Recent articles: deference behaviour; blended and flipped; Pandemic Information Access Challenges; digital humanities pedagogy; instruction for an engineering design

The latest complete issue of the Journal of Academic Librarianship (a priced publication), Volume 48 issue 6 (2022) includes the following: 

- Manifestations of deference behavior in teaching-focused academic librarians by Lyda Fontes McCartin, Raquel Wright-Mair
- A silver lining for pandemic-weary libraries: How blended and flipped instructional programs have improved upon pre-pandemic norms by Kevin W. Walker
- Factors that influence librarian definitions of information literacy by Logan Rath
- Pandemic Information Access Challenges and Expectations about the Post-Covid Era: A Survey of Pakistan Students' Opinion Regarding Academic Libraries' Services and Staff by Syeda Hina Batool, Amara Malik, Muhammad Safdar, Amna Farzand Ali
- Prepare to be unprepared? LIS curriculum and academic liaison preparation by Kawanna M. Bright, Mónica Colón-Aguirre
- Online health information seeking and digital health literacy among information and learning resources undergraduate students by Esra Abdoh
- What contributes to a qualified digital humanities librarian and ideal digital humanities pedagogy? An exploratory qualitative study by Wuyan Yao, Peng Xiao
- Rapidly going virtual without sacrificing quality: Adapting instruction for an engineering design course by Brianna Buljung, Lisa Nickum, Patricia Andersen, Gyasi Evans
Go to https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/the-journal-of-academic-librarianship/vol/48/issue/6
Photo by Sheila Webber: winter skyline, November 2022

Free webinars: Best Practices of School Librarians

IFLA has organised webinars "for those who are interested in programs, services, collection development, and management of school libraries for building high-performing schools. Different IFLA school library-related guidelines will be introduced by IFLA Professional Division Committee Chair (Division F) in addition to speakers’ presentations of the best practices of school libraries in their home countries."
The first one on IFLA School Library Manifesto (2021) & Best Practices of School Librarians in Croatia (speaker: Dr. Zcjezdana Dukic) was held on 26 November 2022, and the recording is here The others are:
- IFLA School Library Guidelines: Best Practices of Teacher-Librarians in France. 4 February 2023, 4.30-5.30pm Hong Kong Time (10.30 am-11.30 am CET; 9.30-10.30 UK time)
- IFLA Educational Technologies and Student Data Briefing: Best Practices of Teacher-Librarians in Croatia. 8 April 2023, 4.30-5.30pm HKT (10.30 am-11.30 am CET)
- IFLA Media and Information Literacy & Best Practices of Teacher-Librarians in Singapore. 3 June 2023, 4.30-5.30pm HKT
Details at https://www.ifla.org/events/webinar-series-high-performing-schools-with-effective-school-libraries/ and registration at https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_V3M22kVHQ_qljPLW0fZ8Jg
Photo by Sheila Webber: Squash and onions, November, 2022

Call for papers: Mediatized Discourses on Europeanization: Information, Disinformation, and Polarization & Digital Media and Younger Audiences

There are calls for papers for the journal Media and Commuication, for a special issue on Mediatized Discourses on Europeanization: Information, Disinformation, and Polarization, edited by Julia Metag, Florian Wintterlin and Kira Klinger; and for a special issue on Digital Media and Younger Audiences: Communication Targeted at Children and Adolescents, edited by Olga Kolotouchkina, Celia Rangel, and Patricia Núñez Gómez. The deadline for abstracts for both is 1-15 December 2022 and deadline for articles is 15-30 April 2023. More details here

