Towards an information literate society; IL as a catalyst for educational change #GlobalMILweek

As Global Media and Information Literacy week draws towards a close, I thought I would recall one of the publications that I think is particularly important: The Prague declaration "towards an information literate society" which was a product of the first strategic international and cross-sectoral meeting on Information Literacy, in 2003. The document is only one page, but has one of my favourite definitions of information literacy:
"Information Literacy encompasses knowledge of one’s information concerns and needs, and the ability to identify, locate, evaluate, organize and effectively create, use and communicate information to address issues or problems at hand; it is a prerequisite for participating effectively in the Information Society, and is part of the basic human right of life long learning." http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CI/CI/pdf/PragueDeclaration.pdf The meeting report is also interesting.

I was hoping to link to the proceedings of one of the influential International Lifelong learning conferences (held between 2000 and 2008), which had a rich mix of papers about information literacy and lifelong/adult learning, strong on critical and social justice perspectives. Unfortunately the institutional repository they used to be in seems to be no more (though fortunately for me, I have the printed copies). However, I identified a 2004 keynote from Christine Bruce in a different repository. This discusses themes which are still with us.:
Bruce, C. (2004) Information Literacy as a Catalyst for Educational Change. A Background Paper . In Danaher, P. et al. (Eds.) Proceedings “Lifelong Learning: Whose responsibility and what is your contribution?”, the 3rd International Lifelong Learning Conference. (pp. 8-19). Central Queensland University. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/4977/
Photo by Sheila Webber: Beech in autumn, October 2019

Monitoring progress towards access to information #GlobalMILweek #SDGs

UNESCO published a report monitoring progress towards the sustainable development goal (SDG) concerning access to information (more specifically, legal rights to access information, and freedom of information). "An important conclusion is that both oversight/appeals bodies and individual public authorities can do far better in terms of how they track requests for information and theappeals that flow from these":
UNESCO. (2019). Powering sustainable development with access to information: highlights from the 2019 UNESCO monitoring and reporting of SDG indicator 16.10.2. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000369160
"As the custodian agency for SDG Indicator 16.10.2 (access to information), UNESCO has developed a methodology to help measure and report on what has been done to implement right to information (RTI) rules. This consists of two surveys which public authorities or researchers can fill out. The first one (SURVEY 1), which concerns central oversight or support bodies for the right to information, focuses on what has been done at the central level. This includes issues such as what bodies have been established, how many appeals have been lodged and what has happened with them, public awareness-raising efforts, and records management standards. The second one (SURVEY 2), to be completed by selected public authorities, looks into what these entities have done to implement the law, including appointing information officers, helping requesters make requests, receiving and processing requests, and disseminating information proactively."

Recording of: Transformational Media and Information Literacy learning for adult citizens: “this street is full of heroes” #GlobalMILweek

A recording is available of the webinar in which I (Sheila Webber, Information School, University of Sheffield) was presenting a talk, Transformational Media and Information Literacy learning for adult citizens: “this street is full of heroes”, coauthored with Bill Johnston, Honorary Research Fellow, Strathclyde University, on 29th October 2019. The session was chaired by my colleague Dr Pamela McKinney, and it was part of the Information School's celebration of Global Media and Information Literacy Week. I was outlining use of theories from adult education and information science to address the challenge of engaging adult citizens critically and transformationally with media and Information Literacy. As the Media and Information Literacy (MIL) concept matures, it is important to expand the MIL focus to the majority of the population who are not in formal education. The title quotation is from a poem by Benjamin Zephaniah (transformed to street art in Sheffield) which inspires us to think of each citizen as a potential MIL hero.
The slides are here: https://www.slideshare.net/sheilawebber/transformational-media-and-information-literacy-learning-for-adult-citizens-this-street-is-full-of-heroes
The link to the webinar recording is here: https://eu-lti.bbcollab.com/recording/0284c699a3784b1a9da5a632291dc8d8
Here is the embedded webinar recording (31 minutes)

Call for Lightning Round Talks: Promoting Libraries to Non-Traditional students

There's a deadline of 1st Nov 2019 for the call for Lightning Round Talks on Promoting Libraries to Non-Traditional students, for a meeting to be held in New York, USA, on 21 November 2019. It is organised by the ACRL (National) Library Marketing & Outreach Interest Group (LMOIG) as a "Greater NYC Meetup". "How do you promote your library to non-traditional students? How do you engage and target students who may not fit the profile of a typical undergraduate student? How do you promote libraries to students who may be parents or grandparents, who take courses 100% online, and who may work full time while studying ? We are seeking brief, lightning round talks (10-15 mins) on how you promote your libraries to non-traditional students. Share your successes and failures, best tips, and what you've learned! We want to learn from you!" the proposal form is at https://form.jotform.com/92827382986172 and the meeting will be held at Berkeley College, Manhattan Campus.

