Voting for papers to be in the Innovative Library

The organisers of the conference The Innovative Library Classroom 2018 (taking place at Radford University, Radford, VA, USA, on May 8-9 2018) have put a form online so you can vote on which posters, lightning talks and presentations should be included. Anyone can vote, but perhaps it isn't fair unless you think there is a chance you might be going ..... Read the abstracts and vote by 8 December at http://tinyurl.com/TILC2018vote
Photo by Sheila webber: winter rose, November 2017

Webinar: Fighting Fake News with the ACRL Framework

On November 30 at 1pm-2.30pm US Central time (which is 7pm-8.30 pm UK time) there is a priced ACRL e-Learning webcast, Fighting Fake News with the ACRL Framework. "In this webcast, explore strategies and techniques for teaching people the literacy skills they need to combat fake news. The interactive webcast will incorporate time for interactive discussion, online polls, reflection, brainstorming, and sharing ideas. Leave the webcast with concrete strategies, materials, and talking points that you can use in your teaching and outreach efforts." The leader is Sarah Morris. Costs are: ACRL member: $50; ALA member: $75; Nonmember: $90; Student: $40; Group: $295. More information at http://www.ala.org/acrl/onlinelearning/fightingfakenews
Photo by Sheila Webber: lost cap, Sheffield, November 2017 (part of the lost item series)

Presentations on digital and information literacy in Scotland

There are presentations from recent Scottish events. Firstly, from the Digital and Information Literacy Forum organised by the Scottish Information Literacy Community of Practice and the Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC): Presentations are here https://scottishlibraries.org/about-us/events/digital-information-literacy-forum-2017/ on Scottish Government Digital Strategy; The Digital Footprint MOOC; Health Literacy Action Plan Update; Information Literacy of Scotland's Teenagers; Information Literacy and Syrian New Scots; Wikimedia and Information Literacy  (additionally the video Wikipedia in the Classroom https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQR_1mZ-gAA)
From the SLIC Showcase & AGM: UWS Information Literacy Journey, presentation at https://scottishlibraries.org/media/1760/uws-info-lit-journey.pdf with student-made videos on library services at https://youtu.be/AITUpsjrU0w and https://youtu.be/aWUbiqK29hQ
Photo by Sheila Webber: Inverness, Scotland, June 2017

New articles: annual review of information literacy literature; marketing training workshops

The latest issue of priced publication Reference Services Review is Volume 45 Issue 4. The main item of interest is the substantial annotated bibliography on information literacy that they publish annually:
- Library instruction and information literacy 2016: Latisha Reynolds, Amber Willenborg, Samantha McClellan, Rosalinda Hernandez Linares, Elizabeth Alison Sterner (pp. 596 - 702).
523 items are listed "The majority, (370) were oriented toward academic libraries. Additional category totals include 4 Legal, 45 Medical, 46 Other, 6 Public and 52 School related publications" The list does have a bias towards North American material, not including papers from the volume of ECIL conference proceedings, as far as I can see (although, the literature generally is dominated by North American academic librarians, so it partly just reflects that). Popular topics include the ARCL Framework for IL, collaboration with faculty and teaching online.

Other articles in the issue which caught my attention
- Creating a sustainable graduate student workshop series: Bettina Peacemaker, Martha Roseberry (pp. 562 - 574) [good for practical insights into running training sessions - they are still doing this and their "Advance your research" site at http://guides.library.vcu.edu/ayr/ provides examples of what they do.
- 8 Years of institutional assessment feedback: students’ satisfaction with library services: Monica D.T. Rysavy, Russell Michalak, Alison Wessel (pp. 544 - 561) [the satisfaction questionnaire included at least one question related to infolit]
Table of contents and abstracts at http://www.emeraldinsight.com/toc/rsr/45/4
Photo by Sheila Webber: hydrangeas, November 2017

