACRLFramework

From 16 October 2017 to 17 November 2017 there is a new online course: Engaging with the ACRL Framework: A Catalyst for Exploring and Expanding Our Teaching Practices. The website says: "The ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education - with its emphasis on self-reflective and lifelong learning and on conceptual understandings about information, research, and scholarship and encouraging - has prompted many librarians to consider their teaching practices from fresh angles, as they explore their evolving instructional roles within and beyond the library classroom. [... ] In this online course, participants will explore concepts and pedagogical approaches outlined in the Framework and their significance to their own instructional work. Participants will apply their learning and reflection to creating instruction plans for their local contexts and considering possibilities for growing teaching partnerships." Activities are mostly asynchronous. There is a certificate if you complete the course, including some specific activities. Fees are: ACRL member: US $135; ALA member: $175; Nonmember: $205; Student: $75. More information at http://www.ala.org/acrl/onlinelearning/engagingwiththeacrlframework
Photo by Sheila Webber: michaelmas daisies, October 2017

Call for proposals: emergent literacies in academic libraries

The (priced) journal Reference Services Review is seeking authors to write on the theme of emergent literacies in academic libraries. "Articles in this issue will explore emergent literacies, intersections of multiple literacies, and ideas around the language used to describe, implement, and assess these literacies. We are interested in innovative interpretations and intersectional research around ideas, theory, and practice." The deadline for abstracts proposing an article is October 15 2017. Send proposals/abstracts or inquiries to both: Tammy Ivins (ivinst@uncw.edu) and Sylvia Tag (sylvia.tag@wwu.edu). There is more info in a pdf attached to the discussion post: http://lists.ala.org/sympa/arc/ili-l/2017-10/msg00041.html (bizarrely, there doesn't seem to be a call for papers on the journal's website)
Photo by Sheila Webber: John's Van recognises the language literacy of a large segment of his clientele, Sheffield, October 2017

Libraries Week #librariesweek

It's National Libraries Week in the UK! Scroll down the home page and you'll see some of the inititaives - http://www.librariesweek.org.uk/

Call for Proposals: The Innovative Library Classroom #TILC2018

There is a call for posters, presentations or lightning talks for The Innovative Library Classroom (TILC) conference, which takes place May 8 (posters and social) and May 9 (conference) 2018 at Radford University, Radford, VA, USA. There will be a modest conference fee. Jennifer Ferretti (Digital Initiatives Librarian at Maryland Institute College of Art) is the keynote speaker. "She is the creator of the popular "Beyoncé’s Lemonade and Information Resources" LibGuide and in her keynote she will discuss how art is information. You can use this idea as a jumping off point for your proposal, or you can submit anything related to innovative teaching." Submission deadline is November 16, 2017. Full information at http://theinnovativelibraryclassroom.weebly.com/
Photo by Sheila Webber: herbs, October 2017

Why infolit is important for journalists

A blog post describing a librarian's response to a journalism academic who wanted journalism students to understand why "research" was important. Joyce Garczynski (Towson University’s Assistant University Librarian for Development & Communications) uses the ACRL Framework in the process of explaining this, and they did their own threshold concepts investigation to find the students' "stuck places"..https://www.newsmediaalliance.org/support-real-news-research-matters/
There is a recording of a panel session that includes Garczynski talking about this, I think http://www.ala.org/acrl/aboutacrl/directoryofleadership/sections/ebss/ebsswebsite/discussion2015spring (caveat, I haven't listened to the recording, but as it's on the ACRL site I'm sure their description isn't fake news...)
Photo by Sheila Webber: Weston Park, October 2017

ACRL Instruction Section Innovation Award

The ACRL Instruction Section Awards committee seeks nominations for its Innovation Award. "Do you know of, or were you involved in, a project at an academic/research library that demonstrates creative, innovative, or unique approaches to information literacy instruction or programming? Now's your chance to boast about it to the world! Past awards have recognized well-known programs and initiatives such as the WASSAIL, the New Literacies Alliance project and Project CORA. The winner(s) of this award will receive a certificate and a US $3000 award, sponsored by EBSCO Information Services." More info at http://www.ala.org/acrl/awards/achievementawards/innovationaward.
Photo by Sheila Webber: autumn berries in the beech hedge, October 2017

Recent articles: peer evaluation of teaching; Educational story; Competency diagnosis; Scholarly communication

Items from the latest issue of Portal: libraries and the academy (Volume 17, Number 3) (priced publication):
- Peer Evaluation of Teaching in an Online Information Literacy Course by Susan A. Vega García, Kristine K. Stacy-Bates, Jeff Alger, Rano Marupova (pp. 471-483)
- Educational Story as a Tool for Addressing the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education by Joshua J. Vossler, John Watts (pp. 529-542)
- A Diagnosis of the Levels of Information Literacy Competency among Social Sciences Undergraduates by María Pinto, Rosaura Fernández-Pascual (pp. 569-593)
http://muse.jhu.edu/issue/36615

In an earlier issue this year (2017): Portal: libraries and the academy (Volume 17, Number 1)
- What Do Undergraduate Students Know about Scholarly Communication?: A Mixed Methods Study by Catherine Fraser Riehle, Merinda Kaye Hensley (pp. 145-178)
http://muse.jhu.edu/issue/35630
Photo by Sheila Webber: Michaelmas daisies, September 2017

Call for proposals #lilac18

It's the season for calls for proposals! Hot on the heels of the WILU call, is the call for proposals for the UK's main information literacy conference, LILAC. It will take place 4-6 April 2018 in Liverpool, England. Proposals on Information Literacy in all sectors and contexts are welcome. There are a variety of formats: Masterclass (workshop style, 30 or 60 minutes in length); Lagadothon (showcase of prototypes for new IL products/games/innovations); Workshops (60 minutes long);
Short papers; Long papers; Symposia; and Posters.
Submissions must be received by 15 November 2017 (by 5pm UK time, which is 12 noon US Eastern time). More details at http://www.lilacconference.com/lilac-2018/call-for-papers

Call for proposals #wilu2018

There is a call for proposals for WILU 2018 (Canada's main information literacy conference), which will be held June 6-8, 2018, with the theme Information Into Action, at the University of Ottawa Library, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. You can propose the following types of sessions: Presentation (45-minute session) Workshop (120-minute session) Panel discussion (45-minute session) Lightning talk (7-minute session) Techno expo kiosk (similar to a poster session, but with computers and large screens to showcase innovative applications of instructional technology)
The deadline to submit a proposal is November 13, 2017. More info at http://wilu2018.ca/program/call-for-proposals/ Conference website at http://wilu2018.ca/
Photo by Sheila Webber: Saint Malo, France, someone wishing someone a happy birthday in grand style, September 2017