Online conference: Information Literacy and Democracy (IDE)

Another free conference to move online: Information Literacy and Democracy (IDE), 19-20 June 2020. The sessions are:
- Artificial intelligence and its application in information and media literacy education (William Cope & Mary Kalantzis; University of Illinois, USA)
- Views on and the shape of information literacy (Johanna Rivano Eckerdal; Lund University, Sweden)
- Information literacy for a functioning democracy in the post-truth era (Serap Kurbanoǧlu; Hacettepe University Ankara, Turkey)
- Learning intercultural aspects of information literacy: an experiential experiment involving German and Indian students (Tessy Thadathil, Francis Jarman, Sophie März & Joachim Griesbaum; Symbiosis College Of Arts & Commerce Pune, India & University of Hildesheim, Germany)
- Media and Information Literacy as self-disruption (Mario Hibert & Emir Vajzović; University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Conference programme at https://informationskompetenz.blog.uni-hildesheim.de/conference-program-2020/
If you are interested in participating up or want to get more information on the conference, sign up by emailing infodem@uni-hildesheim.de by 12 June 2020
Website: https://informationskompetenz.blog.uni-hildesheim.de/english/
Photo by Sheila Webber: eschscholzia, May 2020

#CALC2020 recordings available

There are now links to recordings of all the Critical Approaches to Libraries Conference (CALC2020) parallel sessions and keynote talks - the conference took place on May 13th 2020. I'm looking forward to catching up on the parallel sessions I missed! The sessions are:
- Keynote 1: Campaigning for Change (Quinn Roache : Policy Officer – LGBT+ and Disabled Workers – Equalities and Strategies Department – Trades Union Congress)
- Shared Reading with Portuguese Speakers (Elena Traina)
- Ageism and Libraries (Sheila Webber i.e. me)
- Read at Leicester (Heena Karavadra)
- One Subdivision at a Time (Sarah Hammond)
- Sick Systems: Is Cruelty the Point of HE? (Hannah Hickman)
- Developing Credit-Bearing Modules in Critical Library Practices (Michelle Bond and Darren Flynn)
- Keynote 2: Academic Libraries: A Critical Postcolonial Feminist Perspective (Dr Zainab Naqvi: Senior Lecturer in Law, Leicester De Montfort Law School)
- Critical Role of the Area Information Specialist Towards Decolonisation (Waseem Farooq)
- How Witches Use the Libraries: The Information Behaviour of Contemporary Pagans and Ritual Magicians (Joanne Fitzpatrick)
- Embedding Change in HE through Decolonizing Academic Practices (Sara Ewing)
For the list of links, go to http://calc.coventry.domains/8-2/session-recordings/

Recent articles: Cultural context; student-parents; value of academic libraries

Articles from the latest issue (vol 81 no 4) of open access College and Research Libraries includes:
- Crist, E. & Popoa, D. (2020). Information Literacy and Cultural Context: Chinese English Language Learners’ Understandings of Information Authority. College & Research Libraries, 81(4), 646-661.
- Scott, R. & Varner, B. (2020). Exploring the Research and Library Needs of Student-Parents. College & Research Libraries, 81(4), 598-
Go to https://crl.acrl.org/index.php/crl/issue/view/1579/showToc

Vol 81 issue 3 focused on value of academic libraries and included:
- Anderson, L. & Vega Garcia, S. (2020). Library Usage, Instruction, and Student Success across Disciplines: A Multilevel Model Approach. College & Research Libraries, 81(3), 459-
- Lowe, M.S., Currier, A. & Graunke, S. (2020). Documenting the Value of Librarians in the Classroom: Results from a Mixed-Methods Research Collaboration with Campus Partners. College & Research Libraries, 81(3), 492-
- Epstein, M. & Draxler, B. (2020). Collaborative Assessment of an Academic Library and Writing Center Partnership: Embedded Writing and Research Tutors for First-Year Students. College & Research Libraries, 81(3), 509-
- Beile, P. et al. (2020). Aligning Library Assessment with Institutional Priorities: A Study of Student Academic Performance and Use of Five Library Services. College & Research Libraries, 81(3), 435- [the 5 services included IL teaching]

