Drawing upon Stories in Teaching LIS Topics

The next LIS Pedagogy Chat is on 9 February 2024 at 14:00 US Eastern time (19:00 UK time) Drawing upon Stories in Teaching LIS Topics How can we use stories in teaching LIS topics? led by Rebecca Morris (University of Pittsburgh, USA) "We’ll gather to share strategies for integrating a range of practical scenarios in the classroom and online courses, including simulations, short scenarios, and instructor-created or textbook case studies and stories." Register (free) at https://www.lispedagogychat.org/schedule-registration
Photo by Sheila Webber: January 2024 Farmers' Market

CONUL annual seminar: Defining ‘AI’ in Teaching & Learning

The CONUL Annual Seminar 2024 is Defining ‘AI’ in Teaching & Learning: the role of libraries in Access and Inclusion; Academic Integrity; and Artificial Intelligence taking place in person in Dblin, Ireland on 1 March 2024. Book by 27 February 2024. Cost is €60 for CONUL Members, €75 for Non-CONUL Members, €10 for Students and the unwaged.
Go to https://conul.ie/annual-seminar-2024/
Image by Sheila Webber using Midjourney AI - prompt librarian heroine saving books in a forest

Social media affecting vaccination

An interesting resource on the bmj website is How are social media influencing vaccination? Understanding online behaviour and health outcomes It mainly includes links to articles, but also has an introduction to the topic. " this collection brings together original research examining the diverse relationships between social media use and vaccination beliefs and behaviours globally. The research studies included in this collection were funded through AHO’s Vaccine Confidence Fund. Further Analysis and Opinion articles, commissioned by The BMJ, explore the challenges of carrying out research in this nascent field and in drawing insights for policy action."
Go to https://www.bmj.com/social-media-influencing-vaccination
Image by Sheila Webber using Midjourney AI and prompt vaccine hesitancy, soothing colours (not sure that Midjourney's idea of "soothing" is the same as mine)

Philippine Association for Media and Information Literacy

PAMIL (Philippine Association for Media and Information Literacy) is an organisation for Media and Information Literacy educators, trainers, practitioners, and advocates in the Philippines. It is the official Philippine Chapter of the UNESCO MIL Alliance. There is a small amount of information on its website https://pamil.org.ph/about/ but they seem to use Facebook to distribute current information https://www.facebook.com/PAMIL.PH
At the moment they are advertising the hybrid 6th National Forum on MIL event which takes place February 9-10 2024. Note that of course it takes place in the Philippines time zone.
It is priced but the prices for online participation are very low - look on Facebook for the best information, and here is the registration form https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScM_AwAz61wI0lEhSoGbckUaqJ0fnN0wGqnKl6CxgnOdc0zTA/viewform Last date for registration is 31 January 2024

Global Media and Information Literacy Award winners 2023

The winners of the UNESCO-sponsored Global Media and Information Literacy Awards 2023 have been announced. They recognise excellence and leadership in five sectors: Education, Research, Policy, Advocacy, Media and Communication/Information Industries. Congratulations to all!
1st Prize: Mr. Felipe Chibas Ortiz, Brazil and Ms. Irene Andriopoulou, Greece
2nd Prize: Mr. Jose Reuben Q. Alagaran, Philippines and Ofcom, UK
3rd Prize: Library Association of Trinidad and Tobago (LATT), Ms. Aichurek Usupbaeva, Kyrgyzstan and Mr. Shawky Salem, Egypt.
Image by Sheila Webber using Midjourney AI

#LILAC24 programme and registration

The programme for the LILAC (information literacy) conference taking place in Leeds, UK, 25-27 March 2024, has been released at https://www.lilacconference.com/lilac-2024/conference-programme-1 (click on the word doc link for the details) and there are still some delegate places left.
Costs: CILIP Individual Member/ Speaker/ Early Bird Rate Full Conference £430; Non-Member Rate Full Conference £480; CILIP Individual Member/ Speaker/ Early Bird Rate Day Delegate – £205; Non-Member Rate: Day Delegate – £225. Early Bird Rate closes on 26 January 2024. Register at https://www.lilacconference.com/register

Generative AI

Firstly, there is some useful work going in in Australia, including this recent 8-page publication Australian Framework for Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Schools. The framework consists of principles or guiding points, under the headings: Teaching & Learning; Human & Social Wellbeing; Transparency; Fairness; Accountability; Privacy Security & Safety: https://www.education.gov.au/schooling/resources/australian-framework-generative-artificial-intelligence-ai-schools 

Secondly, EDUCAUSE has a 7 Things page focusing on 7 things you should know about generative AI https://er.educause.edu/articles/2023/12/7-things-you-should-know-about-generative-ai (The 7 Things series consists of concise lists with some key information points for educators).

