Critical Thinking in Academic Research

An open access book now in its 2nd edition is: 

Gruwell, C & Ewing, R. (2023). Critical Thinking in Academic Research. 2nd ed. https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/1190

Photo by Sheila Webber: autumn rose, September 2023

International day for Universal access to #information today

Today, the 28th September is International Day for Universal Access to Information and the theme this year is the importance of the online space for Access to Information. This day was founded following a Resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2019 which noted "the right to seek, receive and impart information is an integral part of the right to freedom of expression". You can register to attend virtually the conference (in Oxford) marking this occasion today, for free at https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_WGITS_ktSHGcqsP84RedQw#/registration and the programme is here.

Workshops: Lego serious play; Making educational games

Andrew Walsh has announced two workshops
(1) An online Introduction to Lego Serious Play on 20 November 2023 13.00-16.30 UK time "covering some of the basics of this approach, aiming to give enough of an introduction that attendees would be able to start using it in educational settings to teach or support adults." Lego will be posted to attendees in advance. Cost is £85 for UK attendees, 1:00pm to 4:30pm, 20th November. To book: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/basic-introduction-to-using-lego-in-adult-teaching-support-november-tickets-726656016707? 

(2) An in-person workshop in York, UK on 4 December 2023 10.30-15.00, Making Educational Games "Participants will be led through a set process to prototype a learning game during the workshop (in small groups). At the end of the day, participants should be able to return to their workplaces and create their own learning games." Cost is £95 per person including lunch and all materials. Book at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/making-non-digital-games-for-libraries-york-tickets-726661101917?

Image by Sheila Webber using Midjourney AI with the prompt lego serious play in the style of Chiho Aoshima

Webinar: Misinformation and Critical Literacies

The CILIP Information Literacy Group has organised a free online roundtable on 24 October 2023 at 13.00 UK time, on Misinformation and Critical Literacies, to celebrate UNESCO Global Media and Information Literacy Week 2023.
There are two speakers who "will share their recent work and experience on different topics related to disinformation":
Dr Inês Amaral is an Associate Professor at the University of Coimbra in Portugal. She is the co-PI of the project MediaTrust.Lab - Local Media Lab for Civic Trust and Literacy, a study on disinformation.
Dr. Belinha De Abreu is a global media literacy educator, researcher, practitioner and author who is also the President of the International Council for Media Literacy.
To register go to https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/misinformation-and-critical-literacies-roundtable-tickets-725940285937?
Image created by Sheila Webber using Midjourney AI using the prompt Misinformation and Critical Literacies in the style of Gwen John

Presentations from Creating Knowledge

Rather late - but I have noticed that most presentation slides and some recordings are available for the Creating Knowledge conference that took place in Norway, in June 2021. Many of them relate to information literacy.
Go to https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/SCS/issue/view/532

Metaliteracy and pedagogies of play

A new open access book is:
Havenga, M., Olivier, J. & Bunt, B.J. (Eds). (2023). Problem-based learning and pedagogies of play: Active approaches towards Self-Directed Learning. AOSIS Publishing. https://books.aosis.co.za/index.php/ob/catalog/book/409
This includes a chapter on metaliteracy:
Jacobsen, T.E. & MacKey, T.P. Chapter 3: Designing interactive pedagogies of play through metaliteracy

 This book is part of a series of open access books on self-directed learning that looks very interesting (topics https://books.aosis.co.za/index.php/ob/catalog/book/409learning, assessment etc.)

Photo taken by Sheila Webber in the 3D virtual world, Craft World, September 2023 - an Italian educator was talking about use of AI in education. I'm using this, as my attempts to use words from the book and chapter title as prompts on Midjourney were coming up with manic toddlers, threatening piles of lego, or spooky puppets.

Programme for #ECIL2023 published

The programme for the European Conference on Information Literacy 2023, taking place in Krakow, Poland, 9-12 October, has  been published https://www.conftool.com/ecil2023/sessions.php
Dr Pam McKinney and I will aim to liveblog the conference as usual, and there are a number of use from the Information School participating
- I am presenting on The Relationship between Game Literacy and Information Literacy
- I am on a panel, together with Dr Clarence Maybee (Purdue University), Dr Karen Kaufmann (University of South Florida) and Bill Johnston, on Recognizing the Discipline of Information Literacy: Implications for Research and Practice
- Bill Johnston and I are presenting on The Age-Friendly Media and Information Literate City post COVID-19
- My colleague Pam is presenting a paper co-authored with Corin Peacock and Dr Andrew Cox: The Information Literacy Practices of LGBTQ+ Students’ Self-Tracking: Attitudes to Data Collection, Data Privacy and Data Sharing
- Laura Woods will be presenting work from her PhD: Information Worlds of Women Engineering Students
- iSchool alumna Dr Evi Tramantza presents with Dr Konstantina Martzoukou (RGU) on ‘Maddie Is Online’: Embedding Creative Audio-Visual Resources to The Teaching of Information Literacy in an Elementary School in Greece

