Sunday, February 28, 2021
Cyber Resilience and Internet Safety (CRIS)
Saturday, February 27, 2021
eTwinning focuses on media literacy and disinformation
The European-funded eTwinning ongoing project (operating for numerous years) to virtually "twin" schools in different European countries "offers a platform for staff (teachers, head teachers, librarians, etc.), working in a school in one of the European countries involved, to communicate, collaborate, develop projects, share and, in short, feel and be part of the most exciting learning community in Europe." This year's focus for projects and activities is media literacy and fighting misinformation. There is a "group" page here that will be a focus for the projects, and there will be a launch in a couple of days, on March 1st 2021: https://groups.etwinning.net/151326/home .
Sadly I don't think the UK can join these projects post-Brexit, but librarians in other European countrie should see opportunities here.
Photo by Sheila Webber: blood and ordinary oranges, February 2021
Friday, February 26, 2021
Webinars: Informed governments , citizens and societies
Two upcoming IFLA webinars: Strengthening Recovery and Accelerating Development through Informed Governments and Societies on 12 March 2021 at 12.15 CET (which is, e.g., 11.15 UK time). "This side-event of the UNECE Regional Forum on Sustainable Development will make the case for viewing information, including both access to it and the skills to use it, as a driver of recovery in the short term, and an accelerator towards UN 2030 Agenda success. It will draw on the experience of libraries and others working to improve access, hearing about their work in providing this service during COVID, and how more can be done to realise the potential of information." Speakers: Francisco Pisano (Director, UN Library, Geneva, Switzerland); Paolo Lantieri (World Intellectual Property Organization, Geneva, Switzerland); Raphaelle Bats (University of Bordeaux, France); Franziska Baetke (Komision Biblio2030, Switzerland). Organised by the IFLA Policy and Advocacy Team as a Side-Event of the UNECE Regional Forum on Sustainable Development 2021. Registration Link: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_8Cn2rRpKQlCPEQX9Kkf3wg
Informed Citizens, Societies and Governments for Sustainable and Resilient Recovery on 23 March at 02:15-03:45 CET/UTC+1 (which is, e.g., 11.15am -1.15pm in Sydney, 1.15am to 3.45am UK time) "Governments, communities and individuals across the Asia-Pacific region will have many tough decisions to make if we are to achieve sustainable and resilient recovery from COVID-19. A precondition for doing this well will be to be well-informed. . This side event, held at the time of the 8th Asia-Pacific Forum for Sustainable Development, will draw on experience from civil society, government and the research field to explore the case for a holistic approach to promoting meaningful and equitable access to information, and the challenges to overcome. It will look, in particular, at the role that libraries of all types can play in helping the region, and the world, to build back better." Organised by the IFLA Policy and Advocacy Team as a Side-Event of the 8th Asia-Pacific Forum for Sustainable Development.
Registration Link: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_KZYgSQGgRVKTotG4VCufUQ
Photo by Sheila Webber: winter dusk, February 2021
Thursday, February 25, 2021
Recent articles: IL of Slovakian students; Information overload; information behaviour; fact-checking
The latest issue of the priced Journal of Documentation, Volume 77 Issue 2, includes:
- Modelling the information seeking and searching behaviour of users with impairments: are existing models applicable? by Gerd Berget, Andrew MacFarlane, Nils Pharo
- Information experiences of Bangladeshi immigrants in Canada by Nafiz Zaman Shuva
- Tag analysis as a tool for investigating information behaviour: comparing fan-tagging on Tumblr, Archive of Our Own and Etsy by Ludi Price, Lyn Robinson
- An emerging genre of contemporary fact-checking by Amalia Juneström
- Information cultures and strategies for coping with information overload: case of Estonian higher education institutions by Liia Lauri, Sirje Virkus, Mati Heidmets
- Social aspects of personal information organization by Kyong Eun Oh
Go to https://www.emerald.com/insight/publication/issn/0022-0418/vol/77/iss/2
The previous issue (vol 77 issue 1) included:
- Technologies, knowledge and truth: the three dimensions of information literacy of university students in Slovakia by Jakub Fázik, Jela Steinerová
- Searching, sharing and singing: understanding the information behaviors of choral directors by Christine Fena
- Affordances for information practices: theorizing engagement among people, technology, and sociocultural environments by Yuxiang Chris Zhao, Yan Zhang, Jian Tang, Shijie Song
Go to https://www.emerald.com/insight/publication/issn/0022-0418/vol/77/iss/1
Photo by Sheila Webber: goslings! February 2021
Tuesday, February 23, 2021
Articles on Information, Diversity, & Inclusion
The open access International Journal of Information, Diversity, & Inclusion (IJIDI) "presents wide ranging and multidisciplinary perspectives on the intersection of equity, social justice, and information."