Sheffield Literacies and Language Conference: Towards (extra)ordinary literacies and linguistic futures

There is a call for abstracts for the Sheffield Literacies and Language Conference: Towards (extra)ordinary literacies and linguistic futures to be held 14-15 June 2024 in Sheffield, UK. It is organised by Sheffield Hallam University and University of Sheffield. The deadline for proposals is 1 March 2024.
They "invite you to explore possible futures, and the role of language, and of course literacies, in imagining new realities, beyond ‘standard’ language/s and deficit understandings of language/s. Our conference theme of futures builds on the developing body of research and scholarship in language-focused fields - including, but not limited to intercultural communication, literacies, applied linguistics and sociolinguistics - which calls on scholars to not take language for granted. This includes research which engages with post-human and new materialist philosophies, embracing the embodied nature of language"
You can submit proposals for papers, posters, workshops or colloquia.
Go to https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/education/research/literacies-and-language/forging-hopeful-literacies/call-papers
Photo by Sheila Webber: Botanic Gardens, Sheffield, January 2024

Awards for Media Literacy - call for nominations

There is a call for entries for the Voices Awards 2024 associated with the First European Festival of Journalism and Media Literacy, Voices, which takes place in Florence, Italy, on 15-16 March 2024. Deadline for nominations is 31 January 2024. There are five awards for Journalism and five for Media Literacy: each receives1000 euros to attend the Festival. Information on the media literacy awards is here https://voicesfestival.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Call-for-entries_Voices-Awards_MediaLiteracy.pdf.
Also, the event itself (in a rather lovely venue) is free for the first to register. No programme as yet, but interesting organisations involved.

Recent articles: Faculty attitudes; Librarians' experiences of teaching; Generative AI; Curriculum mapping in political science

Recent articles from priced journal portal: Libraries and the Academy include:
- Baer, A. (2024). Academic Instruction Librarians' Conceptions of Teacher Agency and Affective Orientations toward the Concept. portal: Libraries and the Academy 24(1), 105-135. https://doi.org/10.1353/pla.2024.a916992 " Participants generally expressed positive affect when they felt they were independently in control of their teaching (individual agency), or when they described reciprocal and collaborative relationships with faculty (potentially collective agency). Participants expressed negative affect about experiences of lacking teacher agency. Almost all participants expressed 1) a desire to experience meaning and purpose in teaching and 2) a sensitivity to the highly relational nature of librarians' instructional work."
- Stonebraker, I., & LeMire, S. (2023). Requesting Librarian-Led Information Literacy Support: Instructor Approaches, Experiences, and Attitudes. portal: Libraries and the Academy 23(4), 843-862. https://doi.org/10.1353/pla.2023.a908704 " Librarians at two large institutions surveyed 29 instructors and then interviewed 11 about their experiences working with librarians, their motivations for involving librarians in their courses, and their goals for including information literacy instruction. The study found that instructors had many different levels of experience with the library. Motivations for inviting librarians to their classes included creating a support network and sharing librarian expertise with students."
- Henson, B. (2023). Using Curriculum Mapping to Understand Information Literacy in Political Science Curricula. portal: Libraries and the Academy 23(4), 717-744. https://doi.org/10.1353/pla.2023.a908699 - Hurrell, C., Beatty, S., Murphy, J.E., Cramer, D., Lee, J., & McClurg, C. (2024). Learning and Teaching about Scholarly Communication: Findings from Graduate Students and Mentors. portal: Libraries and the Academy 24(1), 83-104. https://doi.org/10.1353/pla.2024.a916991
- Miller, R.E. (2024). Pandora's Can of Worms: A Year of Generative AI in Higher Education. portal: Libraries and the Academy 24(1), 21-34. https://doi.org/10.1353/pla.2024.a916988 "... this article reports on the experience of learning about generative AI at one university. This article considers ways that educators may use AI tools and reasons to resist adopting generative AI tools, situating uses on a spectrum of acceptability."
Photo by Sheila Webber: Trees in the botanic gardens January 2024