Webinar: Interdisciplinarity and the Liaison Librarian

A free webinar on 29 November at 1pm USA Central time (which is 7pm UK time): Interdisciplinarity and the Liaison Librarian, sponsored by CHOICE in association with ACRL. "As academia splinters into ever more specialized fields of inquiry, access to broad bodies of knowledge has never been greater. How can today's liaison librarian add value to the interdisciplinary research of the faculty they serve? Jeff Knapp, the Larry & Ellen Foster Librarian for Communications at Penn State, will discuss some history of the interdisciplinary research movement, and the ways librarians’ expertise can improve interdisciplinary scholarship."
Registration at http://www.choice360.org/librarianship/webinars/interdisciplinarity-and-the-liaison-librarian
Photo by Sheila webber: beech leaves, November 2017

Recent articles: transfer students; one box search; wesite usabilty

Seeing the latest issue of (priced publication) Reference Services Review made me realise I hadn't blogged the previous one, so I will do that first. Volume 45 issue 3 included:
- Guiding choices: implementing a library website usability study: Troy A. Swanson , Tish Hayes , Jennifer Kolan , Kelly Hand , Susan Miller (pp. 359 - 367)
- ARL instruction librarians and the one-box: a follow-up study: Ellen L. Rubenstein , Cheryl McCain , Kristal S. Boulden (pp. 368 - 381)
- Through three lenses: transfer students and the library: Anna Sandelli (pp. 400 - 414)
- Transfer student analysis and retention: a collaborative endeavor: Trudi Jacobson , John Delano , Linda Krzykowski , Laurie Garafola , Meghan Nyman , Holly Barker-Flynn (pp. 421 - 439)
- Ensuring a level playing field: creating an information literacy exam for transfer students: Vonzell Yeager , Anne E. Pemberton (pp. 454 - 471)
- Bridging the gap: Developing library services and instructional programs for transfer students at Appalachian State University: Kelly Rhodes McBride , Margaret N. Gregor , Kelly C. McCallister (pp. 498 - 510)
- Connecting information literacy instruction with transfer student success: Mark Robison (pp. 511 - 526)
- Assessing and meeting the information literacy needs of incoming transfer students: Implementing ACRL’s assessment in action program: Karen Stanley Grigg , Jenny Dale (pp. 527 - 539)
There were, in particular, other articles about transfer students, which were a special focus of the issue. Table of contents at http://www.emeraldinsight.com/toc/rsr/45/3
Photo by Sheila Webber: boat on Lake Ashi, Japan, 2005

Presentations from Global Media and Information Literacy week #globalmilweek

Some of the presentations from the Global Media and Information Literacy Week conference (held in Kingston, Jamaica in October) have been published at https://en.unesco.org/global-mil-week-2017/conference-resources and also there are photos at https://www.flickr.com/photos/139453419@N05/sets/72157688708494891/with/38486926696/
The conference started with a youth conference, and there is a report of this at https://en.unesco.org/news/building-cloud-critical-minds-global-media-and-information-literacy-week-2017-youth-agenda
Photo by Tina Berezhnaya/UNESCO, reproduced under a Creative Commons license. Berezhnaya, T (2017). Global Media and Information Literacy Week 2017, https://flic.kr/p/ZE34fd - I'm in the front row behind the MIL CLICKS poster, you can just see my head and my hands above the UNESCO logo

Libraries & SDGs for Media and Information Literate Lives in the 21st Century #globalmilweek

I forgot to post my own presentation from the  Global Media and information Literacy Conference Kingston, Jamaica, 26 October 2017, so here it is. It is entitled Libraries & SDGs [that's the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals] for Media and Information Literate Lives in the 21st Century. There is a short report here on the IFLA site about this session (which was sponsored and chaired by IFLA) 

Libraries & SDGs for Media and Information Literate Lives in the 21st Century from Sheila Webber