Call for proposals: #FanLIS2023

There is a call for proposals for FanLIS2023, currently scheduled online for 18/19 May 2023, with the theme Halliday Journals and holodecks: audiences and information in sci-fi fandoms. "FanLIS 2023 is a CityLIS symposium to explore the intersection between fandom, fan studies, and library and information science.... All are welcome to submit, from fans, librarians, infopros, acafen and independent researchers. Email us if you have ideas but aren’t sure if they fit – we’re open to suggestions!" "Themes can include, but are not limited to, the following:
-The information behaviour and practices of sci-fi fans.
- The information behaviour and practices of fans of certain sci-fi franchises (e.g. Star Trek, Star Wars, Doctor Who, Mass Effect, Quantum Leap, Ghost in the Shell, etc.).
- The history of sci-fi fandoms.
- Sci-fi fanzines and other amateur/small press publications.
- Representations of libraries, archives, museums and galleries in sci-fi worlds or franchises.
- Information technologies in sci-fi worlds or franchises.
- Fan-to-fan communications within sci-fi fandoms.
- Languages and language use in sci-fi.
- Fans as writers and readers of sci-fi and popular science.
- Copyright issues in sci-fi fandom.
- Sci-fi wikis, encyclopaedias, and other compendiums, whether online or offlin
- How fans research science and technology during the process of creating fanworks.
Send your 500 word proposals to both Ludi Price at Ludovica.Price@city.ac.uk and Lyn Robinson at lyn@city.ac.uk by midnight GMT on 31 December 2022
More info at https://blogs.city.ac.uk/fanlis/fanlis-symposia/fanlis-2023/call-for-presentations/
Photo by Sheila Webber, taken in Second Life and featuring some of DRD's New Xantis builds

New articles: Information behaviour of farmers; Health Literacy; AI and information; Personal Information Management; Information & visual disability

The latest issue of IFLA Journal (Volume 48, No. 4, 2022) is published open access at https://repository.ifla.org/handle/123456789/2317 There are lots of interesting articles, covering library issues in many different countries, but picking out ones more relevant to this blog:
- An assessment of health information literacy among women in rural Lake Zone, Tanzania by Mohamed Kassim and Faraja Ndumbaro
- Knowledge mapping and visualization of personal information management literature, 1988–2020 by Williams Ezinwa Nwagwu and Chidiebube Blossom Williams
- A model of access to information among Nigerian rice farmers by Ugonna Benedette Fidelugwuowo
- Information needs and delivery channels: Experimental evidence from Cambodian smallholders by Selina Bruns, Oliver Mußhoff and Pascal Ströhlein
- Factors influencing the use of agricultural information by Vietnamese farmers by Hung Gia Hoang, Duc Van Nguyen and Douglas Drysdale
- Framework for the provision of information to the visually impaired in academic libraries in compliance with the Marrakesh Treaty by Samuel Macharia Were, Japhet N. Otike and Emily K. Bosire
Photo by Sheila Webber: lovely autumn beech tree, November 2022

Online: Identifying online scams, phishing, fraudulent websites and messages workshop

There is a free online workshop on 29 November at 15.45 UK time (GMT) on Identifying online scams, phishing, fraudulent websites and messages. This is related to the Maddie is Online series developed by Dr Konstantina Martzoukou at Robert Gordon University, Scotland.
"As part of this free online session, Maria Bell from Mesomorphic will offer an overview of the 4th theme of our new series of Maddie is Online: ethics of online safety and security" They will be reviewing the toolkit they have developed, which can be found here: https://online.visual-paradigm.com/community/bookshelf/default-1444l1ntn9
They'll explore the concepts: "How to recognise messages, websites or e-mails where the sender/owner appears to be different from who they are; Understand why it is important to know how to recover a device or account if it gets compromised / hacked; To create awareness of whom to contact if you find that your account has been hacked, if embarrassing images of you are being shared, or if you experience something else that is really unpleasant."
"We have created an imaginative story ('To donate or not to donate?'). Maddie, the central character of our series, receives an email from her school, reminding her class that it is the last day for donating money to the school nominated charity, ‘Strong Family Corners’, before it gets collected and sent to the charity. In the email, there is a bank account to make the payment with the logo of the charity and the email has been sent by a teacher. Maddie decides to donate to the charity. However, the next day, when she goes to school, she realises that the charity name is not the same and that the email of the teacher was hacked. Someone had used his email details to send this message to all the school and several children had followed the link to make the payment, exactly like Maddie. How could Maddie have protected herself? Should she avoid giving to any charities once and for all?"
Register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/identifying-online-scams-phishing-fraudulent-websites-and-messages-tickets-470954125467