Artificial Intelligence Edubox #GlobalMILweek

Flemish news broadcaster VRT Nws has produced an English-language version of its Artificial Intelligence Edubox. This consists of a two files, one with slides presenting issues and evidence about the use of AI in aspects of life and media, with discussion questions and activity outlines, and the other the "cards" for a Human vs Zombie game. As you might expect, the material is professionally produced and all or sections of it could be used to stimulate discussion. You can find the material her in Dutch: https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2019/09/17/artificiele-intelligentie/ and here in English: https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/en/2019/10/23/vrt-news-launches-artificial-intelligence-edubox-in-english/ (you click in the blue rectangle near the top of the page, to download). The previous Eduboxes are here https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/rubrieken/edubox/ (I think only in Dutch) onfake news, data in the press, and democracy.

Recording and slides on IL definitions and the development of digital literacy #GlobalMILweek #Maddieisonline

There are slides and a video available from the event at Robert Gordon University, Scotland, organised for Global Media and Information Literacy week on 24th October. The two contributors were Jacqueline Geekie (Public Libraries Representative on the CILIP Information Literacy Group committee) talking on The IL Definition: what CILIP and the Information Literacy Group did next… and Dr Konstantina Martzoukou (Senior Lecturer, Robert Gordon University) talked about MADDIE IS ONLINE Some reflections for the development of digital literacy. The slides are here https://www.slideshare.net/martzoukou/cilip-ilg-talk-unesco-mil-week-24th-october-2019 and the video is at https://youtu.be/ocB_4pPKxR8 (and embedded below, 44 minutes)

Recording of webinar on Information Literacy of tracked data in three communities #GlobalMILweek

The recording of Thursday's 30 minute webinar by Dr Pamela McKinney on Information Literacy of tracked data in three communities: parkrunners, people with type 2 diabetes, people with Irritable Bowel Syndrome is available. You can access it here via Blackboard Collaborate, and it is also embedded below).

The start of #GlobalMILweek

Today was the first day of Global Media and Information Literacy Week. The Twitter stream is here. In the Information School, University of Sheffield the celebrations consisted of a webinar delivered by my colleague Dr Pam McKinney (I will be posting a link to the recording tomorrow) and a discussion on Global MIL week in the 3D virtual world, Second Life, in the Virtual World Educators Roundtable (VWER), an international weekly meeting for which I am lead coordinator (see the photo of the meeting).
I had asked people to share resources relevant to Global MIL week at VWER and these included items suggested by Dr Valerie Hill:
- Media Literacy Now (USA) "The mission of Media Literacy Now is to drive policy change in every state and at the national level to ensure all K-12 students receive comprehensive media literacy education and skills, now and in the future." includes resources, news stories etc. https://medialiteracynow.org/
- Digital Citizenship Museum. This is in the 3D virtual world Kitely, with exhibits from an international range of contributors: you need a special (free) browser to access Kitely. "CVL’s Digital Citizenship Museum in Kitely is an immersive educational experience that raises awareness of digital citizenship to the virtual world community as a whole. In addition to exhibit buildings, the Museum also has space for invited presentation and community networking." More information is on the website at https://communityvirtuallibrary.org/digital-citizenship-museum/
- Val Hill's own slides on Fake News. https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1QWetutMbAvbSzp-fVlQzJJM-MGPGQ4r4vUuMF2mOywY

PRIMO site of the month: Reading Scholarly Articles

The latest PRIMO (Peer-Reviewed Instructional Materials Online) Site of the Month is a course called Reading Scholarly Articles, created by Amanda Nichols Hess & Joanna Thielen of Oakland University, USA. "Reading Scholarly Articles is a three-lesson, freestanding e-learning course that students can enroll in to learn more about effectively understanding peer-reviewed articles." To access it in guest mode, use the Guest Username: sourcesgt and Guest Password: libsrc. PRIMO https://research.library.oakland.edu/sp/subjects/tutorial.php?faq_id=281
Photo by Sheila webber: sweet chestnuts, Greenwich Park, October 2019