Go to https://crl.acrl.org/index.php/crl/issue/view/1576/showToc
Photo by Sheila Webber: Foxglove, May 2020

#Metaliteracy MOOCs

Two MOOCs on Metaliteracy start today (26 May) and are available for registration via Coursera
(1) Metaliteracy: Empowering Yourself in a Connected World. Week 1 "defines metaliteracy and explains what it means to be a metaliterate learner in today’s connected world. We describe the four learning domains of metaliteracy and explore the roles of the metaliterate learner. We also interview an expert who defines metacognition, one of the key aspects of metaliteracy.... [week 2] explores intellectual property and information ethics. ... [week 3 explores] the different ways in which we create and share information. ... [in week 4] we ask you to examine what you have learned about metaliteracy. ... You will create a digital artifact or story of your choosing that will address one key aspect of metaliteracy." https://www.coursera.org/learn/metaliteracy

(2) Empowering Yourself in a Post-Truth World "In this course, you will gain insights to recognize your own biases and identify preconceptions in today’s dynamic social information environment. Through metaliteracy, you will practice self-reflective, metacognitive processes and reexamine fixed mindsets. Together, we will consider the importance of facts and expertise in reinventing a truthful world based on inclusive communities of trust. This course will empower you to be a reflective consumer and a creative, responsible producer of information, and to raise and share your voice in this post-truth milieu." https://www.coursera.org/learn/empowering-yourself-post-truth-world
Photo by Sheila Webber: roses in a garden, May 2020

#ACRLtogether2020

There is a free virtual event in June: ACRL Together Wherever "a week of virtual programming and networking opportunities for the academic and research library community to be held June 8-12, 2020" It includes some sessions relevant to information literacy, including:
- Students Do Not Attend Alone: A Community Approach to College Information Literacy
- Flip the Deficit Script: First-year student interviews about everyday life research can change your instruction
- Reframing reference services: Perceptions and futures of the reference desk, findings from a mixed-methods survey
Sign up for each session individually using the registration links. You are encouraged to network using #ACRLtogether2020
For the schedule, go to http://www.ala.org/acrl/conferences/atw
Photo by Sheila Webber, April 2020: for these events it seems like it sin't residents only, anyone can sign up

The Skills Toolkit

I think this is new - on the UK Government website - with curated links to online courses. "The Skills Toolkit is made up of free online courses, tools and resources to help you improve your digital and numeracy skills. The Department for Education has consulted some of the country’s leading educational experts and employers to make up a collection of high quality resources to suit a range of interests and skill levels." The useful entry page is https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/find-a-course/the-skills-toolkit the slash page is https://theskillstoolkit.campaign.gov.uk/ but it doesn't have much extra information and is only worth linking to if you think are people are only going to be accessing it on their phone.
Photo by Sheila Webber, April 2020

Webinar: Thinking Critically About Information in Uncertain Times

A webinar on 3 June 2020 from ACRL is: Thinking Critically About Information in Uncertain Times at 2-3pm US Eastern time, which is (e.g.) 7-8pm UK time. This one hour webinar, led by Sarah Morris, costs: ACRL member: US $50; ALA member: $75; Nonmember: $90; Student: $40.
"Libraries, universities, schools, and other learning environments are grappling with numerous changes and challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, including significant shifts in how we teach, learn, and research in now remote and online environments. Now, more than ever, it is vital to equip learners with the skills they need to navigate a rapidly changing information landscape and to empower learners to be critical consumers, users, and producers of information. Increasingly, our students and patrons need information and media literacy skills to not only achieve success in learning environments that are undergoing a great deal of change, but also to navigate challenging information landscapes that influence the decisions they might be making about their health, their career, and their role as citizens.  ... Together, we will unpack and share some of our current challenges. Next, we will explore select vital, and highly transferrable, information and media literacy skills and concepts that can be empowering and beneficial for students to learn during this time. We will then consider instruction strategies, methods, and approaches for delivering this content to students. Finally, we will explore ideas for ways to communicate and share our content and ideas with different audiences and partners to ensure our efforts can not only meet the needs of the present moment but also continue in the future." More info at http://www.ala.org/acrl/onlinelearning/thinkingcritically
Photo by Sheila Webber: wild roses in a garden, May 2020