New articles: Climate change; trustworthiness of #COVID19 information; Nurses' information literacy

Choo, C.W. (2023). Climate change information seeking. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 74(9), 1086-1099. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24805 (open access)
"This research develops and tests a model of individual intentions to actively seek information about climate change. ... We conducted an online survey in which 212 participants in Canada and the United States responded. The results showed that the model was able to explain more than 40% of the variance in intention to seek climate change information. Social Norms, Affective Response, and Social Trust were the most important variables in influencing intention to seek climate change information. We conclude that climate change information seeking has a strong social dimension where social norms and expectations of relevant and respected others exert a major influence, and that the individual's emotional response towards the risk of climate change is more important than the individual's cognitive perception of how much information they need on climate change." 

Park, M. et al (2023). Measuring the impacts of quantity and trustworthiness of information on COVID-19 vaccination intent. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 74(7), 846-865 https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24760
"We analyzed COVID-19 Preventive Behavior Survey data collected by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from Facebook users (N = 82,213) in 15 countries between October 2020 and March 2021. The results of logistic regression analyses indicate that reasonable quantity and trustworthiness of information were positively related to COVID-19 vaccination intent. But excessive and less than the desired amount of information was more likely to have negative impacts on vaccination intent."

Wu, C., Zhang, Y., Wu, J. et al. (2023) Construction and application on the training course of information literacy for clinical nurses. BMC Medical Education, 23, 614. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-023-04505-9. (open access)
"This study intended to construct a training course of information literacy for clinical nurses, train nurses in order to improve their information literacy level and provide theoretical reference for the training of information literacy courses for clinical nurses. Two rounds of Delphi study were conducted for the study among 26 clinical medical and nursing experts as well as educational experts from 5 different provinces and cities in China. ... 84 clinical nurses from two hospitals were selected by the convenience sampling method, of which the nurses in one hospital were the control group and the nurses in the other hospital were the observation group. 42 nurses in the observation group were trained by the constructed information literacy training course. Questionnaire evaluation was used to compare the differences in the level of information literacy of nurses and the training effect between the two groups. ... The results of the empirical study showed that the information literacy level of the nurses in the observation group after the training of the information literacy course was improved, and the scores in nursing information awareness, nursing information knowledge, nursing information ability, and information ethics were significantly higher than those in the control group after training" The article mostly does not refer to information literacy lterature, but they did use the information literacy instrument used in this open access research article https://doi.org/10.1111/hir.12217
Photo by Sheila Webber: Closeup of fabric "leaves"  from the steel willow I showed yesterday

New articles: infolit in music education; media literacy in the curriculum

Firstly, an article about information literacy education for music students.
Pratesi, A. & Yang, Z.(2023). User education. Notes, 80(1),73-81. https://doi.org/10.1353/not.2023.a905317 or open access at https://scholarship.depauw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1015&context=library_facpubs

Secondly, a frustrating article which claims to be a systematic review on the incorporation of "Media and Information Literacy" into the curriculum. However, there is a flaw in their search strategy, since whilst they searched for "Media Literacy" and "Media and Information Literacy" they did not search for "information literacy" meaning that they have missed out on a swathe of articles, and as a consequence do not include librarians as a specific stakeholder group engaged in MIL work (in fact it doesn't mention them once). Sigh.
On the up side, this article is open access and does provide international insight
Rojas-Estrada, EG., Aguaded, I. & García-Ruiz, R. (2023). Media and Information Literacy in the Prescribed Curriculum: A Systematic Review on its Integration. Education and Information Technologies. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-023-12154-0
Photo by Sheila Webber: Willow tree memorial, Sheffield, September 2023

Teaching and Collecting Technical Standards: A Handbook for Librarians and Educators

A new book in the Purdue Information Literacy Handbooks series (from Purdue University in the USA) is
Leachman, C., Rowley, E.M., Phillips, M. & Solomon, D. (2023). Teaching and Collecting Technical Standards: A Handbook for Librarians and Educators. Purdue University.
It is open access at https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/pilh/5.
It Includes chapters relating to teaching and information literacy
Photo by Sheila Webber: more roses that became Friday's rosehips