NORIL articles: student writing; Information seeking MOOCs

The current issue of open access journal Nordic Journal of Information Literacy in Higher Education (NORIL) - volume 11 number 1 - was published a few months ago. It includes:
- Sara Røddesnes, Hege Charlotte Faber, Magnus Rom Jensen: NVivo courses in the library: Working to create the library services of tomorrow
- Randi Benedikte Brodersen, Solveig Kavli: “Students Can Write!”: How Can Students Explore and Improve their Writing by Using Different Academic Genres, Sources and Voices?
- Taina Kettunen, Kristina Weimer, Valtteri Vainikka, Päivi Helminen: Information Seeking MOOCs at the University of Helsinki: Interactive and Integrated
It also has numerous informative abstracts from the Conference Creating Knowledge IX held in Vejle, Denmark, June 6-8, 2018. Go to https://noril.uib.no/index.php/noril/index
Photo by Sheila Webber: plants at Wahnfried, Bayreuth, August 2019

Three events for #GlobalMILweek

CILIP Information Literacy Group has organised three free events in London, Manchester and Aberdeen, to celebrate Global Media and Information Literacy Week 2019.
- Emerging directions for IL research and practice at University College London Department of Information Studies, London, UK, on October 28th 2019, 6pm – 7.30pm "A range of talks by recent UCL Masters graduates in Library and Information Studies, highlighting emerging directions for IL research and practice in a range of context." To book go to https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/global-media-and-information-literacy-week-2019-emerging-directions-for-il-research-and-practice-ucl-tickets-73558879589
- Perspectives on media and information literacy, issues in credibility and trust from politics to health, at Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK, on October 28th 2019, 5.00pm – 7.30pm. "Host Geoff Walton (MMU) and guests will discuss: Prof Rachel Gibson (University of Manchester) – ‘Addressing the Media and Information Literacy Challenges of the Digital Election Campaign’; Dr Frances Johnson (MMU) – ‘Information Literacy – when does credibility involve trust?’; Prof Jenny Rowley (MMU) – ‘Trusting information: reflections on health information seeking’. Book at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/global-media-and-information-literacy-week-2019-perspectives-on-media-and-information-literacy-tickets-73558245693?ref=estw
- Digital competencies for digital citizenship: an emerging agenda for students, academics and libraries in partnership, in the Central Library, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland (and also available as a webinar) on 24th October 2019, 3.30pm – 5pm. "Dina Martzoukou (Teaching Excellence Fellow, Robert Gordon University) will talk on children’s information and digital literacy, and Jacqueline Geekie (Public Libraries representative for the CILIP IL Group) will share case studies of how CILIP’s 2018 Definition of Information Literacy is being used in different contexts." Book at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/global-media-and-information-literacy-week-2019-case-studies-using-the-ilg-definition-of-tickets-73559591719?ref=estw

MILEX Fall 2019 Workshop

The Maryland Information Literacy Exchange (MILEX) Autumn 2019 Workshop takes place at Loyola Graduate Center, Columbia, USA, on October 30 2019 with the theme Evolutions and Revolutions in Library Instruction. "How do we change direction when a research session hasn’t panned out the way we intended? How do we keep familiar material fresh—and effective? Come to MILEX’s Fall Workshop to learn about how other librarians have refreshed, revamped, and reconsidered lessons, both for one-shot sessions and semester-long courses. Hear tales of triumph and woe (hopefully followed by more triumph) and learn about ways to assess and move forward when you feel like it’s time for a change." Registration fees are Non-member of MILEX US$15.00, Student US$5, Membership + Registration US $35.00 and free to MILEX members. Go to http://www.milexmd.org/events.html
Photo by Sheila Webber: tulip tree, Greenwich park, October 2019

The importance of protecting information through schools, colleges, libraries.