Online workshop: Interactive Tools for Presentations and Teaching

A half-day online course from the UK electronic information Group (UKeiG) is Interactive Tools for Presentations and Teaching, taking place 10:00-13:00 (UK time) on 22 February 2024. Cost (including presentation slides and documentation) is: UKeiG/CILIP members £50 + VAT; Non-members £80 + VAT (plus some other discount). Course leader is Ned Potter.
"How do we truly engage our audience when presenting ideas, welcoming new users, or teaching? There are plenty of freely available tools which allow more interaction, which can be used either instead of or alongside traditional presentation tools like PowerPoint".
Delegates will explore tools including Menti, Prezi Next, Google Slides and Padlet. "By the end of the training participants will have learned about a variety of interactive tools, tried them all out, and be able to make an informed choice as to when to use them in their online presentations, lectures, workshops, or orientation sessions."
Info and booking at https://www.cilip.org.uk/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=1800198&group=201314

New articles: Multiliteracies; agents for healthcare

The latest issue of open access journal Information Research (Vol. 28 No. 4, 2023) includes:
- Librarians’ and teachers’ conceptions of multiliteracies in the context of Finnish curriculum reform by Siinamari Ylivuori, Anu Ojaranta "Individual and group interviews are analysed to explore the conceptions of teachers and librarians on multiliteracies. ... The results indicate that there are differences in conceptualising multiliteracies and in the confidence in defining the concept between teachers and librarians. In addition, the concept of multiliteracies is seen as both a skills set and a pedagogical tool. ... There is a need for conceptual clarification of multiliteracies both in grassroots-level work and in the curriculum context to avoid multiple interpretations of the concept and to guide how multiliteracies could be pedagogically implemented."
- Critical information quality dimensions of conversational agents for healthcare by Caihua Liu, Guochao Peng, Shufeng Kong, Chaowang Lan, Haoliang Zhu (gives results from a questionnaire survey "Understandability and trustworthiness were the two top concerns for the information quality of the agents from the participants’ perspective in this study. ")
Go to https://informationr.net/infres/issue/view/28-4
Photo by Sheila Webber: winter brabnches, Botanical Gardens, January 2024

Webinar: Online Interviews

The next free webinar organised by the Library and Information Research Group (LIRG), on Online Interviews, is delivered by me, on 1 March 2024 at 12 noon-1pm UK time! It is part of LIRG's Continuing Professional Development series "designed to introduce LIS practitioners to workplace research methods"
"During this session, Sheila Webber, Senior Lecturer at the Information School, University of Sheffield, UK, will discuss characteristics and guidelines impacting research interviews. She will delve into considerations for online interview settings, explore various online spaces for interviewing, and touch upon choices related to audio, video, and graphics in the interviewing process. Ethical aspects of online interviews will also be addressed."
I hope to see you there!
Register at https://www.cilip.org.uk/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=1778120&group=
Photo by Sophie Rutter, taken last year when I received the Thinkerer award for immersive education: this is my blog so I decided to pick a more flattering picture of me ;-)

Bibliography: Library instruction and information literacy 2022

The annual annotated bibliography of articles about information literacy has been published (there is a note that when it was first published at the end of 2023 some content was missed out and this has now been restored). This is a priced publication. 340 items were identified "from the EBSCO platform for Library, Information Science and Technology Abstracts (LISTA), Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), Elsevier SCOPUS and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. Sources selected were published in 2022 and included the terms “information literacy,” “library instruction,” or “information fluency” in the title, subject terms, or author supplied keywords."
On a personal note, the authors discuss in their introduction how they debated whether to extend the search terms, and they note that "Johnston and Webber [that's me!] (2005) led the way in proposing information literacy as a soft discipline nearly 20 years ago and the debate in our field continues;most recently at the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Conference with a panel entitled, “Casting a New Conversation: Recognizing Information Literacy as a Discipline” (Maybee et al., 2023)." (see https://crln.acrl.org/index.php/crlnews/article/view/26111)
Caffrey, C., Lee, H., Withorn, T., Galoozis, E., Clarke, M., Philo, T., Eslami, J., Ospina, D., Haas, A., Kohn, K.P., Macomber, K., Clawson, H. and Vermeer, W. (2023), "Library instruction and information literacy 2022", Reference Services Review, Vol. 51 No. 3/4, pp. 319-396. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/RSR-08-2023-0061/full/html
Photo by Sheila Webber: soft toys, almost as numerous as the articles in the bibliography, Krakow, October 2023

Call for proposals Playful Learning

There is a call for proposals for the Playful Learning conference which will take place in Brighton, UK, 3-5 July 2024.
Deadline for proposals is 5 February 2024.
More information at https://playfullearningassoc.co.uk/conference/

CALC Quarterly call for submissions

There is a new inititaive from the CALC (Critical Approaches to Libraries Conference) people:  CALC Quarterly. They are calling for submissions (in any accessible format) by 31 January 2024.
"CALC Quarterly is a journal/newsletter which aims to give folks the space to share ideas and experiences around critical librarianship in a formal or informal way. As with the conference itself, we strive to be inclusive and accessible to all with a commitment to give a platform for a diverse range of voices and experiences. We're looking for contributions for our first issue, with the suggested prompt of: ‘What does CALC and/or critical librarianship mean to you?’."
More information at https://calcquarterly.org/submissions.