Recent articles: CPD; Assessing IL; Impact; Writing Services

The last 2 issues of the Journal of Academic Librarianship (priced) include:
In Volume 46 issue 3
- Continuing professional development as transformational learning: A case study by Agnes Namaganda
- Japanese manga in translation and American graphic novels: A re-examination of the collections in 36 academic libraries ten years later by Glenn Masuchika
- Assessing information literacy in first year writing by Kevin W. Walker and Sara Maurice Whitver

In Volume 46 issue 4
- Demonstrating library impact: Liaison assessment by Eric Resnis, Jennifer Natale
- Unifying academic research and writing services: Student perspectives on a combined service model by David Ward, Carolyn Wisniewski, Susan Avery, Kirsten Feist
Photo by Sheila Webber: beneath the cottonwood tree, May 2020

New articles: SoTL; Inquiry Based Learning; Impact

The latest issue (Vol. 8 no. 1 2020) of Teaching & Learning Inquiry, the open access journal of the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL), includes
- Behari-Leak, K. (2020). Toward a borderless, decolonized, socially just, and inclusive Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.Teaching & Learning Inquiry, 8(1), 4-23. https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.8.1.2 " Drawing on Africa as a case study to explore a framework for thinking outside borders, the author invites the reader to embrace a global social imagination that disrupts and transcends the epistemic, social, and cultural borders designed to produce knowledge that is ahistorical and decontextualized. "
- Pechenkina, E. (2020). Chasing impact: The tale of three SoTL studies. Teaching & Learning Inquiry, 8(1), 91-107. https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.8.1.7 "the author proposes a rubric by which to judge various levels and dimensions of impact achieved in SoTL-focused projects. To operationalize it, the rubric is applied to three completed projects, which while differing in their initial scope and intended outputs were united by a shared goal of improving learning by the means of innovative teaching."
- Archer-Kuhn, B., Lee, Y., Finnessey, S., & Liu, J. (2020). Inquiry-based learning as a facilitator to student engagement in undergraduate and graduate social work programs. Teaching & Learning Inquiry, 8(1), 187-207. https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.8.1.13 "This seven-cohort mixed methods study examines student engagement in their learning in higher education utilizing inquiry-based learning."
Photo by Sheila Webber: seeds from the cottonwood tree, May 2020 - this has covered the pavement in a cloud of cottony material

Online course: Online Instructional Design and Delivery

A Library Juice Academy online course Online Instructional Design and Delivery runs June 1 to July 12 2020, costing US $250 and led by Mimi O'Malley. "this six week course will navigate participants through course design and delivery ... By the end of this course, participants will be able to: Determine the importance of learning objectives in relation to assessments.; Explore various instructional materials and learning activities to enhance student learning outcomes.; Identify techniques for increasing instructor presence in an online course.; Explore techniques to help pace students in an online course.; Discuss various student online misbehaviors and identify ways to remediate such behavior." More info at https://libraryjuiceacademy.com/shop/course/111-online-instructional-design-and-delivery/
Photo by Sheila Webber: chestnut leaves, May 2020

#uklibchat - libraries after lockdown

The next #uklibchat (librarians' chat on Twitter) is on 1 June 2020 on Libraries after lockdown. "As the coronavirus pandemic continues, countries and library workers are considering what a physical library service (if any) will look like in the future. What are libraries across all sectors considering? What best practice can we take from other areas and countries? How do we manage the practical and emotional issues around going back into workspaces?" Go to for full information https://uklibchat.wordpress.com/2020/05/18/uklibchat-1st-june-libraries-after-lockdown/ and you can add discussion questions here
Photo by Sheila Webber: fallen pink chestnut blossom, May 2020

New: Research coherence; Learning design; thesis topics; Open Science; Data literacy

