New Book: Transforming Information Literacy Instruction

A recent publication from Libraries Unlimited is Transforming Information Literacy Instruction: Threshold Concepts in Theory and Practice by Amy R. Hofer, Silvia Lin Hanick, and Lori Townsend. ISBN 978-1-4408-4166-8 (pbk) and 978-1-4408-4167-5 (ebook) and price US $65.00. It is drawing on their own research into academics librarians' conceptions of threshold concepts for teaching information literacy. https://www.abc-clio.com/LibrariesUnlimited/product.aspx?pc=A4947P
Photo by Sheila Webber: wreaths of South East London, December 2018

(Mis)informed podcast #misinformation

Two more podcasts have been published by the Poynter Institute in their series (Mis)informed "a podcast about fake news, fact-checking".
The 2nd episode, published on 19th December was Debunking vs. amplification "It's our job to fact check the news. But what is the line between correcting misinformation and amplifying it? In this episode, we'll talk to Ben Collins about how he reports on online extremism for NBC News. Then, we'll speak with Whitney Phillips of Syracuse University about her guidelines for journalists covering misinformation."
The 3rd episode is Is fact-checking the antidote to misinformation? "It's way easier to post fake news on social media and get a ton of clicks than it is to publish a fact check. So is fact-checking always the best way to fight misinformation? In this episode, we'll talk to Giovanni Luca Ciampaglia at the University of South Florida about how hoaxes and fact checks spread online. Then, we'll learn how Maldito Bulo founder Clara Jiménez Cruz is copying the format of misinformation to get more reach." They are at https://radiopublic.com/misinformed-GABqNj and the 3rd one is embedded below.

Autoethnography in the IL classroom; IL assessment

A couple of items I spotted recently|:
- Smith, K.L.M. (2018). Counter-story as Curriculum: Autoethnography, Critical Race Theory, and Informed Assets in the Information Literacy Classroom. PhD Thesis, Queensland University of Technology. "Through a collaborative, co-constructed curriculum, drawn from the researcher's and students' lived and shared experiences, this auto-ethnographic work introduces an asset-based information literacy pedagogy. This research was conducted in a community college with primarily first generation students of color. The work intersects critical race theory, decolonizing theory and methods, and informed learning, with a Hip-Hop aesthetic of counter-stories to displace the pervasive deficit narrative with a cultural asset frame." https://eprints.qut.edu.au/122308/
- Buell, J and Kvinnesland, L. (2018). Exploring information literacy assessment: Content analysis of student prefocus essays. College and Research Libraries News, 79(11). "This article chronicles our initial foray into content analysis, a fairly labor-intensive methodology, but one which allowed us to examine student approaches to the research process as narrated in their own words in the form of a prefocus essay. Our goal was to gather data that would help to inform our university library’s information literacy curriculum. What follows documents our process, methodology, results, and lessons learned in order to aid those at other institutions in their assessment planning." https://crln.acrl.org/index.php/crlnews/article/view/17467
Photo by Sheila Webber: winter branches, December 2018

Merry Christmas to all!

A merry and information literate Christmas to all followers of the Information Literacy Weblog!
Photo by Sheila Webber: The wreath I made this year (as usual, from branches cut off our Christmas tree).

cfp Shaping the Future of Libraries with Instructional Design #library2019 #libraryid

There is a call for proposals for the free virtual Library 2.019 mini-conference: Shaping the Future of Libraries with Instructional Design which will be held on March 13 2019 from 12:00 - 3:00 pm US-Pacific Time (which is 8pm-11pm UK time). "This is a conference for librarians, instructional designers and educators to share their work and challenges, as well as for those who believe in the value of integrating instructional design into their practice to help them innovate and evolve library services for the future." You have 25 minutes for a talk plus questions, using Blackboard Collaborate. In order to propose a session, you have to register with the Library 2.0 Ning community and post your proposal to a discussion board. The Library 2.... series is an initiative of San Jose State University. Further information on the call is here: https://www.library20.com/page/call-for-proposals and registration for the event is here https://www.eventbrite.com/e/library-2019-shaping-the-future-of-libraries-with-instructional-design-registration-53358935011
Photo by Sheila Webber: Winter berries, December 2018

