Webinar: Libraries and UN SDGs: IFLA supporting the libraries to achieve the SDGs

There is a free webinar from IFLA on 24 March 2022, at 7am-8am UK time, 8am-9am Paris time, 4pm-5pm Japanese time, 6pm-7pm in Melbourne or Sydney: Libraries and UN SDGs: IFLA supporting the libraries to achieve the SDGs.
"In recent years, achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs) have become one of the most important global issues. The National Diet Library [of Japan, their national library] will host a web lecture about libraries and the UN SDGs featuring Ms. Barbara Lison, president of IFLA. Ms. Lison has designated "Libraries building a sustainable future" as a major policy for her tenure and is actively promoting the SDGs for libraries and information services. In this lecture, she will talk about the IFLA's strategy, examples of initiatives taken by libraries in some countries, and international cooperation from the perspective of achieving the SDGs."
Register by 17 March at: https://www.ndl.go.jp/en/event/events/20220324lecture.html
Photo by Sheila Webber, Golden Pavilion, Kyoto, Japan, 2005

Interview with Briony Birdi

There is a fascinating interview with my colleague in the Information School (at Sheffield University), Dr Briony Birdi, talking about her career and academic life. She is interviewed by Sandrine Soubes as part of the Tesselle Development podcast which explores research culture, go to https://tesselledevelopment.com/research-lives-and-cultures/briony-birdi for Briony's interview

Webinar: Inclusive Pedagogies in Practice

On 27 April 2022 at 13.00-14.00 CST (which is, e.g. 19.00-20.00 UK time) there is a webinar Inclusive Pedagogies in Practice which has "four lightning rounds from the editors and chapter authors from the upcoming ACRL publication Exploring Inclusive & Equitable Pedagogies: Creating Space for All Learners. Presenters include co-editors Maura Seale and Jane Nichols, Angie Brunk on accessibility and instruction, Clanitra Nejdl on DEI in legal research, Darren Ilett on cultural humility, and Heather Campbell on feminist pedagogies." Register in advance at: https://ala-events.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIvcOqtrj8tGt2gxHNgm0FFKfLg0zXkmxzO
Photo by Sheila Webber: Spring flowers, February 2022

2nd Call for proposals #CALC22

There is a 2nd call for proposals for the Critical Approaches to Libraries 2022 (CALC2022) planned to run online 25-26 May 2022. The deadline for for submissions is 20 March at 23.59 UK time. (This is an extension of a week from the deadline announced originally). Proposals for sessions should be submitted on this Google Form. Additional information on our Call for Papers is in the online guide. Any questions can be directed to calcconference@gmail.com
This is the statement from last year's conference which gives some information about the scope and the kind of topic that could be addressed https://calc.coventry.domains/8-2/what-is-critical-library-practice/
They have also announced that
"We currently have two panel discussion session that require suitable members:
- "A panel on trade unionism in libraries: we’re looking for library workers, researchers and educators involved with trade union activity in libraries or LIS education. These can be UK or non-UK based at any level. Ideally we’d like to include representation from public, health and FE libraries. This has been arranged by CALC to reflect and discuss the current industrial action in UK HE sector.
- "A panel to explore the perspectives and experiences of neurodivergent library workers. The panel is looking for library workers at any level who self-identify as neurodivergent (with or without formal diagnosis) to discuss their experiences of working in libraries. This panel has been proposed by Maria King (@MariaOliviaKing) and seeks further panel members.
"CALC policy is that all panels must include representation from at least one Global Ethnic Majority member so we would particularly welcome contributions from GEM panelists. Panel members are not paid for their contribution but will receive free place at the conference. To put your name forward as a potential panel member please contact us on calcconference@gmail.com" 

Photo by Sheila Webber: students & workers unite and fight, February 2022

Information Literacy Group New Professionals

The UK's Information Literacy Group has a New Professionals subcommittee. They summarise plans in this blog post: https://infolit.org.uk/ilg-new-professionals-exciting-plans-for-2022/ They plan to
- Collect examples of IL projets for a digital showcase (I blogged that previously)
- Have randomised coffee meetups
- Have a podcast "We aim to produce a podcast later this year, with interviews taking place throughout the summer months. Our goal is to release each episode on a weekly (or fortnightly) basis then from the first week of September on" and they are looking for interviewees.
They define a New Professional as "A current student or recent graduate of a Library course, or anyone new to a library job (<~5yrs experience)" although stress that it's a flexible definition. 