Taking up the theme from my blog post 2 days ago, volume 4 no 2 (2020) included:
- Mind the Five Card Game Participatory Games to Strengthen Information Practices and Privacy Protections of Migrants by Ricardo Gomez, Bryce C Newell, Sara Vannini (Sara is a colleague of mine in the Information School ;-)
- Situational Information Behaviour Exploring the Complexity of Refugee Integration by Olubukola Oduntan, Ian Ruthven
Volume 4 issue 3/4 includes:
- Facts, Truth and Post-truth Access to Cognitively and Socially Just Information by Rachel Fischer, Erin Klazar
- How the Botswana International University of Science and Technology Library Engages its Stakeholders in Connecting Information Resources, Services, and Space by Ayanda Agnes Lebele
- Bridging Information Worlds Talking to Northern Students and Southern Scholars About Global Inequities in Scholarly Communication by Laurie Kutner
The latest issue is Vol 5 No 1 (2021), a Special Issue on Diversity, Recordkeeping, and Archivy
Photo by Sheila Webber: winter dusk, February 2021
Monday, February 22, 2021
Registration open for Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy
Sunday, February 21, 2021
Mind the five
"1. Exercise prudence. Limit the collection of personal information; include only information that is necessary.
"2. Protect and secure information from and about migrants. Pay attention to mitigating risks from both technological and human factors.
"3. Provide training. Ensure that volunteers and staff are aware and trained regarding privacy- and security-related protocols. Empower migrants to be more privacy aware.
"4. Share-alike. Work with collaborators and partners to improve privacy and security practices, based on ongoing evaluation and refinement.
"5. Practice non-discrimination. Provide humanitarian services to everybody, including those who prefer not to share their personal information."
There are materials (flyer, poster, leaflet and card game) licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution, Non-commercial license. Go to https://sites.uw.edu/rgomez/mind-the-five/
Friday, February 19, 2021
The Connection
Thursday, February 18, 2021
Students' information literacy; Escape room for infolit
Recently published is the French language priced journal Documentation et bibliothèques, Volume 66, Number 3 (2020) which has a couple of interesting articles if you read French and have access:
- Portrait des compétences informationnelles des étudiants du réseau de l’Université du Québec - Résultats d’enquête [An Overview of the Information Literacy profile of the Université du Québec system students - Survey results] by Michel Courcelles, Dominique Papin, Catherine Séguin, Félix Langevin Harnois and Eve-Lyne Rondeau ("Three quarters of the questions were successfully answered by less than 50% of respondents. Overall, the respondents use strategies that engage their information literacy skills. However, they would benefit from using more precise and effective strategies, which seem unknown or poorly contained.")
(
- Un jeu d’évasion pour développer les compétences informationnelles [An Escape Room to Develop Information Literacy Skills] by Mylène Pinard ("Eighty (80) McGill University students tested an escape room game created specifically to cater to their needs. The game design, as well as the obtained results, are described in this article, which explains how an escape room can benefit replacing a more traditional information literacy training to develop the [information literacy] skills of users.")
