Merry Christmas 2024!

A very merry holiday season to all who like Information Literacy!
As usual, the photo is of the wreath I make each year out of trimmings from the bottom branches of our Christmas tree.
A peaceful and joyous time to you.

Webinar: Teaching Skills for Librarians

On 18 January 2025 9.30-11.30 GMT is an online course Teaching Skills for Librarians organised by the CILIP School Libraries Group and presented by Bryony Hart, English teacher (KS3-5), Literacy Lead (Y3-13) and Junior School-Senior School Liaison Coordinator at the Portsmouth Grammar School and Dr Carol Webb, Head Librarian and Coach at the Portsmouth Grammar School. Cost is £25.
"By the end of this webinar, delegates will have: Achieved an understanding of how to construct a learning experience for pupils; Developed your knowledge of the language used by teachers; Gained some tips and ideas of how to begin teaching in your library."
Register at  https://www.cilip.org.uk/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=1905355&group=
Photo by Sheila Webber, I think of an arbutus tree, November 2024

Critical Digital Literacies

#DLFteach Toolkit Volume 4: Critical Digital Literacies "an open-access resource designed to support both information professionals and educators" was released a couple of months ago by the Digital Library Federation (DLF) Digital Library Pedagogy Working Group, "also known as #DLFteach a grassroots community of practice" They say that "With a thematic focus on critical digital literacies, Volume 4 of the Toolkit offers adaptable lesson plans and learning objects that help learners develop the skills necessary to consume and create information in a digital landscape, as well as the habits of mind necessary to understand and critique information systems and their underlying power structures. It encourages both skills-based outcomes and contextual thinking, making clear the inequities and structural biases of many digital tools."
Go to https://dlfteach.pubpub.org/dlfteach-toolkit-critical-digital-literacies
Previous toolkits include Lesson Plans for Literacy and Competency Driven Digital Scholarship Instruction and Lesson Plans on Immersive Pedagogy.
Photo by Sheila Webber: memories of summer, Bournemouth June 2024

New articles: First year writing; #OERs; eTextbooks

The latest issue of open access College & Research Libraries News (vol. 85 no. 11, 2024) includes:
- Peer Reviewing Sources: A Framework-Informed Approach to Information Literacy in First-Year Writing by Julia Kovatch, Bryce Nishikawa, Loring Pfeiffer, Nicole Branch, and Julia Voss.
- Gateways to OERs: Scaffolded Strategies for Success by Lori Lysiak
- Connecting Students to Free Course Materials: An eTextbook Portal Using Digital Commons and WordPress by Lily Dubach, Lee Dotson, Bobby Ciullo, and Kerri Bottorff.
Go to https://crln.acrl.org/index.php/crlnews/issue/view/1669/showToc
Photo by Sheila Webber: autumn branches, November 2024

Webinar: Being information literate as an autistic person in the library workplace

Organised by the Neurodivergent Library and Information Staff Network, Amelia Haire presents her research on Being information literate as an autistic person in the library workplace on 20 January 2025 at 11.00-12.00 GMT, free online. "What does it mean to be information literate for an autistic person in the academic library workplace? As Information Literacy, as a field, is only 50 years old, it would make sense that there are many areas that still have yet to be explored. After getting her Autism diagnosis in 2023, and beginning her MA at the same time, Amelia noticed a gap in the research between 1) the experience of autistic library staff rather than patrons 2) the autistic experience of becoming information literate in the workplace. Bringing these gaps together launched a project that included a survey sent out to NLISN members, interviews, and a literature review that culminated in a unique opportunity for autistic librarians to have their voices heard." Register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/being-information-literate-as-an-autistic-person-in-the-library-workplace-tickets-1105453965569?
Photo by Sheila Webber: snow in Sheffield, November 2024

Launch of revised framework: Internet universality

On 15 December 2024 UNESCO launched its revision of Internet universality: advancing inclusive digital transformation with ROAM-X Indicators https://doi.org/10.58338/CPTK8651  (126 pages)
ROAM-X stands for human Rights, Openness, Accessibility to all, and Multistakeholder participation, with X representing cross-cutting issues including gender equality, environment, sustainable development, trust, and security. There are 49 core questions and 88 core indicators.
Media and Information Literacy is included in A for Access in "Theme F -  Capabilities and Competencies"
"Effective use of the Internet and Internet-enabled services requires certain capabilities and competencies on the part of users. This is important for both individuals and for businesses and organizations that seek to use the Internet for commercial and other purposes. The importance of media and information literacy (covering digital as well as offline communications) to the achievement of this goal is widely recognised. This includes basic literacy (which is included in the contextual indicators earlier in this volume), capabilities required for effective use of online services and applications, and technical competence at various levels." (p77)
The document was launched at the Internet Governance 2024 which continues today (you can join it online) https://intgovforum.org/en/content/igf-2024-schedule
Image created by Sheila Webber using Midjourney AI: prompt was the title of the report: it possibly illustrates that environmental damage done by me asking a randomly pointless question of generative AI