On 12 September WSRadio had an interview feature with longtime Information Literacy advocate Esther Grassian, and Jeff Share, hosted by Jose Cruz. There are 2 parts to the audio recording, just under 30 minutes each, the theme being The importance of protecting information through schools, colleges, libraries. "With all of our information outlets, truth and facts are vulnerable to manipulation and abuse. Information is power. Our colleges, like UCLA are engaging in work that looks at the role of information in our lives and confronts issues of trust, validity, and equity. Our guests, Esther Grassian and Dr. Jeff Share, both from the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at UCLA, talk about the work that is being done to protect information and to educate librarians and teachers about information sources, threats to truth, and the importance of teaching our students and library users to know and test facts. The implications for traditional literacy are big, especially as relates to critical comprehension."
http://wsradio.com/09-12-19-the-importance-of-protecting-information-through-schools-colleges-libraries/
Photo by Sheila Webber, taken in Second Life (TM Linden Lab)

Bite-size webinars for #GlobalMILweek - engaging citizens in transformational learning; food and activity logging

As part of our Global Media and Information Literacy Week celebrations we have organised two free 30 minute webinars (20 minutes of presentation plus 10 minutes discussion). On 29 October I will present a paper co-authored with Bill Johnston (Honorary Research Fellow, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow), outlining a strategy to address the challenge of engaging adult citizens critically and transformationally with media and Information Literacy.
On 24 October my colleague Dr Pamela McKinney will talk about her research into The Information literacy of food and activity logging in three communities. Global MIL week is a UNESCO-sponsored annual celebration of media and Information Literacy, with events organised around the world. This year’s theme is Media and Information Literate Citizens: Informed, Engaged, Empowered and our Centre for Information Literacy Research (Information School, University of Sheffield) is responding with events and activities on this theme. You just need to join the webinars using the links below - you don't have to register, but in case you want easy reminders we've also created Eventbrite events for them. Here are more details:

Firstly at 11am-11.30am UK time, Thursday 24 October 2019 (check the time in your country at https://tinyurl.com/globalmila) Dr Pamela McKinney, will talk about research which aimed to discover what data is tracked by people in three communities (parkrunners, people with type 2 diabetes and people with Irritable Bowel Syndrome). She will also discuss why the data was tracked, and the barriers to safe and effective tracking, particularly in relation to information literacy. There is increasing interest in the use of mobile apps and devices to track aspects of diet, health and wellbeing activity, and research has shown that use of apps can motivate people to adopt healthy behaviours. Information literacy is crucial to the safe and effective use of tracked information in this landscape.
The survey for this project was distributed in early 2018. 143 responses were received from parkrunners; 140 from diabetes.co.uk and 45 from the IBS Network. There were differences in the logging practices of the three communities, and differences in motivations for tracking. The extent of sharing of tracked data also differed, for example parkrunners were the biggest sharers of data, whereas IBS and Diabetes respondents shared less data, and only with close family. Respondents were confident in their abilities to understand tracked data, and how this enabled them to achieve their health goals. However, critical to Information literacy is an understanding of the potential re-use and sharing of data by third parties, and respondents demonstrated much less awareness of this.

To join Pam's webinar go to https://tinyurl.com/globalmilabb just before the webinar start time. It uses Blackboard Collaborate (see here for details on how to use it). You do not have to register for the webinar in advance, but if you’d like to sign up via Eventbrite and get reminders that it is coming up, go to https://tinyurl.com/globalmilae


The following week, I (Sheila Webber) will be talking on Transformational Media and Information Literacy learning for adult citizens: “this street is full of heroes”, at 4pm-4.30pm UK time, Tuesday 29th October (check the time in your country at https://tinyurl.com/globalmilb )

I'll be outlining use of theories from adult education and information science to address the challenge of engaging adult citizens critically and transformationally with media and Information Literacy. As the Media and Information Literacy (MIL) concept matures, it is important to expand the MIL focus to the majority of the population who are not in formal education. The title quotation is from a poem by Benjamin Zephaniah (transformed to street art in Sheffield) which inspires us to think of each citizen as a potential MIL hero.