The abstracts (free) and articles (priced) are at https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/documentation/2020-v66-n3-documentation05468/
Photo by Sheila Webber: willow leaves, December 2020
Wednesday, February 17, 2021
ACRL: New: Research Agenda for Library Instruction & Information Literacy
ACRL has released a revised Research Agenda for Library Instruction & Information Literacy. I think it may be open for consultation but I have only managed to locate the pdf (and not a linking story) which was circulated via a discussion list. From a quick read, the agenda looks a bit more wide ranging than the previous version, and has divided the agenda into sections called Ways of thinking and knowing, Ways of teaching, Ways of Growing (assessment), Ways of engaging, and Ways of collaborating. The document says that in drawing up the agenda "the committee reviewed and synthesized the following materials: meta-analyses of information literacy trends, recent Instruction Section Needs and Interest Group Surveys, and San Jose State’s MLIS Skills at Work reports. The committee also distributed a survey to editors of library and information science journals asking for trends they are seeing or types of research they wished to see." Since this is the US Association of College and Research Libraries, it is logical that there is a focus on higher education, practice, and the North American context, but I think it still a pity that they don't seem to look beyond to research that has already taken place outside that region. The pdf is at http://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/acrlsections/is/research_agenda_IL_2021.pdf and I will add any further links as I find them.
Photo by Sheila Webber: mimosa tree, February 2021Tuesday, February 16, 2021
Onine courses: Critical Information Literacy ; Addressing Misinformation
Online courses coming up in April from Library Juice Academy:
- Critical Information Literacy (Cost US $250.00) runs from April 5 - May 16, 2021 "This course is for folks who are interested in developing instruction sessions through the lens of critical information literacy. Usually we only get one-shot at engaging students with research and oftentimes evaluation, knowledge production, and privilege in publishing simply do not get addressed. Together, we will discuss how information institutions such as libraries and library systems perpetuate systemic oppression and biases, and we will learn how to navigate these systems as librarians and educators." Go to https://libraryjuiceacademy.com/shop/course/234-critical-information-literacy/
- Addressing Misinformation and Fake News: Resources and Strategies (cost US $175.00) runs from April 5 - May 2, 2021 "This course introduces librarians to the topic of misinformation and provides them with resources, definitions, approaches, and strategies they can employ in their institutions to address the topic of misinformation with patrons. Each section of this online course provides participants with resources, tools, studies, and readings they can explore, opportunities for hands-on exploration, and chances to apply what they learn about misinformation to their home institutions and programs." Go to https://libraryjuiceacademy.com/shop/course/190-addressing-misinformation-fake-news/
Monday, February 15, 2021
Webinar: Supporting wellbeing through inclusive use of technology and inclusive digital pedagogy
On 2 March 2021 at 11.30-12.30 UK time (GMT) there is a free webinar Supporting wellbeing through inclusive use of technology and inclusive digital pedagogy organised by JISC (the agency that supports use of technology in United Kingdom higher education). "In this webinar we’ll be sharing effective practice and hearing real example from across the sector regarding how relevant digital skills can: Enable differentiated teaching and assessment and personalised learning: providing choice, enhancing engagement, designing and delivering flexible curriculum; Increase awareness and use of customisation options, assistive technology and productivity tools that help remove barriers, increase independence and improve access for everyone; Contribute directly to digital confidence, independence, employability, and efficiency and have a positive impact on digital wellbeing. The speakers are: Julia Taylor (subject specialist: strategy (access and engagement), Jisc); Kate Lister (lecturer in education studies faculty of wellbeing, education and language studies, Open University); Charlotte Judd (digital coach and practitioner, faculty of inclusive practice, Weston College); Vikki Liogier (national head of edtech and digital skills, ETF). To register go to https://www.jisc.ac.uk/events/supporting-wellbeing-through-inclusive-use-of-technology-and-inclusive-digital-pedagogy-02-mar-2021#
Photo by Sheila Webber: snow, birch twigs last week, February 2021
Sunday, February 14, 2021
Webinar: Setting the path to student online communities in COVID-19
The OneHE Information, Digital and Media Literacy Mindsets online community (led by Dr Konstantina Martzoukou) has moved on to the new OneHE platform (for those in higher/further education), which has some free access (including Mindsets) as well as subscription options. To join that, go to http://www.onehe.org/ and follow 'register for the beta' by clicking the ‘Beta – Sign Up’ option in the menu.