Call for posters and lightning talks for #LOEX2019

There is a call for posters and lightning sessions for the US information literacy conference, LOEX, which takes place May 9-11, 2019 in Minneapolis, USA.
Posters can only be submitted by "1) graduate students in library and information science programs and 2) library fellows and residents". The deadline is January 28, 2019. There is more information at http://www.loexconference.org/posterproposals.html
Anyone can propose Lightning talks. The talks will be 7 minutes long, and the deadline for proposals is January 18, 2019. More information at http://loexconference.org/lightningproposals.html

11th congress of French teacher librarians / 11e Congrès des Professeur.e.s Documentalistes de l'Education Nationale

The 11th congress of French teacher librarians (professeurs documentalistes) of secondary schools will be held 22 - 24 March 2019 in Grenoble, France (obviously, in the French language) in partnership with the Grenoble Spring book fair. The theme is online publication (subtitle Un objet pédagogique et didactique pour les professeur.e.s documentalistes.) and it considers both students and professionals. For example, sessions include "La publication : une pratique professionnelle des professeur.e.s documentalistes?" and "La participation des élèves à Wikipédia : à la recherche de conditions favorisant les apprentissages informationnels." For registration go to http://congres2019.apden.org/
Photo by Sheila Webber: dead leaves, November 2018

New articles: health literacy; workplace information literacy; international students; information users

The new issue of open-access journal Information Research (vol. 23, issue 4) has been published. It includes:
- Margaret S. Zimmerman: Information horizons mapping to assess the health literacy of refugee and immigrant women in the USA
- Hanseul Stephanie Lee: A comparative study on the health information needs, seeking and source preferences among mothers of young healthy children: American mothers compared to recent immigrant Korean mothers
- Sarah Bukhari, Suraya Hamid, Sri Devi Ravana and Mohamad Taha Ijab Modelling the information-seeking behaviour of international students in their use of social media in Malaysia
Go to: http://www.informationr.net/ir/23-4/infres234.html
There is also a Special supplement: Proceedings of ISIC: the information behaviour conference, Krakow, Poland, 9-11 October, 2018: Part 1
- Farhan Ahmad and Gunilla Widén, Information literacy at workplace: the organizational leadership perspective
- Tim Gorichanaz, Perspective in information behaviour research
- Heidi Julien, Lynne McKechnie, Sarah Polkinghorne and Roger Chabot, The "user turn" in practice: information behaviour researchers’ constructions of information users
- Waseem Afzal, Weaving an affective framework for information behaviour research: a consideration of ‘trilogy of mind’ and ‘flow’
- Jela Steinerova, Perceptions of the information environment by researchers: a qualitative study
- Hue Thi Pham and Kirsty Williamson, A two-way street: collaboration and information sharing in academia. A theoretically-based, comparative Australian/Vietnamese study
Go to: http://www.informationr.net/ir/23-4/isic2018/isic2018.html
Photo by Sheila Webber: Indside the Diamond Building, University of Sheffield.

A practical vision for a health literate world #healthliteracy

The IUHPE Position statement on health literacy. A practical vision for a health literate world has been published. It was written by the The International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE) Global Working Group on Health Literacy and will be officially presented in early 2019. The pdf is at http://www.iuhpe.org/images/IUHPE/Advocacy/IUHPEHealth_Literacy_2018.pdf and the page that announced it is here.
IUHPE also highlight a special issue of the journal Global Health Promotion (Volume 25 Issue 4, December 2018) focusing on health literacy. At first I was confused, since the editors for this special issue are exactly the same as for a special issue of another journal, that I blogged earlier this month. However, this does appear to be a different set of articles. It includes
- Cultural health literacy: the experiences of Māori in palliative care by Jacquie Kidd, Stella Black, Rawiri Blundell, Tamati Peni
- Development and testing of a framework for analysing health literacy in public policy documents by Anita Trezona, Sarity Dodson, Paulina Mech, Richard H. Osborne
- Health literacy practices in social virtual worlds and the influence on health behaviour by Evelyn McElhinney, Lisa Kidd, Francine M. Cheater
- Challenges and opportunities in building critical health literacy by Susie Sykes, Jane Wills
Go to https://journals.sagepub.com/toc/pedb/25/4
Photo by Sheila Webber: pampas grass, December 2018