Call for proposals: Annual Conference of the Canadian Association for Information Science /l’Association canadienne des sciences de l’information

There is a call for proposals for the 51st Annual Conference of the Canadian Association for Information Science /l’Association canadienne des sciences de l’information (CAIS/ACSI) which will take place on 6-9 June 2023, online, and free of charge. The deadline for proposals is 31 January 2023 and the theme is Imagining Information. Proposals may be submitted in English or French. Proposals can be for: Papers; Lightning Talks; Panels. There is also a Student Research Forum.
"We meet and structure the world through Imagination. The act of imagining enables inner and outer transformation. It assists in the construction of ourselves, our societies, and even our reality, it helps us to envision and to realize what is possible but it also limits. Collective imagining figures into forming hopes and strategies for the future, but also constructs the past.
"Imagination can be speculative, but imagination coupled with action can also be resistant and a powerful method toward moving toward liberation. Imagination has a strong connection to imagining, whether imagining new theoretical pathways, reflecting on the past, constructing or utilizing imagining as methodology. Imagination, while sometimes devalued, is a creative and resourceful force. For the 51st annual conference of the Canadian Association for Information Science, we invite attendees to consider imagining in its many senses and forms, from imagining potential futures for the field and our society, to the nature and function of imagination in information experiences and phenomena."
"Submissions may cover, but are not limited to, the following: Conceptions of information or documents as imagined or imaginary objects; Imagining and Indigenous ways of knowing/methodologies; LIS’ intersection with theories and theologies of mind; Imagining otherwise: information and social imaginaries, liberation, and Imagination as resistant; Conceptualizations of time: structuring the past through imagination, and a time “before”; Theoretical Speculations of the future; Restrictions and control of knowledge through imagined structures; Re-imagining the future of scholarly communication; Envisioning the future of information societies and professions; Virtual reality, technologies, and information spaces; Imagined communities (Nations, Readers, Lovers); Dreaming as information experience."
Full details at https://www.cais2022.ca/ and submissions (you have to create an account) at https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=caisacsi2023

Photo by Sheila Webber: Imagined future: taken in the 3D virtual worlds Second Life, November 2022

Farewell, Searcher

Another stalwart of the online era is retiring - the magazine Online Searcher, which used to be a go-to reference point for tips on advanced searching. Most of it is priced only, but there are some free tidbits online, including in the final issue:
Badke, W. (2022). Trust the Science? Implications for Online Research. Online Searcher, 46(6).
and a couple of ones from other recent issues
Lasda, E.M. (2022). What’s in a Citation? Motivation and Classification of Citing References. Online Searcher, 46(5).
Badke, W. (2022). Should We Give Up on Information Literacy? Online Searcher, 46(3). (fortunately the answer is no!)
Price, G. (2022) Saving the Web for Posterity. Online Searcher, 46(2)

Recording: Untold Stories ... Continued! Information practices in Bangladesh, and in the US-Mexico borderlands

A webinar held on 28 October 2022, co-organised by ASIS&T European Chapter and the Information School, University of Sheffield, UK. Dr Viviane Hessami presented her research: The Use of Notebooks by Bangladeshi Village Women to Backup Digital Data and Dr Sara Vannini presented on The information practices and politics of migrant-aid work in the US-Mexico borderlands. The webinar was chaired by Dr Andrea Jimenez, Information School, University of Sheffield. The recording is embedded below and the link to it is here. The event also celebrated Global Media and Information Literacy Week 2022.
Dr Hessami is a Lecturer and Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow in the Faculty of Information Technology, Monash University, Australia https://research.monash.edu/en/persons/viviane-hessami Dr Vannini is a Lecturer/Assistant Professor at the University of Sheffield Information School http://www.saravannini.com/wordpress/