A few recent articles, a blog post and a thesis.
- Sisamaki, E. (2020). The Advising Dimension of Information Literacy: Helping Students Decide on a Thesis Topic. (Masters thesis, Tampere University of Applied Sciences). https://www.theseus.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/337111/Sisamaki_Evgenia.pdf (the research was undertaken in Greece)
- Hart, E. & Annear, C. (2020). Research Coherence: A Framework for Successful Student Research. College Teaching. [early online publication]. https://doi.org/10.1080/87567555.2020.1758022 (priced) "This article develops a coherence framework to address problems students face throughout the research and writing process. This framework joins literature on coherence techniques and effective pedagogies including guided research, peer modeling, checkpoints, and reflection. The article presents pedagogical recommendations for establishing coherence in student research and writing projects."
- Pagowsky, N. (2020). Leaving the one-shot through a feminist approach to designing an instruction program. https://www.nicolepagowsky.com/blog/leaving-one-shot (a blog post with text and slides from a talk she gave at NELIG, April 15, 2020).

(Not new, but new-to-me)
- Lopes, C., da Luz Antunes, M. & Sanches, T. (2019). Information Literacy and Open Science: Before and After the New ACRL Framework. European Conference on Information Literacy 2018 proceedings. https://www.academia.edu/38506350/Information_Literacy_and_Open_Science_Before_and_After_the_New_ACRL_Framework?
- Dai, Y. (2019). How many ways can we teach data literacy? IASSIST Quarterly, 43(4), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.29173/iq963 (open access) "(1) We initiated the yearlong series of events titled ‘Lying with Data’, inviting faculty across disciplines to each address one core data literacy question that students of data science may elude. (2) We offered workshops and in-class instruction that are up-to-date with the latest technology and that fit with the curriculum. (3) We created online casebooks on various topics in the data lifecycle, tackling user needs at different levels."
Photo by Sheila Webber: pink horse chestnut blossoms, May 2020

Celebrating Shane Godbolt

The latest issue of Focus on International Library and Information Work is dedicated to Shane Godbolt, who died last year, and who I remember with respect and affection from when we were both young information professionals. As the editorial says she was "someone who championed libraries sharing expertise and working together across borders" and the issue includes an article detailing her extensive work, and reprints of coauthored articles Promoting the Health of the People of Africa Building Library Partnerships for Better Health and Building a Partnership to Promote Health Information: A Case Study in Kenya.
The issue also includes a report on the conference Decolonising Library Collections and Practices: from Understanding to Impact. Go to https://cilip.informz.ca/CILIP/data/images/Special%20Interest%20Groups/ILIG/Focus51-1.pdf
Photo of Shane Godbolt by Tom Roper: "At the launch of the North Thames Regional Documents Database in 1996, in a hotel next to paddington station. Shane Godbolt and I are holding copies of the CD-Rom version of the database." Roper, T. (1996). shanetom. https://flic.kr/p/bi4zp. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Webinar: Connecting Justice to Frameworks: Information Literacy in Social Work

There is another interesting free ACRL webinar: Connecting Justice to Frameworks: Information Literacy in Social Work on May 21 2020 at 10am US Central time, which is e.g. 4pm UK time. "Standards, frameworks, and guidelines help us define and describe the work we do to ourselves and to external stakeholders. If budget decisions tell us what our priorities are, documents like the Framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education tell us what they should be. Integrating social justice into these documents can serve as a platform for directing attention and resources to our commitments around equity, diversity, and inclusion. The EBSS Social Work Committee has been hard at work developing an information literacy disciplinary framework that does just that. Join this committee and the Information Literacy Standards and Frameworks Committee to learn about this project. Participants will come away with concrete strategies for integrating social justice efforts with standards work."
Registration at https://ala-events.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_6zDr_WIiS0y5Xgo0julKsQ
Photo by Sheila Webber: Chestnut tree, April 2020

Webinar: MIL and critical online presence to deal with #COVID19 crisis and beyond #MILCLICKS

Today (Thursday 14 May) at 3pm UK time, 4pm Paris time, experts Professor Davina Frau-Meigs and Dr Michael Hoechsmann will discuss MIL and critical online presence to deal with COVID19 crisis and beyond for the latest UNESCO GAPMIL webinar.
Go to https://www.facebook.com/MILCLICKS for the livestream, and the recording afterwards.