Impact of government and corporate surveillance on writers

An interesting new report produced for Scottish PEN, Scottish chilling: impact of government and corporate surveillance on writers. It is authored by Nik Williams, David McMenemy and Lauren Smith. The findings are based on 118 responses from an online survey and 8 interviews in 2016/7. They found that there is widespread concern among writers about government surveillance, about tech companies working with government. Writers reported changes in behaviour including self-censrship when they were writing or speaking. They also might avoid using search engines, email and other online communication in case they were monitored. The report ends with recommendations for the UK government. https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/66291/

Heartfelt Library Moments @HL_Moments

Deborah, Emily, Rhiannon and Elle (who are also studying here in my department, the Information School at the University of Sheffield) are looking for contributors to their new blog, Heartfelt Library Moments, which takes a  positive narrative approach. "We hope to create a space where we can share and collect experiences from a library/information setting that have made you feel proud, happy, confident, hopeful – when you have seen something wonderful or felt you have made a difference."
Of course this won’t be a 100% accurate representation of all the work librarians and other information professionals do. They encounter many difficult times and challenges. Instead, this will be one corner of the internet where we can share, celebrate and take pride in the powerful and beautiful things that libraries make happen."
The blog is at https://heartfeltlibrarymoments.home.blog/ and you can submit your story here https://heartfeltlibrarymoments.home.blog/submit/ or tweet to @HL_Moments
Photo by Sheila Webber: apples at the farmer's market, December 2018

Who is fact checking for?

The Poynter Institute in the USA has a short series of podcasts about misinformation and fact-checking. The first full podcast Who is fact checking for? (18 minutes) was released yesterday. "Amy Sippitt talks about who reads stories from Full Fact, a fact-checking project in the United Kingdom (Spoiler: It's mostly men!) Then, Brendan Nyhan from the University of Michigan gives us the lowdown on which audience needs fact-checking the most." (They found out that "it was really people who were the most politically engaged, the most politically interested and knowledgeable, people that had the highest sense of political efficacy, people who tended to be more educated" that use fact-checking most.)
I found the podcast it on https://radiopublic.com/misinformed-GABqNj (embedded below) but it is also available through other channels. The transcript of the podcast is at https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2018/misinformed-podcast-who-is-fact-checking-actually-for/. Poynter is aggregating all the posts about these podcasts at https://www.poynter.org/misinformed/

Call for papers: News, Media and Disinformation

There is a call for papers for the 18th Annual Information Literacy Summit, with the theme News, Media and Disinformation: Making Sense in Today’s Information Landscape, to be held on April 5, 2019, organised by DePaul University Library and Moraine Valley Community College Library, and held at Moraine Valley Community College campus. The keynote speaker is Dr. Nicole A. Cooke, Associate Professor and MS/LIS Program Director, School of Information Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Deadline to submit proposals for breakout sessions and panels is January 11, 2019. There is more information here: http://informationliteracysummit.org/
There is also a pull down menu on the site to see information on previous summits, and some of the presentations are available e.g. at http://informationliteracysummit.org/about/2018-information-literacy-summit/
Photo by Sheila Webber: another shot of a Sheffield mosaic water feature (Howard Street Rill by Emma Biggs).