Call for proposals: Health Literacy and Libraries

This is a call for chapter authors for a forthcoming book Health Literacy and Libraries, to be published by Medical Library Association (MLA) Books, in cooperation with Rowman & Littlefield.
"The new book aims to be a practical and engaging resource for information professionals. The book will provide a compilation of relevant research and evidence-based practices for health literacy work in libraries, including instruction, programming, and outreach for a range of diverse communities."
Invited authors will be contacted and sent chapter guidelines in early 2023. Full chapters are expected to be in English, between 4,000 to 6,000 words, and submitted by April 1, 2023.
Proposals should be submitted on this Google Form by 15 December 2022 https://forms.gle/Lu7pF1Px6YnpwTj8A
Photo by Sheila Webber: late autumn pollarded tree, November 2022

Online course: Supercharge Your Search - Power Hour

Search expert Phil Bradley is again running his online training session Supercharge Your Search - Power Hour – the information professionals guide to the world of internet search! on 24 November 2022 12noon-13.00 UK time. Cost is £35.
"Do you ever get dissatisfied with the search results that you get from Google? Are you sure that the information is out there, but you can’t quite locate it? Do you wish there was an alternative to the seemingly ubiquitous Google? You’ll be pleased to know that there is a solution to your frustrations! There are a great many other search engines available for the savvy searcher to use. This session will look at direct competitors to Google, and will examine how good they are, and why you may decide to use them to run better searches. However you’ll also look at directory based engines, multi and meta search engines, similarity search, which multimedia search engines you can use, and some unique and valuable search engines that give you material that you simply cannot find using Google."
Registration and more information at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/supercharge-your-search-power-hour-tickets-439656282777
Photo by Sheila Webber: flowers at the farmers market, August 2022

Recent articles: Teaching IL virtually; IL as an advernture; IL & humanities; Collaboration

There is a special issue of The Nordic Journal of Information Literacy in Higher Education (NORIL) (volume 13, number 1, 2022) , focused on the 10th Creating Knowledge Conference, a Nordic conference which concentrates on information literacy and learning. The articles are:
- What if becoming information literate were an adventure? by Tove I. Dahl
- Innovative teaching in a new normal: creating new ways to deliver virtual information literacy and research support training by Keziah Gibbs, Hannah Crago
- Preparing students for an evidence-based health service – a collaboration between the University Library and faculty by Kari Kalland, Lilja Marlen Johannessen
- Library-faculty collaboration in the light of a business administration bachelor’s program: ‘The Scientific Wave’ by Elisabeth Näverå, Anna Karin Olsson
- Teaching information literacy in the humanities: Engaging students with primary sources and cultural heritage material by Karin Pettersson
- How librarian involvement enhances students’ information literacy by Jessica Thorn
- Creating Knowledge X: Evaluation report by Helene N. Andreassen
Go to https://noril.uib.no/issue/view/5
Photo by Sheila Webber: autumn branches, November 2022

STAK - lessons plans and resources

"The STAK Project is a Danish national project that has produced a framework and tools to help educators develop the academic digital literacies, skills, and competencies of their students. STAK and OneHE are working together to translate these resources and make them freely available to all under Creative Commons."
The producers are librarians in Danish universities, and the materials are focused around traditional information literacy topics such as searching and referencing. Go to https://onehe.org/stak/

Photo by Sheila Webber: peppers and lettuce at Framers Market, November 2022

Recordings: the Future of Libraries

Recordings from the October 2022 Pacific Library Partnership conference, The Future of Libraries 2022: Expanding Your Toolbox for a Changing World, have been published.
It includes the presentation by Frieda Afary (an Iranian American librarian, translator and writer) on Confronting Disinformation and Book Bans by Cultivating Critical Thinking and Empathy.
Go to  https://www.plpinfo.org/fall-conference-archive/

Recent articles: Epistemic curiosity; Spotting misinformation; LibGuides for indigenous studies; Students' data practices

