#WLIC2021 LIS Education and Information Literacy in The Developing Country

My final liveblog from the online IFLA World Library and Information Congress will be the session on LIS Education and Information Literacy in The Developing Country. (I intend to catch up in blogging a couple of the other sessions afterwards) 

Firstly Lan Nguyen ( Faculty of Library and Information Science, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University Hanoi) talked about Integration of information literacy into undergraduate studies curriculum: A case study of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities Hanoi (Vietnam), reporting on a survey that she had done with 300 respondents. This compared responses of students who had and hadn't taken an information literacy course, and in the part that asked students to rate various aspects of their information literacy, there were slightly higher scores for those who had taken the course on each element. There was also an improvement in higher years of study. The course was based on the UNESCO definition of IL and the ACRL IL Standards. Future plans include emphasising critical thinking and Collaborative problem solving/ Content learning as outcomes of learning. Using realistic examples was also important.

Marta Bustillo, Paige Pope and Crystal Fulton (University College Dublin, Ireland) presented on University College Dublin's Research Accelerator for the Social Sciences Online Module: Information literacy to develop core research skills at undergraduate level. It was a cross-departmental partnership involving the School of Information & Communication Studies, School of Psychology & UCD Library. The key goal was Bring information literacy, specifically digital literacy skills, to the undergraduate research curriculum at UCD. The module had 6 units related to identifying a research topic, searching for literature, critical academic literacy, research ethics and research data management. The module was online and included reflection on each unit, and there was a focus on using the virtual learning environment as an interactive space. Other points that were made included: the importance of universal design for learning; sustainability of digital materials produced; the importance of planning; the value of collaboration and how it could be continued further. Someone in chat also mentioned these open information literacy materials (OERs) for business and economics students:https://www.econbiz.de/eb/en/research-skills/ 

Finally Andréa Doyle (PPGCI IBICT/UFRJ - RJ, Brazil) talked about Critical Information Literacy in Brazil: origins, state of the art and prospects, presenting on the topic of her PhD work. She started by talking briefly about developments in IL in Brazil, and then specifically Critical Information Literacy as manifested in Brazilian LIS literature. The first mention was in 2000, and the number has grown from there. From a search in Brapci (Brazilian Information Science Database) and BDTD (Brazilian Database of Dissertations and Thesis) Doyle found 23 papers and 3 master’s dissertations, which are mostly theoretical, influenced by the Frankfurt and Paulo Freire's work. This differs from developments in North America, where Critical Information Literacy tended to be developed and written about by librarians. Doyle saw both advantages (bringing critical theories into discussion) and disadvantages (mainly a deparation from library practice). She finished by defining Critical Information Literacy thus "Critical information/media/digital literacy is the continuous development of a critical relationship with the convergent and connected information environment. Critical = to question and deconstruct systems of oppression"