The first Mindsets event under this new regime will be free on Zoom and is Setting the path to student online communities in COVID-19 with emphasis on the student voice on 25 February 2021 at 3-4pm UK time (GMT). "This live session aims to explore the concept of online learning communities from a student perspective, focusing on the sudden shift to an online learning reality caused by COVID-19 restrictions. The session will follow the format of a 'fireside chat' with a panel of students exploring opportunities, challenges and approaches to connecting online, with a focal point on the students' voice." It will address questions such as "What key digital and media literacies do you require to effectively learn online in the current environment? How can we address any digital inequalities on the basis of these skills? How can students co-learn effectively in the online environment? Does online teamworking work? Is the lecture approach dead or alive and thriving in the online learning environment? Does the idea of virtual placements or projects work for you? What are the challenges and the opportunities?"
To register go to https://lnkd.in/dMZVPfz
Friday, February 12, 2021
Call for proposals: Book on Transliteracy in Libraries
There is a call for chapter proposals for a book, provisionally entitled Planning and Implementing Transliteracy in Libraries for Lifelong Learning, to be published as part of the IFLA Publications Series by De Gruyter Saur. The editors are Prudence W. Dalrymple, Alessia Zanin-Yost, and Heather Todd. Deadline for submission of proposals is March 31, 2021, and draft chapters due July 12, 2021.
"Transliteracy is the ability to read, write and interact across a range of platforms, tools and media from signing and orality through handwriting, print, TV, radio and film, to digital social networks. (Thomas et al. 2007).... The proposed book will highlight case studies and collaborative endeavours with peers, other professionals, and communities focusing on transliteracy. The chapters will be diverse in terms of content, geography, experiences, and practices; however, the primary focus will be on how transliteracy was planned and integrated and how it supports the concept of lifelong learning for the population or community the library serves... Topics may include but are not limited to: Teaching and learning to enhance lifelong competencies; Developing experiences that engage people to become informed consumers and producers of information; Offering equitable opportunity and access to information through various media; Practising transliteracy by teaching students how to find, evaluate, use, and create information in various formats; Programmes provided in-person and virtually; Use of technology, makerspaces, or laboratories to enhance transliteracy; Collaborative projects or programmes on the diffusion, implementation, and creation of material or tools relevant to transliteracy"
Submit an abstract no longer than 200 words, double spaced, written in UK English. Include the title of the proposed submission, name(s) of the author(s), institutional affiliation and contact information with mailing address and email address, as well as a short biography of the main author. Final chapters should be 7,000-10,000 word long. Send proposals to Alessia Zanin-Yost, alessia.zanin-yost@sru.edu
Photo by Sheila Webber: snowed daffodils, February 2021
Thursday, February 11, 2021
My data and privacy online: a toolkit for young people
A set of videos etc. were published by a UK project (information here) and I don't think I've highlighted them before "We developed this online toolkit to promote children’s understanding of the digital environment and support them to make good decisions about privacy online. The toolkit is aimed at children of secondary school age, parents and educators, and was developed with the participation of a mix of children in Years 8 and 10. It includes information and resources on: why privacy online is important, how online data is generated and used, children’s rights, privacy-related risks and protective strategies, where to seek support, suggestions and recommendations from children, and fun resources to watch and play... A list of selected resources were presented to three child juries in March 2019 where 18 children were given the opportunity to assess the selected resources and help design the online toolkit."