Making your research stand out from the crowd

A half day course (10.00-13.00 UK time) on 16 November 2023 is Making your research stand out from the crowd using video, animation, infographics and podcasts. It's organised by the UKeiG and the cost is UKeiG/CILIP members £50 + VAT; Non-members £80 + VAT. Workshop leader is Andy Tattersall.
"This workshop will explore the benefits of video, animation, infographics and podcasts as a complement to short and long form communication techniques like Twitter and blogging. Video, animation, infographics and podcasts can broadcast your research and professional activities to a diverse international audience, showcasing and engaging in ways that traditional forms of scholarly communication cannot."
More details and booking at https://www.cilip.org.uk/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=1772256&group=201314
Image created by Sheila Webber using Midjourney AI using the workshop title as a prompt

Peer-led information services

The latest issue of Reference Services Review (priced journal) is vol. 51 issue 2, 2023.This issue focuses on "peer led research" and includes
- Peer teachers taking the lead in classroom instruction: program creation and challenges faced by M. Sara Lowe, Sean M. Stone, Katharine V. Macy
- Peer reference, post reference desk: what is next? An interview with Allison Faix instruction coordinator and librarian at Coastal Carolina University
- Introducing peer-to-peer reference services in a community college library by Allison Scripa, Mary Ellen Spencer
- Better together: experiential learning in peer-led research services by Megan Graewingholt, Jonathan Cornforth, Sarah Parramore
Go to: https://www.emerald.com/insight/publication/issn/0090-7324/vol/51/iss/2
Photo by Sheila Webber: more rosehips, August 2023

Webinar: Navigating A World of Generative AI: Suggestions for Educators

There is a free Contact North|Contact Nord webinar: Navigating A World of Generative AI: Suggestions for Educators on 26 September 2023 11.00-12.00 US Eastern Time (which is, e.g. 16.00-17.00 UK time). Contact North is a Canadian education agency.
"Generative AI presents both opportunities and challenges for education. This webinar for educators aims to equip you with the insights and strategies needed to navigate this evolving landscape. We focus on instructional strategies to harness the benefits of AI while also nurturing the unique abilities of humans to tackle global challenges in the 21st century."
The presenters are Dr. Lydia Cao (Postdoctoral Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, USA) and Professor Chris Dede (Senior Research Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, USA)
Register at https://teachonline.ca/webinar/navigating-world-generative-ai-suggestions-educators
Photo by Sheila Webber: roses (photographed in May) that became yesterday's rosehips

Call for proposals: Inclusive Pedagogies in Practice: Implementing the Inclusive Pedagogy Toolkit

The ACRL Instruction Section Inclusive Pedagogy Committee seeks presenters for a webinar taking place on 8 November 2023 13.00-14.00 US Central time (which is, e.g. 19.00-200.00 UK time). The deadline for proposals (for 10 minute talks) is 29 September 2023. "We're planning to highlight the resources made available through the ACRL Inclusive Pedagogy Toolkit and elevate the work folks are doing around inclusive pedagogy in their libraries. In Spring 2023, we hosted a panel introducing the toolkit [the recording is here https://youtu.be/rZCkdAuCb6M?si=eypYjyjI0W-gtt1l], and now we want to learn about how librarians have implemented these resources. ... he purpose of these talks is to share practices and ideas about inclusive teaching, specifically focusing on library instruction and the Inclusive Pedagogy Toolkit. By sharing these practices, we aim to cultivate a community of educators committed to inclusion and equity."
Submit proposals through this Google form https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfv0_hHLR5n8Rp4KN1JeviyMxljyxFouPTjwyGv06-mLrlXyw/viewform
Photo by Sheila Webber: rosehips, August 2023

Kenyan MIL competencies workshop

There is a short report on a UNESCO-supported Training-of-Trainers workshop in Kisumu. Kenya, in August 2023, aiming to "deepen participants' competencies on Media and Information Literacy to address disinformation and hate speech on digital platforms". This was part of the UNESCO EU Social Media for Peace initiative.
Go to https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/kenyan-coalition-members-trained-media-and-information-literacy-digital-peace-building
Photo by Sheila Webber: train (just seen) drawing up this morning, September 2023

Call for chapters - Sustainable Libraries Driving Education for Sustainable Development.