Firstly, Jack Mezirow’s Transformation Theory is proposed as way of framing MIL engagement with adult citizens. Transformation Theory posits meaning making as “becoming critically aware of one’s own tacit assumptions and expectations and those of others and assessing their relevance for making an interpretation” (Mazirow, 2000; p. 4). Sandlin, Wright & Clarke (2013) link Transformation Theory with the notion of “public pedagogy”: learning outside formal education, which may be mediated by popular culture, public spaces, dominant discourses, activism etc. These ideas are taken further by linking them to Information grounds (IG) theory (Fisher & Naumer, 2006). Sheila and Bill propose a strategy for developing MIL outside formal education: Transformation Theory provides a framework for learning goals and learning design; literature on public pedagogy provides examples of the public places and discourses that can be channels for learning, and IG theory provides a structure for thinking about which physical and virtual spaces are most likely to foster the reflective discourse (between citizens) and provide the supportive context which Mezirow identifies is key to transformational learning. This enables us to reflect on who could be the “MIL heroes” in this different spaces who can enable reflective discourses about MIL.

To join my webinar go to https://tinyurl.com/globalmilbbb just before the webinar start time. It uses Blackboard Collaborate (see here for details on how to use it). You do not have to register for the webinar in advance, but if you’d like to sign up and get reminders that it is coming up, go to https://tinyurl.com/globalmilbe

Disinformation: Annotated Bibliography

A selective bibliography on disinformation, published a few months ago. For each entry it gives the "crux" (a few sentences saying what the item is and what it's about) and "highlights" of the content. It is divided into sections: Creation and Dissemination; Social Media; Advertising and Marketing; Political Science and International Relations; Cognitive Science; Mitigation and Solutions; Detection; Measuring Reach.
Lim, G. (2019). Disinformation: Annotated Bibliography. Citizen Lab, University of Toronto. https://citizenlab.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Disinformation-Bibliography.pdf
Photo by Sheila Webber: Michaelmas daisies, October 2019

Webinar: Fostering Active Learning in Digital Realms

I have mentioned the Shaping Edu initiative before: based in the USA "ShapingEDU is a community of dreamers, doers, and drivers shaping the future of learning in the digital age. The vision is for changemaking individuals from a wide variety of learning-focused organizations across the world to collaborate on big ideas for transforming education."
There is a webinar (which as far as I can see is free) Fostering Active Learning in Digital Realms on November 7 2019 at 8am-9.30 am US MST, which is (for example) 3pm-4.30pm UK time. https://shapingedu.asu.edu/shapingedu-live-11-7-19 "this conversation will draw on diverse experiences in discussing the intersections of active learning and digital learning spaces. Panelists will also present a draft active learning "maturity" model and invite feedback."
There are videos of past webinars at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMLoxuounu-CNxIYvxOj-qg/videos
Photo by Sheila Webber: Rudbeckia, October 2019

Encontrar información no es solo darle al botón de buscar

A Spanish-language page describing the issues around alerting children to the problems of fake news, it incorporates a cartoon video (... should you share that post about sandwiches containing dog meat???) and an infographic. It is on the site of is4k (Internet Security for Kids) https://www.is4k.es/blog/encontrar-informacion-no-es-solo-darle-al-boton-de-buscar

Getting Beyond “Both Sides”: FYC Instructors and Librarians Working Together to Cultivate Critical Information Literacy

Presentation slides reporting on this initiative at Santa Clara University, USA: very informative and with a link to a further document. "Last fall, our team of two FYC instructors and one librarian implemented curriculum designed to develop students’ critical information-literacy skills in relation to popular sources. Preliminary results of our work suggest that students’ work with popular sources falls short of CWPA and ACRL goals. In our workshop-style presentation, we ask how other conference attendees instruct students in the assessment and use of popular sources and discuss the pedagogical strategies that we plan to use as we iterate on our work."
Pfeiffer, L, Voss, J. and Branch, N. (2019). Getting Beyond “Both Sides”: FYC Instructors and Librarians Working Together to Cultivate Critical Information Literacy with Popular Sources. https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/library/200

#Digital #Resilience framework published

The Digital Resilience Working Group, part of the UK Council for Internet Safety (UKCIS) has produced a short booklet with the UKCIS digital resilience framework. "Digital resilience helps individuals recognise and manage the risks they come across when they socialise, explore or work online. It is achieved primarily through experience, rather than learning and it is fostered by opportunities to confide in trusted others and later reflect upon online challenges. ... "Digital resilience is a dynamic personality asset that grows from digital activation i.e. through engaging with appropriate opportunities and challenges online, rather than through avoidance and safety behaviours."
This is an interesting framework, that, I would say, overlaps with various Information Literacy, Digital Literacy and Media Literacy frameworks. The four elements are: Understand, Learn, Know, Recover. Attitudes and behaviours such as planning and self-reflection are associated with it.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/digital-resilience-framework
Photo by Sheila Webber: hydrangea, September 2019