Two sponsored places at #LILAC24

The CILIP Information Literacy Group offers the Rowena Macrae-Gibson Student Award which provides a sponsored place at the LILAC (Information Literacy) conference taking place in Leeds, UK, 25-27 March 2024. Closing date is 2 February 2024 17.00 UK time. The are awards for two students, who must be registered for a UK-based first degree or taught postgraduate qualification in information/library studies or information literacy (IL). The award includes a full conference place, including social events, and UK travel and accommodation expenses up to the value of £250. Full-time or part-time students can apply (including distance-learners).
More info at https://www.lilacconference.com/awards/student-sponsored-places

Free webinars

A useful list of free webinars, curated by April Sheppard. They are to do with various aspects of library work, including information literacy. Some of the non information literacy ones look interesting too! (I've just signed up for a session on the 2024 new MeSH headings, basically out of nostalgia).
It is a US-based list so do pay attention to time zones.
Go to https://libguides.astate.edu/profdev/freeforall
Image by Sheila Webber using Midjourney AI with prompt librarian heroine saving books in a forest --niji 5 cute

Research Agenda Conversation: Veronica Arellano Douglas

The ACRL January 2024 Research Agenda Conversation (an interview published in a blog post) is with Veronica Arellano Douglas (Head of Teaching & Learning at the University of Houston Libraries, USA).
Go to https://acrl.ala.org/IS/is-committees-2/committees-task-forces/research-scholarship/research-agenda-conversations/2024-research-agenda-conversation/
Photo by Sheila Webber: Gormley sculpture at Rodin museum, November 2023

Applications invited for Information Literacy Award

The CILIP Information Literacy Group and the Information School at the University of Sheffield are again offering an award for achievement in the field of information literacy (IL).
It is open to individuals or teams based in the United Kingdom: practitioners, researchers or academics. Nominations will close on 2 February 2024 at 17:00 UK time. The winner will receive £500 for personal use and £500 for their nominated charity.
"Nominations must demonstrate impact, innovation, initiative and originality in one or more of the following areas [there has to be evidence of impact etc. in the last three years]:
- Raising the profile of IL within an organisation / community or sector
- Initiating or contributing to national, regional or local projects / initiatives which enhance IL skills for an identified client group(s)
- Developing a digital resource (e.g. online course, service, product or app) which develops and enhances IL skills
- Undertaking original research in the field of IL and making a significant contribution to the literature.
"There should be evidence that the nominated individual or team is committed to sharing knowledge and expertise and/or disseminating their learning and/or research within their organisation and beyond."
You can self-nominate or be nominated by colleagues.You can submit a written nomination or a video.
More information at https://www.lilacconference.com/awards/information-literacy-award
Image by Sheila Webber using Midjourney AI with prompt - new year greetings, warm colours, cats, happy

New book: Visual Literacy Pedagogy in Academic Libraries and Information Spaces

ACRL has published (2024) Unframing the Visual: Visual Literacy Pedagogy in Academic Libraries and Information Spaces, edited by Maggie Murphy, Stephanie Beene, Katie Greer, Sara Schumacher, and Dana Statton Thompson.
"This collection provides new ideas and inspiration for how to unframe, adapt, and apply visual literacy pedagogy and praxis in your work. ... In four parts, Unframing the Visual: Visual Literacy Pedagogy in Academic Libraries and Information Spaces explores: Participating in a Changing Visual Information Landscape; Perceiving Visuals as Communicating Information; Practicing Visual Discernment and Criticality; Pursuing Social Justice through Visual Practice.
"Twenty-four full color chapters present a range of theoretical and practical approaches to visual literacy pedagogy that illustrate, connect with, extend, and criticize concepts from the Framework for Visual Literacy in Higher Education: Companion Document to the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. Topics include using TikTok to begin a conversation on academic honesty and marginalization; supporting disciplines to move to multimodal public communication assignments; critical data visualization; and exclusionary practices in visual media."
Cost is US $120.00, or for ALA Members, $108.00 (or US $84.0 as an e-book). Item Number: 978-0-8389-3991-8
More info at https://www.alastore.ala.org/content/unframing-visual-visual-literacy-pedagogy-academic-libraries-and-information-spaces