Information Problem Solving model

Frerejean, J., Velthorst, G., van Strien, J., Kirschner, P. & Brand-Gruwel, S. (2019). Embedded instruction to learn information problem solving: Effects of a whole task approach. Computers in Human Behavior, 90, 117-130. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563218304187
It is always interesting, irritating and concerning when one discovers yet another group of academics outside the library and information field who are reinventing the infolit and information seeking wheel. In this case education researchers have developed through a number of articles a skill based model for "information problem solving", without reference to the existing literature. Their model is: Define the problem, search information, select information, process information, present information. I am blogging since it is obviously relevant to information literacy, and also they give a detailed account of their methods in setting up their pre- and post-test experiment, including a careful discussion of their data analysis. Key findings were (having set up an experimental situation of students trained using their model of information problem solving and students untrained) "Trained students improved their approach to searching and selecting information" but "Improvements were no longer visible on a test five weeks after training stopped."
Photo by Sheila Webber: Sheffield University campus, November 2018

Human Rights Day #standup4humanrights #libraries4humanrights

Today is Human Rights Day, celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The official United Nations website is at http://www.un.org/en/events/humanrightsday/  You can send in videos of you reading out one of the articles in your own language, and they already have many examples on the website.

IFLA has a briefing about the day for librarians here https://www.ifla.org/publications/node/91729 and also has a poster Libraries for Human Rights which can be downloaded here https://www.ifla.org/publications/node/91729. There are blog posts at  https://blogs.ifla.org/lpa/ focusing on library policy and advocacy for human rights.

Inclusive pedagogy framework

Not new, but you may be interested in the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning's (CIRTL) Inclusive pedagogy framework. CIRTL is focused on teaching science and technology subjects in higher education, but I think it is applicable in other disciplinary areas. Go to https://cirtlincludes.net/inclusive-pedagogy-framework/
They say that "The construction of the inclusive pedagogy framework began by amalgamating the findings from two resources: a) a peer-reviewed synthesis article on inclusive practices in higher education (Salazar et al., 2010) and b) a practical checklist from the Universal Design of Instruction (UID checklist) based on the work of Chickering and Gamson (Does Your Curriculum Provide an Inclusive Environment? Is it IUD Friendly). After reviewing many papers on inclusive pedagogy, we found the Salazar et al. (2010) article to be the most comprehensive account of existing literature on inclusive teaching in higher education to date. The Inclusive Pedagogy Framework includes several practices that promote inclusive teaching. This framework focuses on 3 main aspects of Inclusive Pedagogy: Inclusive Communication, Inclusive Instructional Practices, and Designing Inclusive Curriculum."
I found this via an online article
Keyek-Franssen, D. (2018, November 14). 5 Tips for Supporting Inclusive and Open Pedagogies. https://er.educause.edu/blogs/2018/11/5-tips-for-supporting-inclusive-and-open-pedagogies?
Photo by Sheila Webber: Pampas grass, December 2018

Podcast of the launch of the LSE Fighting Misinformation report

I blogged about the report from the LSE, Fighting Misinformation, and there is a podcast of the launch event held on 20 November in London. It includes contributions from Polly Curtis, Professor Sonia Livingstone, Dr Damian Tambini. Go to http://www.lse.ac.uk/lse-player?id=4556

Also from an LSE research: a blog post from earlier this week
Polizzi, G. (2018, December 3). Misinformation and critical digital literacy: To trust or not to trust? http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/mediapolicyproject/2018/12/03/misinformation-and-critical-digital-literacy-to-trust-or-not-to-trust/
Photo by Sheila webber: shadows on campus, December 2018

New articles: Comics; Funds of knowledge; Conceptions of Information Literacy; Videos; Dietetics; Informed Learning @JInfoLit

The latest issue of the open access Journal of Information Literacy has been published (volume 12, issue 2, 2018). It includes:
Articles
- The seven voices of information literacy (IL) by Veronica Cunningham, Dorothy Williams, Professor (4-23)
- Source evaluation behaviours of first-year university students by Elise Silva, Jessica Green, Cole Walker 24-43
- Drawing on students’ funds of knowledge by Amanda L. Folk 44-59
- Comics, questions, action! by Stephanie Margolin, Mason Brown, Sarah Ward 60-75
- Information literacy as a measurable construct by Helena Hollis 76-88
Project reports
- Supporting open information literacy via hybridised design experiments by Kristen Radsliff Rebmann 89-97 ("a project that forms connections between design experiment and informed learning approaches to designing learning activities supportive of open information literacy and scholarly communication among library and information science graduate students. "
- Beyond databases: Information literacy instruction for undergraduate students of dietetics by Dana Ingalls 98-112
- Putting levity into literacy: Professionally produced library instruction videos by Bogdana A. Marchis 113-120
- When the library steps in: Introducing media and information literacy as a programme for library professionals by Joseph Marmol Yap, April Ramos Manabat 131-141
- Examining student perceptions of their knowledge, roles, and power in the information cycle by Lucinda Rush 121-130
There are also conference updates and book reviews. Go to https://ojs.lboro.ac.uk/JIL/issue/view/204
Photo by Sheila Webber: autumn leaves, November 2018