Exploring the intersections of information literacy and scholarly communications

The one-day event Exploring the intersections of information literacy and scholarly communications is on 2 December 2019, at Liverpool Central Library, Liverpool, UK. Cost is £85 to ILG members, £100 to non-members. "Inspired by ACRL’s 2013 report: Intersections of Scholarly Communication and Information Literacy: Creating Strategic Collaborations for a Changing Academic Environment we will seek to explore how we can move away from institutional separation of information literacy and scholarly communication matters to encourage new perspectives for our advocacy work with academics and students in these areas. The day will build on aspects of a popular session from this year’s LILAC conference: Information Literacy and Open Access: two movements one aim? Through presentations and activities we will identify key areas where information literacy and open access intersect and how librarians might be able to leverage this support to engage key stakeholders and support both agendas." Sessions from:
-Dr Elizabeth Gadd (Loughborough University): Research evaluation literacy: skilling up for responsible research evaluation
- Padma Inala and John Hynes (University of Manchester) “Opening the door”: looking towards an ‘open’ dialogue as part of the student experience.
- Claire Sewell (University of Cambridge): Which Way Now? Supporting Librarians' Skills in an Ever Changing Landscape.
- Chris Morrison (University of Kent) The value of the CLA licence and open access to support teaching
To book, go to https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/75118271773
There is a bursary place "in memory of friend and colleague Marion Kelt .... Marion was well known and respected in the library sector particularly for her award winning work on copyright. To apply for this bursary, please submit a 250-500 word summary to ilgrouptraining@gmail.com indicating why you are interested in this event and how you think the day’s content may benefit your work or organisation. Submissions must be received by 23rd October, and the winning submission will be published as a blog post on the Information Literacy Group blog."
Photo by Sheila Webber: cake and coffee, vital for both information literacy and scholarly communications

#Metaliteracy MOOCs

Two MOOCs on Metaliteracy are available for registration via Coursera
(1) Metaliteracy: Empowering Yourself in a Connected World "Learners will be introduced to the metaliteracy model, learn about copyright, intellectual property, and open-licensing through the Creative Commons, and explore digital storytelling as a creative form of information production. By the end of this MOOC, learners will see themselves as content creators and develop a digital artifact or story of their own." https://www.coursera.org/learn/metaliteracy

(2) Empowering Yourself in a Post-Truth World "This course explores a wide range of issues related to the post-truth world and empowers learners to think about the role of experts in society, examine false representations in constructed media, reflect on their own biases, and explore ways to build collaborative communities of trust and reinvent a truthful world. Learners will be empowered to raise and share their own voice by creating a digital response to the post-truth world." https://www.coursera.org/learn/empowering-yourself-post-truth-world
Photo by sheila Webber: Hydrangeas, September 2019

Health Information and Libraries Journal (HILJ Journal Club) #HILJClub

There is a blog post journal club, discussing articles from Health Information & Libraries Journal, at https://hilj.club/ The latest discussion is here: https://hilj.club/2019/08/20/embase-uk-filter/. "Tom Roper (Clinical Librarian, General Surgery and Digestive Diseases, Urology, Acute and Emergency Medicine, Critical Care, Trauma and Orthopaedics, Royal Sussex County Hospital) has selected the following article: The Embase UK filter: validation of a geographic search filter to retrieve research about the UK from OVID Embase, by Lynda Ayiku and others available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/hir.12252"

Canadian Media Literacy Week #MediaLitWk

This week (7-11 October) is Canadian Media Literacy Week and "This year MediaSmarts is encouraging Canadian Media Literacy Week participants to Break the Fake and check information before sharing it online. A suite of free online resources is available for Media Literacy Week Collaborators and educators, including a Break the Fake workshop and lesson plans. " Go to https://mediasmarts.ca/get-involved/media-literacy-week-break-fake and below is the advert they are using to encourage people to question the news.