Photo by Sheila Webber: primroses, February 2022

Academic Libraries North #ALN22

There is a call for papers for the Academic Libraries North conference to be held online 6-7 July 2022 ("North" here means North of England). Deadline for proposals is 18 March 2022. The theme is The time is now: active approaches to inclusivity . Topics include: Inclusive approaches to information literacy teaching; Using UX to inform inclusive strategies; Addressing the student ethnicity awarding and attainment gap; Working with university and external partners to overcome barriers to student success in HE; Addressing inequalities amongst students highlighted during the pandemic. More information at https://www.academiclibrariesnorth.ac.uk/academic-libraries-north-2022

Call for posters for the IFLA World Library and Information Congress #WLIC2022

There is a call for proposals for posters for the IFLA World Library and Information Congress to be held 26-29 July 2022 in Dublin, Ireland. You have to be prepared to be physically present at the conference. The theme is Inspire, Engage, Enable, Connect, especially in uncertain times. "How has your library made an impact in your community or society? Which services, programmes and/or applications of technology have been implemented in your library to support one or more of these themes?" https://2022.ifla.org/conference-programme/call-for-posters

Webinar: "Using Google's family of databases"

On 24 February at 18.30-20.00 UK time there is a webinar organised by ISKO and the Information Retrieval specialists group of BCS: Using Google's family of databases presented by Karen Blakeman. It is free to ISKO/BCS members (you need to give a valid membership number), £10 non-members. "This lecture will discuss scope, value and challenges of the range of search applications offered by Google." To register go to https://www.iskouk.org/event-4646660

Photo by Sheila Webber: trees at dusk 4, January 2022

Keeping Up With . . . First-Year Experience

The latest in the ACRL Keeping up with... series is Keeping Up With . . . First-Year Experience. As usual, the publication has short explanations plus links to further reading. https://www.ala.org/acrl/publications/keeping_up_with/fye

New articles: Skills and gaps; IL and humour; Emotional intelligence; Librarians as faculty developers; Librarian deference

The latest complete issue of the Journal of Academic Librarianship (a priced publication), Volume 48 issue 1 (January 2022) includes the following:
- Information literacy skills and learning gaps: Students' experiences and teachers' perceptions in interdisciplinary environmental science by Teresia Svensson, Julie Wilk, Kajsa Gustafsson Åman
- Librarians as faculty developers: Competencies and recommendations by Melissa Bowles-Terry, Karen Sobel
- Academic librarians: Their understanding and use of emotional intelligence and happiness by Michele A.L. Villagran, Lisa Martin (Open access article)
- Information Literacy: Making Asynchronous Learning More Effective With Best Practices That Include Humor by Debby R. Wegener (a study in a Singaporean university)
- It's Not Personal, It's Professional: Causes of Academic Librarian Deference Behavior by Lyda Fontes McCartin, Raquel Wright-Mair
Go to https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/the-journal-of-academic-librarianship/vol/48/issue/1

Photo by Sheila Webber: spot the cat, January 2022

Webinar: Team-Based Subject Liaisons: A Model for Successful and Sustainable Engagement

ACRL ULS PDC (Association of College and Research Libraries University Libraries Section Professional Development Committee has organised a webinar on 25 February 2022 13.00-14.00 US Central time (which is, e.g., 19.00-20.00 UK time): Team-Based Subject Liaisons: A Model for Successful and Sustainable Engagement - register at https://ala-events.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_pNKBFKDmTRKs05Q7Se_UFg
In trying (in vain) to find out more event details, I came across a detailed list of actions to carry out when organising events, that could be of use to others organising webinars, on the ULS PDC page

Love & Information Science

Jenna Hartel, in the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto, Canada, put together a video linking love and information science, so that seems an appropriate post for Valentine's Day. 

Programme available for the #LILAC22 conference

The programme is available for LILAC 2022 (the UK's information literacy conference), currently planned as a physical conference in Manchester, UK, 11-13 April 2022. Booking closes on 23 March 2022. I am looking forward to presenting a workshop with my colleague Dr Pam McKinney on the first day! Programme is here - https://www.lilacconference.com/lilac-2022/conference-programme and the registration page is here  https://www.lilacconference.com/lilac-2022/book-your-place

Webinar: The Metaverse Librarian: Building 3D Virtual Reality Learning Environments with Mozilla Spoke

On 23 February 2022 10.00 to 11.00 US Pacific time (which is, for example, 18.00 to 19.00 UK time), there is a free webinar The Metaverse Librarian: Building 3D Virtual Reality Learning Environments with Mozilla Spoke "Matthew Chase (he/him), librarian from the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences, will share his experiences and insights in using Mozilla Spoke for teaching and learning. Mozilla Spoke is an online 3D scene editor and developer tool that allows you to customize and design interactive virtual reality spaces for the open-source platform, Mozilla Hubs. Mozilla Spoke supports more customization and creativity than simply building a space directly in Mozilla Hubs, with additional controls and assets to build out interactive environments. This session introduces participants to getting started with Mozilla Spoke, with examples from Matthew’s work at his institution in creating interactive and immersive learning experiences. Mozilla Spoke provides an easy-to-use and free platform for libraries and information professionals of all kinds to begin incorporating virtual reality with their communities." Register at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/matthew-chase-the-metaverse-librarian-tickets-265962329487