Ageism and libraries #CALC2020

Today I gave a presentation on Ageism and libraries at the Critical Approaches to Libraries Conference 2020 (held online). I talked about what ageism was, how the COVID19 crisis has brought ageism more sharply into focus, ageism in the (library) workplace, and ageism in services to library users. These are the slides, and the references are at

https://tinyurl.com/yb7x49kd

Ageism and libraries from Sheila Webber

Report from #CALC2020 - How Witches Use Libraries

Next for my liveblogging at the Critical Approaches to Libraries Conference conference is How Witches Use Libraries: the library and information needs of contemporary Pagans and Ritual magicians from Joanna Fitzpatrick based on her dissertation research. She is a longstanding member of the community she was investigating, though she also explained that there are different perspectives on paganism and ritual magick (with these defined as a group of alternative spiritualities and religions).
There are no theological libraries, so there is a reliance on small and often personal collections, and there is no core holy text and some important texts are dfficult to access. There is no authority or central body that speaks for these spiritualities. "Information Literacy is important as you have to do it yourself" and serendipity in information discovery is valued.
Existing organisations in the UK include the Library of Avalon, Museum of Witchcraft and Magick, and the Doreen Valiente Foundation.
Fitzpatrick then outlined the findings from her research, where she did a survey of over 100 participants (sorry, I didn't take down the exact number) and interviewed 5 people. She represented her findings in terms of pairings of different perspectives (see screengrab) e.g. (Reconstruction/inspiration) interest in reconstructing ancient spiritualities, versus using them as inspiration for new ideas. I got particularly excited (as a super-encounterer) at the references to information encountering and its importance.
She went on to talk about non rational ways of knowing (such as divination, gnosis, and syncromysticism) and challenged librarians to recognise these as forms of information. Fitzpatrick encouraged us to reflect on how libraries were (not?) meeting the needs of this community, how libraries could accommodate the community's needs, and how these findings and ideas relate to the organisation of the library and teaching of information literacy more generally.
Her website includes links to readings etc https://ofthewaspsthebees.wordpress.com/

Report from #CALC2020 - Sick Systems: is “cruelty the point” of higher education? @hd_hickman

The next session I'm liveblogging from the Critical Approaches to Libraries Conference is Sick Systems: is “cruelty the point” of higher education? presented by Hannah Hickman. She started by defining cruelty and sick systems. She cited Lauren Berlant's Cruel Optimism (see screengrab) and talked about the peverse rewards and values in Higher Education - like keeping students working, focused on grades and employability, encouraging 24/7 study (e.g. in library) and using quantifiable measures of success. This also extends to the quantification of research, skipping over meaning and value to focus on metrics.
We then split into groups to discuss our experience. In the feedback session afterwards a number of themes emerged, such as librarians having to enforce policies they didn't believe in, or the promise of social mobility for students not matching the reality, and a cruel educational system where so much depends on having money to pay for study & costs of living. There was a discussion about the issues/cruelty that have emerged from the way universities have handled the Coronvirus outbreak e.g. disadvantaged groups being overlooked, false assumptions about students having the means to study from home - the most vulnerable staff and students were also being adversely affected the most.
This is a short post about a very interesting question, which is well worth discussing further.

Report from #CALC2020 - Campaigning for Change

Today I'm attending the Critical Approaches to Libraries Conference 2020 and I am aiming to do some liveblogging, although paradoxically I find it more difficult to liveblog virtual events than physical ones - as usual, I have to say this is just my impression of what was said. The first keynote, Campaigning for Change, is from Quinn Roache, who is Policy Officer, LGBT+ and Disabled Workers, Equalities and Strategies Department, Trades Union Congress. After introducing himself, he explained what the TUC was (to be really brief it is the umbrella organisation for Trade Unions in the UK, founded in 1868). He identified the work of trade unions at places of work, but also more widely in society. When advocating for change or developing poloicies they consult and work with with concerned members, as the keyword is "democracy", and pay attention to research evidence. He went on to say more about a campaign about disability employment and pay gaps, with their research showing both that disabled people were less likely to have a job (30% less, with variations between type of disability) and those with jobs were getting paid less. Amongst other things it showed that government targets of erasing the gaps were unachievable without radical action.