Free places at #LILAC18

There is a free place at the LILAC conference on offer for a librarian in each of the following sectors: Schools; Further Education; Public libraries; Health (e.g. NHS - please note; librarians working in Higher Education who support health subjects are not eligible to apply). LILAC will be held in Liverpool  4-6 April 2018. The conference place includes 3 days' attendance at all LILAC sessions and social events. Accommodation and travel expenses up to the value of £250 are also available if required. You "must be a librarian or information professional working in the above mentioned sectors in the UK or Ireland. You will have to demonstrate your commitment to information literacy by writing a short personal statement and explaining what benefits you would gain from attending the conference and how you intend to use your conference experience in your work." More information at http://www.lilacconference.com/lilac-2018/bursaries

Information Literacy and Instruction: a Global Overview.

I flagged up this article before RUSQ went open access, but now that it is open access it is worth mentioning again:
Grassian, Esther (2017). Information Literacy and Instruction: Teaching and Learning Alternatives: A Global Overview. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 56(4), 232-239. http://dx.doi.org/10.5860/rusq.56.4.232  Abstract: "Your communities need your help more than ever, in so many ways—job, healthcare, and college and occupational study applications, workplace research and problem solving, research paper and homework help, and many other community-related issues, like accessing laws and regulations. How do you address these needs when there are so many people needing your help, at any time of the day or night, almost anywhere in the world, but also right in front of you at a physical reference desk? Face-to-face personal help is still invaluable, but reference work has expanded in many ways. It includes, but goes beyond, fact finding. Reference librarians help people learn how to learn so they can participate fully in their societies as informed and knowledgeable citizens. This column takes a look at how librarians and others around the world are identifying what people need to learn for this purpose, and how to help them learn it. This column and the sites listed at the end of it provide ideas and approaches that could be used or adapted to help the people in your communities achieve this goal."
Photo by Sheila Webber: hydrangeas, November 2017

Presentations from #ECIL2017

Many presentations from European Conference on Information Literacy (ECIL) that took place on September 2017 are now on the website http://ecil2017.ilconf.org/
Go to the Speakers and program tab, and if the presentation is there, it will be linked in its place in the programme. Lots of of aspects of information literacy are covered, and with presentations from many countries around the world.

Call for #LOEX2018 breakout sessions

You only have 2 more days (deadline 17 November) to propose sessions for LOEX 2018, theme New Frontiers: Exploring and Innovating in Uncharted Territory, which takes place May 3-5, 2018 in Houston, Texas, USA. Proposals should be for for 50-minute long presentations or interactive workshops. "This year’s LOEX tracks are:  
Pedagogy: Space Camp - Techniques for Preparing the Next Generation;
Learning & Assessment: Is There Life Out There? - Evidence of Learning Through Assessment;
Leadership: Ground Control to Major Tom - Directing the Mission;  
Technology and Innovation: Moonshot - Ambition through Technology & Innovation;
Collaboration: International Space Station - Working Together for the Greater Good;  
Failures and Problem Solving: Houston, We Have a Problem - Radical Solutions for When Things Go Wrong 
(I think I spot an underlying theme there!) More info at http://www.loexconference.org/breakoutproposals.html
Photo by Sheila Webber: Hydrangea, November 2017

Recent articles: Information behaviour of cult media fans; three teaching methods

Recent articles from the priced publication Journal of Information Science, Volume 43, Issue 5, 2017 include:
- Price, L. and Robinson, L. 'Being in a knowledge space’: Information behaviour of cult media fan communities, pp. 649–664
- Dolničar, D. et al. A comparative study of three teaching methods on student information literacy in stand-alone credit-bearing university courses, pp. 601–614
Contents page at http://journals.sagepub.com/toc/jisb/43/5
Photo by Sheila Webber: St James Church, November 2017