Celebrating 50 years of #infolit

Firstly a very recent article:
Kaufmann, K. & Maybee, C. (2024). Information literacy: Celebrating 50 years. Florida Libraries, 66(3), 24-28. [this is the whole open-access issue] https://www.flalib.org/assets/Florida%20Libraries%20Journal%20Fall%202024-FINAL-11-24.pdf

Secondly a blog post from last year, that I missed:
Secker, J. (2023, October 25). Information Literacy at 50. ILG blog. https://infolit.org.uk/information-literacy-at-50/

Video: Information Literacy in Public and Health libraries

There's a video from the CILIP Members Fest about Information Literacy in Public and Health libraries with speakers Drew Feeney (North Lanarkshire Council, Scotland) and Katie Wise (Royal Berkshire NHS, England)
Go to https://www.cilip.org.uk/page/MembersFest24_Recordings? and scroll down to that video
Photo by Sheila Webber: autumn colour in the Botanics, October 2024

New articles: Annual bibliography; Universal Design for Learning; Teaching through chat; Metaverse; Onboarding

The latest issue of Reference Services Review (priced journal) is vol. 52 issue 3, 2024. Articles include:
- Library instruction and information literacy 2023 by Carolyn Caffrey et al. (their extensive annual annotated bibliography)
- Applying Universal Design for Learning to library peer professional development: a case study acknowledging adults as learners by Meggan Press, James Henry Smith
- Creating short-form content for academic libraries: a workflow by Margaret Bates ("This article describes a workflow designed for liaison librarians at an academic library creating short-form video content to increase student engagement"
- Onboarding for liaison librarians: building community and practice by Karleigh Riesen - Challenges and opportunities in teaching and learning in AskALibrarian chat: differences across subject domains by Paula R. Dempsey et al.
- Metaverse adventures into libraries: what librarians and information users need to know by Yusuf Ayodeji Ajani et al.
Go to: https://www.emerald.com/insight/publication/issn/0090-7324/vol/52/iss/3
Photo by Sheila Webber: the Christmas puddings I made a couple of weeks ago using my mother's recipe. This was before they were steamed for a couple of hours (they need another hour of steaming immediately before eating)

Call for proposals: Teaching Information Literacy for Everyday Life

There is a call for chapter proposals for a book to be published by ACRL: deadline 15 January 2025. The book is Teaching Information Literacy for Everyday Life, edited by Anne Diekema and Maralee Carlin (Southern Utah University, USA).
"What are some of the everyday information literacy skills and topics that academic librarians are teaching their students to prepare them for everyday life? What are librarians doing to ensure the transfer of students’ academic information literacy skills to real-life situations? This edited volume will contain contributions from authors on everyday information literacy instruction."
"The book is tentatively organized in four parts, each dealing with a different facet of everyday information literacy:
"1) Information literacy in personal lives (Chapters in this section will consider information literacy in the personal realm and how to prepare students to operate effectively in information environments that pertain to aspects of their personal lives such as health, recreation, consumption of goods and services, etc.),
"2) Information literacy in the social environment, (Chapters in this section relate to the information used in the social realm and how to make students aware of the nuances of information creation, dissemination, consumption, and sharing in social environments, and how it impacts social interactions, relationships, and society at large.)
"3) Information literacy in the workplace, (Chapters in this section will discuss teaching information practices essential to the information-driven professional environments students will find themselves in after graduation. )
"4) Information literacy in education (Chapters in this section will focus on teaching and promoting information literacy in educational contexts beyond the narrow focus of academic information literacy in preparation for the information society beyond academia.).
"Each chapter will include a lesson plan and/or learning activity to guide and inspire librarians to expand information literacy instruction into the realm of daily life."
Note that I think it is about teaching in a university setting, not outside this setting.
The rubric they will use to evaluate proposals is https://tinyurl.com/krrkcpj4
Submit proposals on this form https://forms.gle/wHs62xcd5oqGcqGU7
Photo by Sheila Webber: beech tree, late October 2024

Action Plan on Combatting Disinformation and Misinformation through Media and Information Literacy (MIL)