Roache presented some statistics from the TUC research, showing that diasbled workers were having to make stark choices about buying essential items, because of their low pay: the report and recommendations are here and here. He talked about how they designed and built the campaign, building up an infrastructure, communicating the message (creating unbranded material to support the campaign) and reaching influencers.
After this, Roache talked about their LGBT Sexual Harassment research, which started with a roundtable with members from affiliated unions. They carried out a survey with specific questions about LGBT sexual harassment. It discovered that 70% of respondents had experienced sexual harassment, e.g. 40% reported hearing colleagues make unwelcome comments about their sex life, and 1 in 8 LGBT women reported serious sexual assault or rape at work. The research is here and the TUC's page on their campaign against sexual harassment is here. He finished by talking about TUC work giving workers a voice in the time of Coronavirus - see here.

PRIMO Site of the Month: Writing a Literature Review

The latest "Site of the month" selected by the Peer-Reviewed Instructional Materials Online (PRIMO) Committee of the Instruction Section of ACRL is: Writing a Literature Review
and there is a text interview with its creators,  Kian Ravaei, Taylor Harper, and Doug Worsham (UCLA Library, USA). The learning outcomes for the online tutorial are: "By the end of this activity, you'll be able to: Recognize key components of a literature review; Identify a knowledge gap in previous research and express how you can address the gap; Organize sources effectively and logically" For the interview, go to https://acrl.ala.org/IS/instruction-tools-resources-2/pedagogy/primo-peer-reviewed-instruction-materials-online/primo-site-of-the-month/may-2020-site-of-the-month/
Photo by Sheila Webber: carpet of cherry blossom, April 2020

New articles: library and knowledge services

The latest issue of the open access Library and Information Research (volume 43 no. 127, 2020) is a special issue focusing on Good practice in NHS-funded library and knowledge services which includes:
- Delivering search skills training for healthcare staff in England: A collaborative approach to developing e-learning by Sarah Lewis & Tracey Pratchett
- Making serious learning easy and fun at OHFT: Educational board games by Mpilo Siwela
- Embedded Librarian in an Emergency Department: A service evaluation by Jennifer Lorna Moth
Go to https://lirgjournal.org.uk/index.php/lir/issue/view/78
Photo by Sheila Webber: cow parsley, May 2020

UK House of Lords Committee: livestream of #misinformation during the Covid-19 crisis

At at 10.30am UK time on Tuesday 12 May there will be a livestream of the House of Lords Committee on Democracy and Digital Technologies' first virtual public meeting on the impact of misinformation during the current Covid-19 crisis (and more broadly on democracy). The session will be held via Zoom and livestreamed at http://www.parliamentlive.tv
Giving evidence will be Nick Gibb MP, Minister for School Standards, Department of Education; Caroline Dineage MP, Minister for Digital and Culture, DCMS; Chloe Smith MP, Minister of State, Cabinet Office.
"Questions the Committee will cover with the Ministers include: How Covid-19 has changed the way the Government approaches digital technologies? What positive action have the tech giants taken in the face of the Covid-19 crisis and what lessons can they take from that for the future? What the Covid-19 crisis has taught the Government about the relative levels of digital literacy amongst teaching staff and their ability to help young people engage safely online? How will the Government upskill teachers at this critical time? How soon the Government expects its Online Harms work to see fruition and whether the Online Harms Bill will be implemented before 2023. Whether the Government has considered appointing an online ombudsman to help individuals seek redress against technology companies? When the Government intends to respond to the Electoral Commission’s report on modernising electoral law to reflect developments in digital campaigning? Whether the Government believes that misinformation is more likely to occur in online political advertising than in offline print material and whether it has investigated the feasibility of the Electoral Commission creating a comprehensive database of online and offline election material?"
Photo by Sheila Webber: Hawthorn, May 2020

Webinar: Learning Through Play: Games and Gamification in Information Literacy Instruction