#milclicks live Facebook session 14 November

As part of the #MILCLICKS campaign (to encourage people to use their Media and Information Literacy before clicking and sharing!) there is a live webinar on the MILCLICKS Facebook page. There was already a session on 9 November (and you can see the comments from that on the Facebook page) and the one on the 14 November takes place at 11am Paris (France) time which is 10am UK time, and it will be led by Philippe Coen, President of Respect Zone (France). The topic is Privacy online: how important is it? Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/MILCLICKS/ and webpage at https://en.unesco.org/MILCLICKS

Recent articles: public libraries and infolit; how well do librarians cite

Reference and User Services Quarterly is now open access, and volume 57 number 1, 2017 includes:
- For Your Enrichment: Developing a Reflective Practice Template for Citation Management Software Instruction - Steven D. Milewski, Jeanine M. Williamson
- Information Literacy and Instruction: For Your Information: Using Information Literacy in Public Libraries - Sonnet Ireland
- Giving Credit: How Well Do Librarians Cite and Quote Their Sources? - Peter Genzinger, Deborah Wills [the answer is - not perfectly well!]
https://journals.ala.org/index.php/rusq/issue/view/657
Photo by Sheila Webber: autumn rose, November 2017

Scottish fact checking combating #fakenews

From a recent CILIP Scotland conference - an informative presentation, with examples, from Alastair Brian of Ferret Fact Service (which happens to not-coincidentally abbreviate to FFS) Combating ‘fake news’ – Separating fact from fiction in an ever-changing world . FFS is "Scotland’s first fact-checking service, set up after funding from Google, but editorially independent" and has been accepted into the international fact checking network: https://theferret.scot/category/fact-check/

Combating ‘fake news’ – Separating fact from fiction in an ever-changing world from CILIPScotland

#ECIL2018 call for papers - and 4000th blog post!

For my four thousandth post on this blog I announce the call for papers for the European Conference on Information Literacy. This is due to take place September 24-27, 2018, in Oulu, Finland. Information Literacy in Everyday Life is the main theme (e.g. IL in hobbies, arts, self-development, sports, physical exercise, cooking), but as usual there is a range of information literacy themes that you can choose to address e.g. Information literacy for different groups, in different cultures and countries, ethical/social issues, IL and the neoliberal agenda, IL and the digital empowerment, IL and trans/inter/multiculturalism. There are various options: full-papers, posters, PechaKucha, best practices, workshops, panels, special sessions, and doctoral forum. Abstract submission deadline is 15 February 2018. More information at http://ecil2018.ilconf.org/
Photo by Sheila Webber: autumn leaves frame the sky, November 2017

Librarian engaging with first year undergraduates?

Lisa Hinchliffe is seeking participants for online (90 min) focus groups about student information literacy misconceptions. "The process of learning includes not only success in developing knowledge, skills, and abilities but also mistakes and errors that impede such success. In any domain of learning, instructors will have developed a sense of the typical errors learners make. Wiggins and McTigue, in Understanding by Design (2005), term these “predictable misunderstandings” and encourage consideration of them in the instructional design process in order to anticipate and overcome learner misconceptions. There has been limited systematic investigation and documentation of predictable misunderstandings in information literacy learning in higher education. This research project is intended to begin to fill that gap." If you engage with first years about information literacy you can sign up here https://illinois.edu/sb/sec/4521807 and any question to Lisa Hinchliffe (ljanicke@illinois.edu)
Photo by Sheila Webber: autumn branches, Sheffield, November 2017

#DigitalLiteracy Impact Study

The New Media Consortium (NMC) released Digital Literacy Impact Study An NMC Horizon Project Strategic Brief