https://www.lse.ac.uk/my-privacy-uk
Photo by Sheila Webber: one of the first daffodils, February 2021
Wednesday, February 10, 2021
Recent articles: disinformation, infodemics and COVID19; reporters' information practices; information encountering
First a few from the priced publication Online Information Review:
(Early online publication) Information sources, practices and barriers: a situated and context-bound model of Pakistani electronic media reporters by Tauseef Hussain, Syeda Hina Batool, Amara Malik, Syed Waqas Hussain, Khalid Mahmood https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-07-2020-0308
(Early online publication) A cross-national diagnosis of infodemics: comparing the topical and temporal features of misinformation around COVID-19 in China, India, the US, Germany and France by Jing Zeng, Chung-hong Chan https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-09-2020-0417
In the most recent "published" issue Online Information Review, Volume 45 Issue 1
- Research information encountering and keeping behaviour of post-graduate students of social sciences in an online environment by Waqar Ahmad Awan, Kanwal Ameen, Saira Hanif Soroya
- User motivation in fake news sharing during the COVID-19 pandemic: an application of the uses and gratification theory by Oberiri Destiny Apuke, Bahiyah Omar
In the open access journal Indonesian Journal of Science and Technology (vol. 5 issue 2): Students’ Intention to Share Information Via Social Media: A Case Study of Covid-19 Pandemic by Suhaizal Hashim, Alias Masek, Nurhanim Saadah Abdullah, Aini Nazura Paimin, Wan Hanim Nadrah Wan Muda https://ejournal.upi.edu/index.php/ijost/article/view/24586
Photo by Sheila Webber: broom in flower, February 2021
Tuesday, February 09, 2021
Civic data literacy
The Civic Switchboard Data Literacy project is an (US) IMLS-funded project, part of the larger Civic Switchboard project. "This project will build on the project’s exploration of civic data roles for libraries and will develop instructional materials to prepare MLIS students and current library workers for civic data work." As part of this they have a short survey "that will help us to better the civic data knowledge and needs of librarians and the extent to which civic data services are implemented in your workplaces." This survey is available here: https://pitt.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5gmyO3Yh4d2SkGF
The Civic Switchboard Guide ("a living document designed to help libraries become more engaged in their local civic data ecosystems") is here https://civic-switchboard.gitbook.io/guide/ . It has sections on library roles, engaging partners etc. and some examples from US academic and public libraries.
Photo by Sheila Webber: birch twigs and snowy pavement, February 2021
Crisis Situations and Information Science
A special issue of Polish open-access journal ZIN (vol. 58 no. 2A(116A) focuses on Crisis Situations and
Information Science. It includes:
- The Impact of COVID-19 on the Information Literacy of Business Sharing Group Users
by Dorota Rak
- The Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Academic Libraries in a Crisis Situation: Experiences of the University of Warsaw Library
by Anna Kamińska, Anna Książczak-Gronowska, Zuzanna Wiorogórska
- Information Behavior in Crisis Situations
by Monika Krakowska
In Polish and English. Click on the UK flag, top right, to get the English version: http://ojs.sbp.pl/index.php/zin/issue/view/75
Monday, February 08, 2021
Learning Analytics Toolkit
Photo by Sheila Webber: squirrel camouflaged in tree, January 2021
Saturday, February 06, 2021
19th Annual Information Literacy Summit
Photo by Sheila Webber: winter shadows, January 2021
Friday, February 05, 2021
New book: The Academic Teaching Librarian's Handbook
The Academic Teaching Librarian's Handbook is a new book by Claire McGuinness (information literacy expert and faculty member at University College Dublin), published by Facet (ISBN 9781783304622). The main sections are: Part 1 Constructing the academic teaching librarian (subsections: Shaping the academic teaching librarian; Defining the academic teaching librarian; Becoming an academic teaching librarian) Part 2 Excelling as an academic teaching librarian (subsections: Technology and the academic teaching librarian; Leading and co-ordinating for the academic teaching librarian; Advocacy and the academic teaching librarian. Cost is £55, with discount to CILIP members. More details at https://www.facetpublishing.co.uk/page/detail/the-academic-teaching-librarian/?k=9781783304622
Photo by Sheila Webber: winter reflections, January 2021
Thursday, February 04, 2021
Webinar: La voie à suivre: le développement de la littératie numérique au Canada
An interesting French-language webinar: La voie à suivre: le développement de la littératie numérique au Canada, [developing digital literacy in Canada] on 10 February 2021, 4.00-5.00 pm UK time. The panel consists of Prof Davina Frau-Meigs (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle), Marc Ladouceur (Media Smarts/Habilo Media), and Rudy Reichstadt (Conspiracy Watch), moderated by Agnès Gruda. It will be streamed to Facebook and Youtube and is part of the Canadian Coalition to Counter COVID Digital Disinformation (which is obviously a bingual French/English initiative). "Lors de la cinquième session de notre série d'évènement sur la COVID-19 et la désinformation, nous parlerons des acteurs principaux, des thèmes clés, et du développement de la littératie numérique au sein de la population canadienne. Nous regarderons ce qui se fait déjà ici et ailleurs alors que nous faisons encore face à la pandémie." Register here (the link will then be sent to particpants in advance) https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/la-voie-a-suivre-le-developpement-de-la-litteratie-numerique-au-canada-tickets-136308194479
Photo by Sheila Webber, taken in Second Life: in Second Life I need no mask for shopping, and the digital tools used for the photo were a Firestorm virtual worlds browser, and the GIMP photo editor.Wednesday, February 03, 2021
5000th blog post on the Information Literacy Weblog
Today I'm celebrating 5000 blog posts on this Information Literacy Weblog. The first blog post, on 5th September 2005, started "This is a temporary blog"(note 1) - my predictive powers were obviously pretty poor that day. In the blog's early days Stuart Boon also blogged here and latterly the blog has gained from conference blogposts from my colleague Dr Pam McKinney, but otherwise the posts are by me. At time of writing this post, the Blogger counter records 2,695,807 page views (note 2).