A priced webinar on 14 May 2020 at 2pm US Eastern time (which is, e.g., 7pm UK time) from the ACRL: Learning Through Play: Games and Gamification in Information Literacy Instruction "Join Eva Sclippa and Stephanie Crowe, editors of the recent ACRL publication Games and Gamification in Academic Libraries, for an interactive webcast about games and gamification in information literacy instruction. Introducing collaborative and competitive games or game elements into our instruction is one highly effective means of increasing students’ engagement in the learning process, as well as their comprehension and retention. In this webcast, we will discuss methods, recommended practices, and rationales for employing games and gamification in information literacy, from small portions of one-shot instruction sessions to semester-long credit-bearing courses." Cost is: ACRL member: US $50; ALA member: $75; Nonmember: $90; Student: $40; Group*: $295. More info at http://www.ala.org/acrl/onlinelearning/gamification
Photo by Sheila Webber, fallen chestnut blossoms, May 2020

Webinar: talks include active learning; information needs of PsyD students

The ACRL EBSS (Education and Behavioral Sciences Section) Research Committee has a Virtual Research Forum on May 14, 11am - 12:30 US PST (which is, e.g. 7pm UK time). There will be10-minute lightning talks (and time for questions) on the following:

- Assessing Student Attitudes Toward Research in an Undergraduate Social Science Research Methods Course (Rachel Wishkoski, Utah State University)

- Don’t Let the Space Confine You: Active Learning in Library Instruction (Heather Adair and Ashley B. Cran, Sam Houston State University)

- From Idea to Dissertation: Information Needs on the Research Journey of PsyD Students (Trent Brager, University of St. Thomas)

- The Effect of Augmented Reality on Anxiety and Self-Efficacy: an Exploratory Study (Samantha Kannegiser, Rutgers University—Camden)
The session will use Zoom. Register at
https://ala-events.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIoc-ygpjkvBWHIgrYKTY20R2G3RKMmOQ
Photo by Sheila Webber: chestnut flowers, April 2020

New articles: fighting #fakenews ; teaching infolit via comedy; peer support

The latest issue of open access journal College & Research Libraries News (C&RL News) (Vol 81, No 5) includes:
- Fighting fake news: Inspiring critical thinking with memorable learning experiences by Stephanie A. Diaz, Russell A. Hall (The experiences were: a trip to "Newseum in Washington, D.C., a museum dedicated to teaching about the First Amendment and the importance of the free press"; a faculty panel and a visit from a journalist and an editor)
- Evoking truthiness: Using satirical news comedies to teach information literacy by Annis Lee Adams, Stephanie Alexander, Lana Mariko Wood (they talk about using clips from shows in which "humor is employed to poke fun at the day’s events", some of the issues that may arise, and how to relate the teaching to the ACRL IL Framework)
- Virtual cohorts: Peer support and problem-solving at a distance by Amy Tureen, Erick Lemon, Joyce Martin, Starr Hoffman, Mindy Thuna, Willie Miller
Go to https://crln.acrl.org/index.php/crlnews/issue/view/1578/showToc
Photo by Sheila Webber: Judas tree branches and blossom against a curtain of trees, April 2020

UNESCO GAPMIL webinars and links in response to #COVID19 #MILCLICKS

The Global Alliance of Partnerships in Media and Information Literacy has a page of useful resources/links relating to misinformation & COVID-19, and has organised a series of webinars mainly on Facebook (on the #MILCLICKS page). There was already a webinar with experts Alexandre Sayad and  Lisa Hinchliffe, which you can view here: https://www.facebook.com/MILCLICKS/videos/533298004048580/ Upcoming webinars are
- 1 May, 09:00 Bogota time, world premiere of the audiovisual series (on the Edumedia-3 YouTube channel): Topic: “(Info)media, educación para la información” (in Spanish)
- 4, 5, 7 May, 17:00 Madrid time: Webinar by GAPMIL member, Communication and Education Cabinet of the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Topic: “El periodismo de cualidad en la era de la desinformación” (in Spanish)
- 7 May, 15:00 Paris time: Webinar by two GAPMIL experts. Topic: “MIL Parenting”
- 14 May, time TBC. Webinar by two GAPMIL Youth Ambassadors and a GAPMIL expert. Topic: “Cases on youth engagement to address COVID-19 disinformation”
- 21 May, time TBC. Questions and Answers via Twitter with a GAPMIL expert. Topic: “MIL and COVID-19”
Go to https://en.unesco.org/themes/media-and-information-literacy/gapmil/covid19