New articles: Inclusive pedagogy; ACRL & SIFT; High cost of open offices; AI and creativity

The latest issue of open access College and Research Libraries News (vol 84 issue 11) includes:
- Engaging with Indigenous practices: Inclusive pedagogy by Kim L. Ranger
- Six frames, four moves, one habit: Finding ACRL’s Framework within SIFT by Allison I. Faix, Amy F. Fyn
- Neither open nor equitable: The high cost of open offices by Meredith Farkas (not about Information Literacy but well worth reading!)
- The fall of creativity: A librarian’s role in the world of AI by Shoshana Frank
Go to https://crln.acrl.org/index.php/crlnews/issue/view/1649/showToc
Image by Sheila Webber using Midjourney AI using the prompt open-plan office, crowded, threatening, --ar 16:9.You will note that apparently open plan offices are occupied almost entirely by men. When I added "women workers" to the prompt it came up with rows of women in 1950s outfits doing 1950s type things with stacks of paper and/or angry women shouting and throwing things. Hmmm

Information Literacy instruction: Creating inclusive and engaging communities of learning for all student

On 10 January 10 2024 at 10:00 US Pacific time (which is, e.g. 18:00 UK time) there is the first LiLi free webinar Information Literacy instruction: Creating inclusive and engaging communities of learning for all students, delivered by Leslie Ross (Assistant Professor, Instruction Coordinator at New Mexico State University Library, USA)
"There are students with disabilities who qualify for accommodation in the IL classroom, but often the accommodations don't go far enough. There are also students who do not have diagnosed disabilities and are very much in need of specific accommodations for things like situational anxiety, homesickness, or emergent substance use disorders that impact their abilities to learn and hand work in on time. We will discuss using asset-based teaching practices and universal design in IL instruction to create inclusive and engaging communities of learning for all students." Register at https://northampton-edu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAvdO-grT0vHNx9rjoAEkOcy7wlbHTwhV14
Image by Sheila Webber using Midjourney AI

Universal design in libraries

An open-access paper (and brochure) from the 2023 IFLA conference:
Larsson, Karin. (2023) Universal design: Aiming for Universal Design. Paper presented at 88th IFLA World Library and Information Congress (WLIC), 2023 Rotterdam.
"Universal Design is a perfect vision to aim for. An environment, a library, designed to meet everyone’s needs. Universal Design is, and has been, explained simply as good design. The design and composition are understood, accessed, and used by everyone - not only by someone disabled. In Malmö, Sweden, there are twelve libraries spread across the municipality. Are these libraries accessible for everyone? Maybe not, but they are a work in progress. A library wherever it is located must be a welcoming place for everyone wanting to visit. It is a human right. Presented in this paper is a guide written to help and inspire all staff working with accessibility at any of Malmö’s libraries. Does this guide alone let us reach the universal design – no, however there are many changes being made throughout our libraries and they all are striving for universal design. "
https://repository.ifla.org/handle/123456789/2670
Photo by Sheila Webber: another Xmas wreath, December 2023

Using Lego in Adult Teaching & Neurodiversity in the Workplace

Happy new year! On 6 March 2024 there is an online workshop Basic Introduction to using Lego in Adult Teaching / Support delivered by Andrew Walsh: Cost £85 (including Lego to UK addresses, t£95 for attendees outside the UK "In this half day online workshop, we will explore how Lego® (or other model making materials) may be used in teaching situations with adults. We will briefly introduce the concept of Lego® Serious Play® (LSP) and carry out some exercises based upon it, from warm-ups to some more involved builds." https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/basic-introduction-to-using-lego-in-adult-teaching-support-march-24-tickets-770297619917
Also from Andrew Walsh there's a series of 3 online workshops, 19 February, 4 March and 18 March 2024, at 15.00-16.00 UK time, Costs are £25 for one, or discount for all 3 (£60). "Webinar 1 is an introduction to neurodiversity in the workplace; Webinar 2 is on the workplace environment and neurodivergent workers; Webinar 3 is around more effectively managing neurodivergent members of your team. ... These webinars are aimed at neurotypical people who wish to know more about the experiences of neurodivergent (ND) people in the workplace and support, or manage, them more effectively." More info at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/neurodiversity-in-the-workplace-a-series-of-3-webinars-tickets-774430992947
Image created by Sheila Webber on Midjourney AI with prompt new year celebrations, fireworks, london bridge, thames, green and blue highlights