Photo by Sheila Webber, taken in the 3D virtual world, Second Life, February 2022

Recent articles: Health literacy as vaccine; fact checking in Sweden; Information behaviour in COVID19; Health information behaviour; IL in Ghana; Citizen science

- Okan, O. et al. (2022). Health literacy as a social vaccine in the COVID-19 pandemic Health Promotion International, daab197, https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daab197 
- Ahmadinia, H., Eriksson-Backa, K. and Nikou, S. (2022), Health-seeking behaviours of immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees in Europe: a systematic review of peer-reviewed articles, Journal of Documentation, 78(7), 18-41. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-10-2020-0168
 - Dreisiebner, S., März, S. and Mandl, T. (2022), Information behavior during the Covid-19 crisis in German-speaking countries, Journal of Documentation, 78(7), 160-175. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-12-2020-0217
- Juneström, A. (2022), Discourses of fact-checking in Swedish news media, Journal of Documentation, 78(7), 125-140. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-03-2021-0061
- Ozor, A. & Toner, J. (2022) Information Literacy Behavior and Practice: An Assessment of Undergraduate Students at Ada College of Education, Ghana. Journal of Library Administration, 62(1), 132-151. https://doi.org/10.1080/01930826.2021.2006992 (open access) " The results from this survey present an overview of the College’s current approach to information literacy instruction, resource accessibility, as well as students’ information literacy comprehension and application. A series of recommendations are presented for the College to consider in improving its approach to supporting information literacy skills development."
- Ekström, B. (2022), A niche of their own: variations of information practices in biodiversity citizen science, Journal of Documentation, 78(7), 248-265. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-07-2021-0146
- Multas, A.-M. and Hirvonen, N. (2022), “Let's keep this video as real as possible”: young video bloggers constructing cognitive authority through a health-related information creation process, Journal of Documentation, 78(7), 42-64. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-02-2021-0027
- Graminius, C. (2022), Fast-food information, information quality and information gap: a temporal exploration of the notion of information in science communication on climate change, Journal of Documentation, 78(7), 89-105. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-03-2021-0072 "In their discussion of the concept of information, Capurro and Hjörland (2005) tentatively ask what else we might need to know about information. Perhaps there is room for more research on the concept of information and temporal issues since this study shows how notions of information come into being in the contextual intersections of time, actions and materials." 
Photo by Sheila Webber: sign of spring, February 2022

ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education: Sociology - approved

The ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education: Sociology was approved by the ACRL Board of Directors on 27 January 2022, as a Companion Document to the ACRL IL Framework. "Developed by the ACRL Anthropology and Sociology Section’s Instruction and Information Literacy Committee, the companion document defines Sociological Information Literacy as an understanding of how information and scholarship are created, published, disseminated, and used by individuals and organizations. The document describes connections between the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy and the Sociological Literacy Framework (SLF) developed by sociology professors Susan Ferguson and William Carbonaro. Using a conceptual crosswalk, the companion document presents six tables that explain how the essential concepts in the SLF relate to the six ACRL frames." Download at https://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/standards/framework_companion_sociology.pdf

Photo by Sheila Webber: trees at dusk 3, January 2022

The Misinformation Review

The Misinformation Review is an open access publication from Harvard Kennedy School  focusing on - as you might expect - research related to misinformationhttps://misinforeview.hks.harvard.edu/. A recent example is:

Acerbi, A., Altay, S., & Mercier, H. (2022). Research note: Fighting misinformation or fighting for information?. Misinformation Review. https://doi.org/10.37016/mr-2020-87 "In this article, we show that, given the very limited prevalence of misinformation (including fake news), interventions aimed at reducing acceptance or spread of such news are bound to have very small effects on the overall quality of the information environment, especially compared to interventions aimed at increasing trust in reliable news sources. To make this argument, we simulate the effect that such interventions have on a global information score, which increases when people accept reliable information and decreases when people accept misinformation" The article proposes a quantitative model which they use to argue their case. "To test the efficacy of various interventions aimed at improving the informational environment, we developed a model computing a global information score, which is the share of accepted pieces of reliable information minus the share of accepted pieces of misinformation. Simulations show that, given that most of the news consumed by the public comes from reliable sources, small increases in acceptance of reliable information (e.g., 1%) improve the global information score more than bringing acceptance of misinformation to 0%. This outcome is robust for a wide range of parameters and is also observed if acceptance of misinformation decreases trust in reliable information or increases the supply of misinformation (within plausible limits)."