Health Literacy special issue

There is a special issue on Health Literacy in Context—Settings, Media, and Populations in the current volume of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH) (volume 15 issue 12), with an eminent group of issue editors (including Don Nutbeam). There are 17 open-access articles including "Beyond Reading and Understanding: Health Literacy as the Capacity to Act"; "Progress in Implementing National Policies and Strategies for Health Literacy—What Have We Learned so Far?"; "Mental Health Literacy in Young Adults: Adaptation and Psychometric Properties of the Mental Health Literacy Questionnaire"; "Effective Partnership in Community-Based Health Promotion: Lessons from the Health Literacy Partnership." Go to https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph/special_issues/health-literacy
Photo by Sheila Webber: Seven Dials, London, November 2018

#FakeNews, Real Concerns: Developing Information Literate Students Workshop (repeat webinar on 5 December)

On December 5, 2018, at 2.30pm US Eastern time (which is 7.30pm UK tim) there's a repeat of the 90 minute workshop held in April: Fake News, Real Concerns: Developing Information Literate Students Workshop, run by Donald Barclay. Costs are US $60.00, ALA Member $ 54.00. "Recently, the phenomenon of fake news has exploded, leaving librarians and educators asking themselves how they can increase information literacy in a world that has been labeled “post truth” and where the phrase “alternative facts” has become common currency. But is fake news new? In this workshop, information literacy expert Donald Barclay uses a historical context to argue that while some of what we are seeing is new and unique to the Digital Age, much of it has been around for centuries. This workshop focuses on the challenges of developing information-literate students in an era marked by massive amounts of information, fake news, propaganda, and mistrust of authority. The workshop explores the factors contributing to today’s seeming distrust of authority in general and science in particular as well as discusses the problems with scholarly communication that contribute to that distrust. Barclay provides you with practical tools and techniques that you can use in the classroom to foster learning and develop students who are proactive, vet information for accuracy, and use technology as a resource to increase their information literacy skills. You’ll walk away with strategies and tactics to reach students in spite of all the noise and uncertainty of the current information landscape."
https://www.alastore.ala.org/content/fake-news-real-concerns-developing-information-literate-students-workshop
Photo by Sheila webber: autumn beech, November 2018

Online courses: ACRL Framework: Backward Design

Both run by Andrea Baer
The ACRL Framework for Information Literacy: Reframing Teaching Practices. January 7 – February 17 2019. Price: US $250. "The ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education (Association for College & Research Libraries) invites librarians to think in new and creative ways about how we support teaching and learning within and beyond the classroom. This interactive workshop is an opportunity to explore and to develop pedagogical approaches that draw from the Framework in order to help students develop critical, practical, and transferable information skills. Participants will also reflect on their roles as teaching partners and consider ways of approaching information literacy as a shared responsibility of all educators." https://inquiringteachers.com/courses/the-acrl-framework-for-information-literacy-reframing-teaching-practices/
Backward Design for Information Literacy Education. February 18 – March 31 2019. Price: US $250. "Backward instructional design is iterative process that begins with considering learning goals, then determining acceptable evidence of learning, and addressing those outcomes through sequenced activities. Learn about and apply four essential pieces of backward design to your teaching practice: “big ideas” (i.e., conceptual understandings), learning outcomes, assessment, and sequencing." https://inquiringteachers.com/courses/backward-design-for-information-literacy-education/
Photo by Sheila Webber: golden leaves, November 2018