UK National Libraries week #LibrariesWeek

This week is National Libraries Week in the UK. The theme is digital and "will celebrate and explore how libraries are engaging communities through technology, building digital skills and confidence, encouraging digital participation and inclusion, supporting health, wellbeing and education and supporting local business and enterprise." I think there is an information literacy angle there! There is also a competition to build your ‘Library of the Future’ out of LEGO bricks.
http://www.librariesweek.org.uk/

Everyday information literacy #PMLGConference19

My colleague Pamela McKinney is giving a workshop at the PMLG (+ ILG) National Conference 2019: Information Literacy in Public Libraries taking place today in London, UK. This is a description and a link to her slides
"This reflective workshop on everyday information literacy will enable participants to explore the contextual and individual nature of information literacy, and how to relate this to their own practices as an information professional. Information literacy will be explicitly linked to concepts of lifelong learning, citizenship and participation in the information society. Participants will reflect on their own experiences of developing information literacy in their daily lives, and use this as a platform to develop their conceptual understanding of information literacy. Annemaree Lloyd’s model of “Information Landscapes” will provide the framework for a reflective activity where participants will identify the information they had to master in order to become information literate in an aspect of their daily lives. Participants will be encouraged to discuss their evolving understanding of information literacy, and how that relates to their role as an information professional. A discussion of how library services and librarians can support the development information literacy given the diversity of patron needs due to differing levels of education, media literacy and life stage and socio-economic status. Sharing and discussing aspects of current good practice and will provide ideas for future service development." Slides are at http://bit.ly/2nY6XrA

Everyday information literacy: CILIP Public & Mobile Library Group conference October 2019 from Pamela McKinney

Deepfakes explained

Last month the UK's Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation published what they call a "Snapshot Paper" with a useful overview of Deepfakes and Audiovisual Disinformation. The 20 page publication includes definitions and about deepfakes and shallowfakes and outlines issues and concerns. It can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cdei-publishes-its-first-series-of-three-snapshot-papers-ethical-issues-in-ai/snapshot-paper-deepfakes-and-audiovisual-disinformation
It is also linked from this webpage (which links to two other reports at time of writing, including one on smart speakers and voice assistants:  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cdei-publishes-its-first-series-of-three-snapshot-papers-ethical-issues-in-ai?123

No-one is going to take this infolit talking cat for a deepfake, but I generated it here and thought it was rather cute.

Call for proposals open #LILAC20

The call is open for proposals for the 2020 LILAC (UK information literacy) conference, to be held 6-8 April 2020 at Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK. The strict deadline for proposals is 5pm UK time, 13 November 2019. "LILAC welcomes proposals which address information literacy from all sectors and contexts. For LILAC 2020 we invite you to present on any aspect of information literacy, there are no specific themes. We ask that your presentation makes explicit reference to your innovative practice or research in information literacy. All submissions to the conference are peer reviewed before acceptance." The options are: Micro-teach (15 minutes); Masterclass ("Think of it as a Teachmeet with more time" - 1 hour); Workshops (1 hour); Short presentation (20 minutes); Long presentations (45 minutes + 15 minutes for questions); Panel Discussion (60 minutes).
More information at https://www.lilacconference.com/

Including more diversity in Information Literacy education

An interesting blog post from Angela Feekery about Un-silencing the silent voices , on the New Zealand Information Literacy Spaces blog. She talks about ways of including more diverse voices and perspectives in information literacy teaching and learning. She also mentions a previous blog post giving an information literacy perspective on decolonising the curriculum.
Photo by Sheila Webber of Bryn Oh's art installation "Daughter of gears"

Call for papers WILU: Visions of the Possible #WILU2020

There is a call for proposals for the Canadian Information Literacy conference due to take place 27-29 May 2020 in Halifax, Canada.
WILU 2020. Deadline for proposals is  November 15, 2019. The conference theme is Visions of the Possible and the conference is hosted by Dalhousie, Mount Saint Vincent, and Saint Mary’s Universities. They say about the theme: "Teaching is, in part, about asking questions. Thoughtful teaching considers questions like “what is happening in this classroom?” and “what works in helping students learn?” Visions of the possible, a phrase borrowed from the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), goes further and asks us to ponder “what if?” and avoid making assumptions. Visions of the possible anticipate surprise and embrace the unexpected nature of some of teaching’s most important outcomes."

You can put in proposals for: Presentation (45-minute session); Panel discussion (45-minute session); Lightning talk (5-minute session). Conference info is at https://wilu-conference.github.io Links to previous WILU conference websites are here: https://wilu-conference.github.io/about/