This "uncovers the learner’s perspective of how digital literacy training influences work life after graduation. ... More than 700 recent graduates from 36 [North American] institutions responded to an NMC survey that addressed the experiences they gained at colleges and universities, and how their proficiencies or lack thereof have affected their careers." They ask about what respondents felt they learnt about in the undergraduate courses, and how valuable they find aspects of digital literacy in their workplace. Their framework overlaps with information literacy, but IL isn't mentioned (except for referring to the ACRL Standards for IL (not the current ACRL Framework) as useful further reading) which seems a missed opportunity. In fact, finding and evaluating information are aspects that emerge as better covered in undergraduate programmes. NMC also note that "Funding for this independent research endeavor and publication was provided by Adobe."
https://www.nmc.org/publication/2017-digital-literacy-impact-study-an-nmc-horizon-project-strategic-brief/
This links up to the NMC Digital Literacy Report released recently, which outlined aspects of digital literacy https://www.nmc.org/publication/digital-literacy-part-ii-an-nmc-horizon-project-strategic-brief/
Photo by Sheila Webber: Firth Court, Sheffield University, November 2017

The Game is On! #copyright

The Game is On! is "a series of short animated films that put copyright and creativity under the magnifying glass of Sherlock Holmes, providing a unique, research-led and open access resource for school-aged learners and other creative users of copyright. Drawing inspiration from well-known copyright and public domain work, as well as recent copyright litigation, these films provide a springboard for exploring key principles and ideas underpinning copyright law, creativity, and the limits of lawful appropriation and reuse." There is also related material that can be used by educators. The website is " an independent online resource aimed at making UK Copyright Law accessible to creators, media professionals, entrepreneurs, students, and members of the public. The goal is to provide answers to the most pressing concerns creators have about copyright, helping them understand their rights." The website is at http://www.copyrightuser.org/educate/the-game-is-on/

Thanks to Jane Secker and others who linked to useful resources in a recent Twitter discussion as part of https://twitter.com/hashtag/LTHEchat?src=hash


The Game is On! - The Adventure of the Girl with the Light Blue Hair from CopyrightUser.org on Vimeo.

MOOC from #futurelearn - Making Sense of Data in the Media

The Sheffield Methods Institute (based at my own University, the University of Sheffield, UK) is running once more a three week MOOC, starting on November 6 2017: Making Sense of Data in the Media. You can follow and participate in the MOOC for free, but if you want access to the material after the course is finished, or if you want a completion certificate, you have to pay a fee of £32. "The course is created by the Sheffield Method’s Institute, part of the Q-Step Programme which is dedicated to improving understanding of quantitative social science skills in the UK and abroad. To learn more about the course, watch the trailer and sign up for free please visit the course page here."
Topics are: Recognising the ‘size’ of numbers that are reported in the media; How change and risk are reported; How social statistics are created, paying particular attention to survey data; What we can learn from census categories; the different ways that surveys can be conducted and the impact that different formats can have on the results; How to draw a representative sample from a population.; Sources of measurement error in surveys; Measuring sensitive or difficult subjects; Checking whether data is trustworthy by reviewing the methodology; How to calculate the Margin of Sampling Error (MoSE); The difference between correlation and causation; Where to find existing sources of data; How to develop a quantitative research project.
Go to https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/media-data/
Photo by Sheila webber: autumn, Sheffield, October 2017

Events: The Innovative Teacher; Introduction to Design Thinking; New Directions in Information Literacy

The CONUL Teaching & Learning Seminar The Innovative Teacher takes place on 16 November 2017 in Dublin, Ireland. Keynote speakers are Emma Coonan (talking on New tricks? Negotiating the librarian identity) and David Streatfield (talking on How can you tell if it is working? Evaluating the impact of educational innovations). Information at http://www.conul.ie/annual-seminar-2017/

Also Library Juice Academy online (asychronous) courses coming up in November include:
- Introduction to Design Thinking (Carli Spina) US $175
- Informal Learning in the Academic Library (Lauren Hays and Teresa Slobuski) US $175
- Online Instructional Design and Delivery (Mimi O'Malley) US $250
- New Directions in Information Literacy: Growing Our Teaching Practices (Andrea Baer) US $250
Details at http://libraryjuiceacademy.com/courses.php
Photo by Sheila Webber: Michaelmas daisies, October 2017