This is a short publication produced by journalist unions in the South Africa region, under the auspices of UNESCO. It has actions for journalist training, collaboration, public awareness and advocacy for policy.
"This document will serve as the foundation for broader continental efforts, with FAJ [Federation of African Journalists] committed to replicating and expanding the initiative across all five regions of Africa – subject to raising the necessary resources. The goal is to ensure seamless implementation at the continental, regional, national and local levels, addressing the unique challenges posed by disinformation and misinformation.This plan envisages deployment of Media and Information Literacy (MIL) as a primary strategy for combatting false information. By empowering both journalists and the public to critically engage with the media landscape, the plan seeks to strengthen the capacity of journalists and raise awareness about disinformation"
UNESCO Office in Harare & Federation of African Journalists. (2024). Action Plan on Combatting Disinformation and Misinformation through Media and Information Literacy (MIL). UNESCO. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000391879
Photo by Sheila Webber: reflections of Christmas, November 2024

Generative AI and Labor

Published last week by Data & Society, a short book which addresses some interesting and disturbing issues about the kind of labour that use of genAI will create and replace:
Nguyen, A. & Mateescu, A. (2024). Generative AI and Labor: Power, Hype, and Value at Work. https://datasociety.net/library/generative-ai-and-labor/

Webinar: Harnessing Pandora's box: At the Intersection of Information Literacy and #AI

On 13 December 12.30 US Eastern time (so, 17.30 GMT) another AI focused webinar. Hosted by the Special Libraries Association Academic & Education Community and ACRL's EBSS Education Committee it's Harnessing Pandora's box: At the Intersection of Information Literacy and AI.
Speakers are all from Miami University, USA: Katie Gibson (Humanities Librarian), Roger Justus (Data Services Librarian), Stefanie Hilles (Arts and Humanities Librarian) and Ginny Boehme (Science Librarian).
"Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to dominate scholarly discussion, especially with regard to critical pedagogy and digital literacies. How do librarians work with faculty to create writing and research assignments that encourage our students to critically engage with information? How can we harness these tools to create deeper learning, instead of futilely trying to outright ban their use? How should librarians and other teaching faculty approach information literacy and when these AI tools are becoming more commonplace?" Register at https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMvceqtpzwsHtDYWS_rchrX5m7G3s7BG3DS
Another image created by Sheila Webber using Midjourney and the prompt: empowered librarians in a forest watercolour style. In this case the librarians appear to have been empowered to move the book collection into a spooky forest with poor lighting

Webinar: Empowering Librarians with #AI Literacy: A Framework for Navigating and Teaching AI

There is a free webinar on 10 December 2024 at 14.00 US Eastern time (19.00 GMT) Empowering Librarians with AI Literacy: A Framework for Navigating and Teaching AI. "Authors of the LibTech Insights (LTI) white paper Building an AI Literacy Framework will walk through AI literacy strategies and implementation. "
Go to https://www.choice360.org/webinars/empowering-librarians-with-ai-literacy-a-framework-for-navigating-and-teaching-ai/
The white paper is this (published in August)
Hervieux, S. & Wheatley, A. (2024). AI Literacy framework: Perspectives from Instruction Librarians and Current Information Literacy Tools https://www.choice360.org/research/white-paper-building-an-ai-literacy-framework-perspectives-from-instruction-librarians-and-current-information-literacy-tools/?utm_source=ACRLShare&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=LTI+WhitePaper+Sept2024
"With the intent to help gain a better understanding of the place of AI literacy in information literacy instruction at academic libraries, Choice and its technology content channel, LibTech Insights, with generous underwriting by Taylor and Francis, have created the White Paper ... This white paper reports on interviews with instruction librarians about AI literacy. From the analysis of the interviews, we will identify the main themes and concerns related to AI for academic libraries and develop a robust framework for AI literacy."
Image created by Sheila Webber using Midjourney and the prompt: empowered librarians in a forest watercolour style. I've given up on using AI as a prompt since it is difficult to avoid robot heads

New articles: Latin America; Misinformation; Mindfulness; Critical evaluation; AI & #infolit frameworks; #infolit for English students

The latest issue of open access Journal of Information Literacy Vol. 18 No. 2 (2024) includes:
- Past, present and future of information literacy in Latin America by Alejandro Uribe-Tirado, Juan D. Machin-Mastromatteo
- A mindfulness-based information literacy framework for the current information environment by Matthew N. Hannah, Jennifer Hoewe, Hanna Sistek, Taeik Kim, Dan Goldwasser
- Chaos creator: Misinformation inoculation in information literacy instruction by Mandi Goodsett
- Cultivating critical information evaluation through motivational confidence: An exploratory crosswalk analysis by Samantha LeGrand, Victoria Dawkins
- The early development of information literacy instruction for young people as revealed by six volumes by Andrew Shenton
- Integrating basic artificial intelligence literacy with media and information literacy in higher education by Miriam Wanjiku Ndungu
- Three shots are better than one: Establishing and evaluating the English library instruction pilot by Amy McLay Paterson, Benjamin Mitchell, Stirling Prentice, Elizabeth Rennie
Go to https://journals.cilip.org.uk/jil/issue/view/50
Photo by Sheila Webber: Botanic Gardens, October 2024