There is a call for chapters for a book Sustainable Libraries Driving Education for Sustainable Development. Proposals are due 1 October 2023. The volume will be published on behalf of IFLA’s Environment, Sustainability and Libraries Section by de Gruyter/Saur Publisher open access, in the IFLA Publications Series.
Potential topics include
- Libraries promotion of media literacy and ensuring access to reliable, quality information
- Digital transformation in libraries to support and enhance emerging information services, especially in the post-pandemic era
- Libraries providing neutral and welcoming spaces, to educate people to improve their lives where possible through equitable access to information that supports social, political, and economic inclusion
- Libraries to widely disseminate and promote information to guide and accelerate decision-making by local and national governments to combat poverty
More info at https://www.ifla.org/news/call-for-book-chapters-sustainable-libraries-as-partners-for-driving-sustainable-development-education-working-title/

Webinar/ Festschrift for Linda C. Smith

There is a free webinar celebrating the life of Linda C. Smith, tied with the Library Trends Festschrift on 28 September 2023 at 12.00-14.00 US Central Time (which is, for example, 18.00-20.00 UK time).There are 3 panels: 1. Teaching Panel: Linda as an Educator; 2. Research Panel: Linda as a Scholar: 3. Service Panel: Linda as a Leader.
More details at https://lindacsmith.web.illinois.edu/festschrift-symposium/

Photo by Sheila Webber: local view, June 2023

Call for proposals: Western Balkan Information and Media Literacy Conference

There is a call for proposals for the Western Balkan Information and Media Literacy Conference 2023, held together with the 12th International Summit of the Book 2023 7-8 December 2023 in Bihać, Bosnia and Herzegovina and online, with the theme Media and Information Literacy in the age of Artificial Intelligence. The website is at https://www.wbimlc.org/
Abstract Submission deadline is 23 October 2023. Topics are listed here: https://www.wbimlc.org/topics
Submissions in any of the following forms are accepted: Full paper to be published in conference proceedings; Presentation; Roundtable discussion; Poster session; Workshops; Symposia; PechaKucha

Information needs; Health information; Equity in instruction

The latest issue of priced publication Health Information and Libraries Journal 40(3) includes the following:
- College and university libraries and user responses to COVID-19 health information needs by Maria J. Grant,
- Promoting evidence-based practice and nursing excellence: How involvement in a Magnet4Europe® research study led to development of critically appraised topics sessions for health care staff by Beverley Jones and Claire O'Connor
- Information needs and sources of health professionals in Malawi by Limbani Chrispin Gama, Winner Dominic Chawinga, George Theodore Chipeta
- Identifying knowledge practices in an infodemic era: Rediscovering the professional identities of LIS professionals in an infodiverse environment (Open access article) by Joseph M. Yap, Agnes Hajdu Barat, Peter Kiszl
- Integrating diversity, equity, and inclusion principles into instruction: Case studies from the University of Florida's Health Science Center Libraries by Jane Morgan-Daniel, Hannah F. Norton, Mary Edwards, Lauren Adkins
Go to https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14711842/2023/40/3
Photo by Sheila Webber: petunia flowerbed, August 2023

#altc23

It will be worth following the https://twitter.com/hashtag/altc23?src=hashtag_click hashtag for the ALT Annual Conference "the UK’s foremost conference for Learning Technologists", but actually broader than that sounds, in addressing issues to do with technology and learning. The website is here https://altc.alt.ac.uk/2023/ and the detailed programme is here

L’histoire digitale et la recherche en communication

The French-language journal Communication has a special issue (volume 4, issue 1, 2023) reflecting on the history of digital communication, which includes information science and communication science perspectives. The issue is edited by Dominique Trudel, Olivier Le Deuff and Stefanie Averbeck-Lietz. https://journals.openedition.org/communication/
Image created by Sheila Webber using Midjourney AI using the title of this blog post as the prompt

Media and Information Literacy in Jordan

A review of Media and Information Literacy in Jordan has been released.
Al Muheisen, R. (Aug 18,2023). JMI study reveals state of information literacy in Jordan. Jordan Times. https://jordantimes.com/news/local/jmi-study-reveals-state-information-literacy-jordan
Unfortunately I couldn't find the report online, but here is a summary of the Jordan national plan.
Ministry of Culture, Jordan. Executive Summary on the National Plan to Disseminate Media and Information Literacy 2020-2023 https://erasmus-plus.org.jo/Portals/0/Media%20and%20Information%20Literacy%281%29.pdf
In it, Media and Information Literacy is defined as "the skills and competencies that enable individuals to access, analyze, evaluate and produce media wisely and ethically. As an essential life skill, MIL also builds an understanding of the role of media in society and develops critical thinking, a main pillar of 21st century education."
Also, this is the Jordan Media Institute's Media and Information Literacy Center https://www.jmi.edu.jo/en/mil-media-center
Photo by Sheila Webber: my hydrangea, August 2023