The latest issue of open access journal College & Research Libraries (Vol 83, No 6, 2022) has been published. It includes:

- Investigating Nontraditional First-Year Students’ Epistemic Curiosity During the Research Process: An Exploratory, Mixed-Methods Study by Michelle Keba Knecht
- Diving Deep into Dissertations: Analyzing Graduate Students’ Methodology and Data Practices to Inform Research Data Services and Subject Liaison Librarian Support by Mandy Swygart-Hobaugh, Raeda Anderson, Denise George, Joel Glogowski
- Preparing College Students for a Digital Age: A Survey of Instructional Approaches to Spotting Misinformation by Nadav Ziv, Emma Bene
- From Pathfinder to Indigenized: An Assessment of LibGuides for Indigenous Studies by ARL Member Institutions by Kristen J. Nyitray, Dana Reijerkerk
Go to https://crl.acrl.org/index.php/crl/issue/view/1627/showToc
Photo by Sheila Webber: autumn leaves on the bench, October 2022

Teaching in a digital age: Open Pedagogy

An open access textbook which is available for reuse under a Creative Commons License is:
Bates, A.W. (2022). Teaching in a Digital Age.Guidelines for designing teaching and learning (3rd. Ed). Pressbooks. https://pressbooks.pub/teachinginadigitalagev3m/
In particular I will highlight the section which outlines what open pedagogy is, with definitions, diagrams and examples:  https://pressbooks.pub/teachinginadigitalagev3m/chapter/11-4-open-pedagogy/

New: The data literacy cookbook

A new book is: Getz, K. and Brodsky, M. (2022). The data literacy cookbook. ACRL. https://www.alastore.ala.org/content/data-literacy-cookbook "Sixty-five recipes are organized into nine sections based on learning outcomes: 1. Interpreting Polls and Surveys 2. Finding and Evaluating Data 3. Data Manipulation and Transformation 4. Data Visualization 5. Data Management and Sharing 6. Geospatial Data 7. Data in the Disciplines 8. Data Literacy Outreach and Engagement 9. Data Literacy Programs and Curricula. To be honest, I'm not keen on a recipe/cookbook approach to educating for literacies, but it looks as the the chapters address some interesting aspects.

Photo by Sheila Webber: recipe books in Second Life, November 2022

Webinar: Routes and experiences of doing a LIS PhD

On 18 November 2022 at 13.00-16.00 UK time (GMT) there is a webinar Routes and experiences of doing a LIS PhD, organised by CILIP LIRG (Library and Information Research Group). The cost is £20 (inclusive of VAT) for both CILIP and non-CILIP members, with complimentary tickets for all students, the unwaged and underrepresented minorities who can contact ebony.burke@kcl.ac.uk to receive the waiver code.
"This half-day online event is designed to introduce participants to different routes to pursuing a LIS PhD whilst working as LIS practitioners. The event will comprise of several current LIS practitioners from around the globe talking about and sharing their personal experiences of the undertaking and completing a PhD. There will also be a presentation introducing participants to the different ways that you can do a PhD whilst working, and also what supervising a part-time PhD entails."
Speakers are: Alison Brettle, Professor in Health Information and Evidence Based Practice and Director Centre for Social and Health Research, University of Salford; Gustavo Grandal-Montero, Library Collections and Engagement Manager, Tate Britain; Laura Woods, Subject Librarian, University of Huddersfield; George MacGregor, Institutional Repository Manager, Strathclyde University; Kirsty Wallis, Head of Research Liaison, University College London; Denise Lafitte, Associate University Librarian, University of Alberta; Hazel Hall, Professor of Social Informatics, Edinburgh Napier University.
To register, go to to https://www.cilip.org.uk/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=1680749&group=