I have dithered about how to mark this milestone (that's why I haven't blogged for a few days!) but I've decided to have a series of reflective posts, thinking about was going on, and what I was posting, then and now. I have started by identifying a few then-and-now facts, below. There are advances in information literacy in 2021 (for example more journal articles, more accessible webinars, conferences and specialist groups, and in more countries - not so focused on the West). However, there are other changes: for example, much less IL activity in Australia (which led in IL research and practice at the start of the millennium, I think) and the disappearance or stagnation of some specialist groups (such as ENIL and the SCONUL group).
Bill Johnston and I reflected on the development of information literacy in Webber & Johnston (2017) so I won't go over that ground again, but in future posts I'll do a bit more analysis of themes and events, then and now. Of course, what is on this blog reflects my own preferences, conceptions, biases etc. as well as pragmatic decisions I make on how much time to spend on the blog!
In 2005 there were not: (1) Any journals dedicated to information literacy (Journal of Information Literacy and Communications in Information Literacy both started in 2007 and NORIL in 2009);
(2) Online conferences and webinars about information literacy;
(3) The IFLA Information Literacy Section (the first Standing Committee meeting was in 2009).
(4) As many journal articles about information literacy (see e.g. Pinto, Escalona-Fernandez & Pulgarin, 2013)
In 2005 there were: (1) Lots of information literacy conferences: The LILAC conference (the first one was in 2005), WILU, LOEX plus various other conferences in Australia, Sweden, Canada, the UK and so on - there were also calls for papers for the 2006 Lifelong Learning conference in Australia, the 2006 Creating Knowledge conference in Denmark and Les Rencontres FORMIST in France.
(2) Proclamations from UNESCO on Information Literacy - the initiative really kickstarted with the Prague Declaration in 2003, and in November 2005 the Alexandria Proclamation was produced.
(3) Specialist groups and networks, including the European Network on Information Literacy (ENIL) (which launched its 2nd international survey that year and had in 2003 published Information Literacy in Europe: a first insight into the state of the art of Information Literacy in the European Union) and the SCONUL Working Group on Information Literacy
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References: Pinto, M., Escalona-Fernandez, M.I. & Pulgarin, A. (2013). Information Literacy in social sciences and health sciences: a bibliometric study (1974-2011). Scientometrics, 95, 1071-1094. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-012-0899-y
Webber, S., & Johnston, B. (2017). Information literacy: conceptions, context and the formation of a discipline. Journal of Information Literacy, 11(1), 156-183. https://ojs.lboro.ac.uk/JIL/article/view/PRA-V11-I1-9Note 1. This blog was a continuation of one of the same name, started in 2003 and hosted on a unix machine at Sheffield University, which closed for technical reasons (i.e. the person who did unix left), and the earliest post on this blog is a repost from there (on the pedagogy of Harry Potter)
Note 2. To be honest, this 2,695,807 is likely to include a chunk of denial-of-service spam views. However, I think a reasonable percentage are hits from actual human beings.