Photo by Sheila Webber: Christmas tree for collection (the last un the series), January 2022

Applying Critical Library Pedagogy in Daily Practice

There is a free event, one of the CILIP London CritLib Talks: Applying Critical Library Pedagogy in Daily Practice on 18 February 2022, 13:00-14:00 UK time, online on Zoom. Presenter is Jess Haigh, Academic Librarian, Leeds Beckett University, UK (She/Her).
"This short talk will introduce the concept of critical pedagogy, and some ideas for how it can be applied in day to day librarian practice. Jess will use examples taken from her co-edited collection Critical Library Pedagogy In Practice, and will also use examples from her own experience as an Academic librarian. Before this session, have a think about what you current understanding of critical pedagogy is and how you are already applying it in your work, or is there anything you've read about or seen that has inspired you?
"This talk will include lots of opportunities for interaction, and peer learning through sharing experiences and reflections, as part of a critical pedagogy is to change up power dynamics within learning environments."
To register go to https://www.cilip.org.uk/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=1600561&group=

Photo by Sheila Webber: trees at dusk 2, January 2022

Paul Zurkowski: 11 August 1932 - 30 January 2022

Paul Zurkowski, the man most often cited as (in 1974) originating the term "information literates" and thus "information literacy" has died aged 89 after contracting pneumonia. The 1974 report itself is available as a scan on ERIC at https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED100391 

Zurkowski continued to be engaged with information literacy to the end - his friend & colleague Jeffrey Kelly (who announced his death) reported that he will be working on the "nonprofit educational association, the Universal Information Literacies Association (UiLA), started by Paul and I here in the Washington, DC area". This is the blog post I did of his 2013 talk at ECIL (an the photo is one I took then) and this is a transcript of the talk Zurkowski gave at the LILAC conference in 2014.

Although latterly the thing he is most famous for is his connection with information literacy, I would say that it is his leadership in the dawn of the information industry that is perhaps more significant. This was a heady and risky time, when public data networks didn't exist and even in the early 80s (when I was marketing the then groundbreaking online services at the British Library) you were literally dialling a number on the ordinary (analog) telephone network to connect up with a database that you then accessed VERY SLOWLY. 

Because, in fact, NOT everything is on the internet, the online documentation for the early years of the information industry isn't great. In trawling for information about the Information Industry Association (founded 1968) I found this catalogue entry which identifies that that there is 5.5 linear feet of information industry material "Collection unprocessed" donated by Zurkowski- a project for an information science enthusiast!

Library and Information Workplace Research

The Library and Information Research Group and the Health Libraries Group of CILIP have organised four Library and Information Workplace Research events, each lasting 3 hours.
- 25 March 2022 – Getting started with research and evaluation – Register here: https://www.cilip.org.uk/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=1587380
- 6 May 2022 – Research Methods - Register here: https://www.cilip.org.uk/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=1587385
1 July 2022 - Writing a research proposal – Register here: https://www.cilip.org.uk/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=1587397
- 7 October, 2022 - Writing for publication – Register here: https://www.cilip.org.uk/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=1587404
Cost (including VAT) is CILIP Member £20 for each session, Non-Member £30 for each session, Student/unwaged free of charge
Photo by Sheila Webber: trees at dusk 1, January 2022

Call for examples of teaching specific groups of learners

There is a call for examples, presented as blog entries and podcasts, from the UK's Information Literacy Group New Professionals Sub-committee. They are "interested in information literacy practice which has been developed to reach a specific group of learners. We are compiling a series of case studies, which document focussed projects which have been designed to reach these groups. We are considering the widest range of examples, from established work in academic environments, small and often ignored individual work, bold innovations and work from health and other work settings. The case studies will be presented as short blog entries and podcasts, with support from our committee members in the editing, development and preparation of the material."
You can nominate yourself or someone else through this link https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfOJ3Cg4yfyx8LxjmzrZSjBbxMmrPtEQPAzKLT1zOqXGGLGQA/viewform
Photo by Sheila Webber: Apples at farmers market, January 2022

Online conference: Keeping Up the Pace: Media Literacy Education in an Accelerating Age

A 2-day free online event 3-4 February 2002: Keeping Up the Pace: Media Literacy Education in an Accelerating Age, starting 11.00 (CEST) (which is 10am UK time). "At the event, distinguished speakers – including Professor of Communication Studies at the Harrington School of Communication and Media at the University of Rhode Island, Renee Hobbs, Associate professor in the school of communication at Emerson College in Boston, MA, Paul Mihailidis, Senior Adviser in the National Audiovisual Institute, KAVI Finland, Lauri Palsa, Co-Director of Nordicom, Maarit Jaakkola – will discuss the interplay of media literacy, media education, and civic engagement in the 21st century." More information at https://iks.edu.mk/en/news/international-higher-education-symposium-organized-by-the-institute-of-communication-studies-and-irex-keeping-up-the-pace-media-literacy-education-in-an-accelerating-age/ (the full programme is in a link at the bottom of the page) - Register here.