Photo by Sheila Webber: autumn bench, October 2022

Bursary places for #LILAC23

The LILAC (UK information literacy) conference (which takes place 19-21 April 2023 in Cambridge, UK) is offering 5 free places. Deadline for applications is 30 November 2022 17.00 UK time (GMT). The bursaries are for people from/ working in the following under-represented communities and sectors in the UK: Ethnic minority backgrounds; Further Education; Health (e.g., NHS – librarians working in Higher Education who support health subjects are not eligible to apply); Public; Schools. The bursary includes 3 days attendance of all LILAC sessions and social events. Travel and accommodation expenses up to the value of £225 are also available if required.
"To be eligible for a place you must be a librarian, volunteer, or information professional working in or from the above-mentioned sectors/communities in the UK. You will have to show your commitment to information literacy by writing a short personal statement explaining how attending the conference will be of benefit to you, demonstrating your commitment to information literacy and detailing how you will disseminate knowledge gained from the conference."
More details at https://www.lilacconference.com/lilac-2023/bursaries

Webinar: The Changing Role of the Education Librarian

There is a free webinar on 11 November 2022, at 13.30 US EST (which is, e.g., 18.30 UK time): The Changing Role of the Education Librarian. It is organised by the SLA and ACRL. "This presentation will provide an overview of the findings of a pre-COVID-19 survey on the job roles and responsibilities of Education librarians. These findings give insight into the diverse educational backgrounds and varied responsibilities of Education librarians related to instruction and instructional design, reference, embedded librarianship, outreach, collaboration, and collection development.”
Presenters (all based in the USA) are: Katherine Donaldson (Social Sciences/Education Librarian at the University of Oregon Libraries; Laura Bonella (Professor and the Academic Services Department Head at Kansas State University; Lisa Becksford (Head of Learning Design Initiatives at the University Libraries at Virginia Tech; Josette Kubicki (Reference and Instruction Librarian at Augusta University, Reese Library, in Georgia; Sarah Parramore (Director of Teaching, Learning and Research Support at Occidental College and Education Librarian at California State University, Fullerton).
Register at https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMvceqtpzwsHtDYWS_rchrX5m7G3s7BG3DS
Photo by Sheila Webber: Teddy, September 2022

Call for proposals #WILU2023

There is a call for proposals for the WILU Conference (the Canadian information literacy conference). The conference will be held at McGill University in Montreal, Québec, Canada, May 16-19,- 2023, and the deadline for the proposals is 5 December 2022. You can propose papers, workshops or panels, in English or French. The theme is Carte Blanche. "As information professionals, our roles continue to change as the definition of information literacy grows to include a diverse range of skills. We thrive in an environment that promotes and values innovation and experimentation. To respond to the evolving needs of users, we must embrace spontaneity and risk-taking. Librarians are often described as intellectually agile, with the ability to adapt quickly to new technologies or philosophies. How do we adjust traditional teaching practices to reach our users? How do we decide which topics and teaching styles to use? We invite proposals that consider what it means to have “carte blanche” to design and deliver timely, relevant library instruction sessions with the freedom to try new things, experiment with novel ideas, and start fresh." More information at https://wilu-conference.github.io/en/call-for-proposals/

Webinar: Libraries and Learning Analytics: The Future is Now

There is a free ACRL webcast Libraries and Learning Analytics: The Future is Now on 17 November 2022 at 12.30-14.00 US Central time (18.30-20.00 UK time). Presenters are Megan Oakleaf, Ken Varnum, and Becky Croxton. "Learning analytics offers a new tool in the library assessment toolbox, one that closes gaps left by other assessment methods but requires different ways of framing assessment questions, innovative strategies for using or connecting data, and strengthening collaborations with campus partners. This webcast, sponsored by the ACRL Value of Academic Libraries Committee, is designed to help librarians take the next step in learning analytics preparedness by guiding them through a series of activities designed to support them in thinking through decisions, data, and conversations necessary for ethical, effective, and engaging learning analytics work at their institutions. Register at https://ala-events.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0rduiqpj4jH9aV83eois-nuBevucc_Y_KY

Photo by Sheila Webber: more autumn leaves, October 2022