Webinar: New Voices in Information Literacy Research

A free webinar on 13 December 2024 14.00-15.30 GMT is New Voices in Information Literacy Research https://www.tickettailor.com/events/cilipinformationliteracygroup/1484265 in which "four recent graduates (from UCL and City St George’s, University of London [UK]) talk about their MA dissertation research". The speakers are:
- Katherine Gair (UCL): "Just get on, learn it yourself": the enablers and barriers to developing workplace information literacy for further education librarians.
- Amelia Haire (UCL): What does it mean to be information literate for an autistic person in the academic library workplace? (UCL)
- Mairead Lane (City St George's, University of London): To what extent should members of staff in public libraries be digitally literate?
- Veselka Todorova (City St George's, University of London): Everyday Life Information Seeking Behaviour of Bulgarian Residents in UK
It is moderated by Jane Secker and Alison Hicks
Photo by Sheila Webber: autumn leaves captured by light, November 2024

Insights from digital content creators; understanding their intentions, practices and challenges

UNESCO has published interesting research into content creators' information sharing practices. 500 adult content creators from around the worldanswered a questionnaire (in 8 languages) and 20 people were interviewed ("qualified UNESCO contacts, or members of professional journalist organisations who also filled out the survey). Content creators are defined "as individuals who regularly post content online for public consumption and have more than 1,000 followers". This is part of UNESCO's strategy of developing influencers' Media and Information Literacy.
Some findings are:
- "‘popularity’ – measured by the number of likes and views - is the most common indicator of credibility for online sources (42%)." Second most common was judging through the endorsement by people the content creators trusted.
- Motivation to create content: Most popular were sharing knowledge with others (26%); earning income (23.8%); entertaining others (23.4%).
- 62% did not verify accuracy of information before sharing it
- Where the content creators sources information: Personal experience/encounter was the most frequent at 58.1%. Mainstream news media ties with online non-mainstream media sources as the third most common source at. They mostly don't use official sources
- About 85% do not belong to any creators’ association.If they do, the most common are Online Creators Association (17.2%), DigitalCreators Association (15.6%), Web Content Creators Association (13.4%) and International Content Creator Association for Social Media (13.4%). I must say that I wasn't aware of any of these! As a content creator (since I do have nearly 2000 followers on X, at least at the moment...) perhaps I should join one!
Reference: Ha, L. (2024). Behind the screens: insights from digital content creators; understanding their intentions, practices and challenges. UNESCO. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000392006

Bluesky starter pack for #infolit and a guide

Firstly there's a Bluesky Starter pack focused on information literacy and information skills for students and citizens from Paul Jewell (that's a list Paul's created of "librarians, educators, researchers, students and community members" interested in #infolit and with Bluesky accounts. I was going to start a pack with this focus, but I think it's better to create suggestions for this exisiting one! Go to  https://bsky.app/starter-pack/pauljewell.bsky.social/3lbb7unb54o2h
Secondly, Ned Potter has an extended blogpost with advice for academic libraries using Bluesky. Go here https://www.ned-potter.com/blog/bluesky-for-academic-libraries One thing I noticed was that he recommends not posting first thing in the morning (UK time), whereas I found that something like 9.30am was good for picking up attention from UK people on X/Twitter. I will be pondering this, as to pick up attention from those in North America a later time is useful anyway.
Photo by Sheila Webber: Squirrel on stump, 1, November 2024

Online advent calendars

Not strictly information literacy, but librarianly (compiled by, or for, librarians):
- Women's studies and women's history Advent Calendar: https://calendar.myadvent.net/?id=nt1kee5497mdo9efkzij7kqyil69xnum
- CILIP School Libraries Group Advent calendar (a recommended book per day) https://app.myadvent.net/calendar?id=yxr784ji6mvs3vhdcjuc5h4cbygrsfhg&door=0
- Library and Archives of the Institution of Civil Engineers Advent Calendar: https://app.myadvent.net/calendar?id=0v1xjxvptrj54dl1qnq0axltd5ufk2dt
Please comment if you know of others!
Also, the UK's Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) has packets of braille stickers for physical-world advent calendars, to make them more accessible https://shop.rnib.org.uk/braille-advent-calendar-stickers-94913
Photo by SheilaWebber, taken in the 3D world Second Life: advent calendar; day one contained a jacket and jeans - in a virtual world an advent calendar can contain houses, plants and outfits!