Webinar: Getting Started with Researching & Writing in Academic Librarianship

The ACRL Student Learning and Information Literacy Committee Publications Group runs a free webinar Getting Started with Researching & Writing in Academic Librarianship on 16 June 2025 at 14.00 US Eastern time (which is 19.00 BST/UK time).
"You’ll hear from academic librarians as they discuss their experiences publishing their research from developing ideas and tips for academic writing to navigating the publication process. Whether you’re new to publishing or looking to refine your craft, this session will provide practical advice and insights to help you succeed in contributing to the field of academic librarianship."
Register at https://ala-events.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_EDh0BJ2LSruHgwuxaeomRA#/registration
Photo by Sheila Webber: cherry blossom, April 2025

Maddie is Online: series 5: Generative AI

The fifth and latest season in the Maddie is Online cartoon series which aims to develop children's understanding of online information focuses on generative AI. The school has a new teacher - a gen AI teacher called Echo Hey-Aye ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdWcM5r88vw&list=PLlUx8jQ1MCcRtHt888BoOyQP54HWH6UqC The series is created by created by Dr Konstantina Martzoukou and there is a project overview video here.

Book: Dialogues in Data Power

Open access book:
Jarke, J. & Bates, J. (Eds.). (2024). Dialogues in Data Power Shifting Response-abilities in a Datafied World. Bristol University Press. ISBN: 9781529238327 https://doi.org/10.51952/9781529238327
Chapters debating aspects of data subjects, data power, data colonialism, data studies etc.
Open access at https://bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/edcollbook-oa/book/9781529238327/9781529238327.xml
Photo by Sheila Webber: blossom and new leaves against the sky, April 2025

Ways to navigate and mitigate against mis and disinformation

Some new interesting qualitative research from Ofcom (the UK's communications and media watchdog) about dis- and mis-information, published on Tuesday. The report is called Co-creating ways to navigate and mitigate against mis and disinformation (by Samantha Outhwaite, Imogen Cox and Jo Bolton).
It is the result of
- 25 In-depth interviews, some being people who previously held a minority view, or been susceptible previously to mis/disinformation and some from the wider population. This was investigating their information habits and views about dis/mis information.
One thing that was highlighted was that young people thought older people were vulnerable to misinformation, older people thought younger people were vulnerable, and those in the middle thought both older and younger people needed help. So the message there seems to be - stop being ageist and realise that everyone needs help, including you (me)?
- 6 workshops drawing on a varied population of participants (details in the report). They were given 4 different people profiles, and the workshop was for participants to discuss how each of the 4 people could be supported to become more critical or confident, get out of their filter bubble etc. The results are presented in the report.
The blog summarising some results and with links to this report and related Ofcom reports is here: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/media-use-and-attitudes/media-literacy/why-all-of-us-need-to-talk-about-mis-and-dis-information
The pdf of the report is here: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/siteassets/resources/documents/research-and-data/media-literacy-research/mis-and-disinformation/co-creating-ways-to-navigate-and-mitigate-against-mis-and-disinformation_verian-report.pdfPhoto by Sheila Webber: apple blossom on my tree, April 2025: there are now small green baby apples

Article: Psychological booster shots targeting memory increase long-term resistance against misinformation

An open access article:
Maertens, R., Roozenbeek, J., Simons, J.S. et al. (2025). Psychological booster shots targeting memory increase long-term resistance against misinformation. Nature Communications, 16, Article 2062. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-57205-x " We [...] report five pre-registered longitudinal experiments (Ntotal = 11,759) that investigate the effectiveness of psychological inoculation interventions over time as well as their underlying mechanisms. We find that text-based and video-based inoculation interventions can remain effective for one month—whereas game-based interventions appear to decay more rapidly—and that memory-enhancing booster interventions can enhance the diminishing effects of counter-misinformation interventions."
I have only skimmed this, but the boosters were short reminders of the original messages - they found that "threat"-focused boosters were not so effective. Also, it seems like having specific problems/content to engage with was helpful in prolonging retention.
Photo by Sheila Webber: beautiful yellow, scented azalea, May 2025

Bibliothèques et esprit critique

The Association des Bibliothécaires de France annual congress focuses on Bibliothèques et esprit critique (Libraries and Critical Thinking), including many aspects of public engagement to develop critical thinking, including gamification and play, more philosophical approaches, reflection on the (critical) role of the librarian. It is held 11 - 13 June 2025 in Montreuil, France (in French, obviously). I wish my French was good enough to participate! It's just good enough for me to see that there are lots of sessions relevant to information literacy and, I think, critical librarianship.
Go to https://www.abf.asso.fr/pages/congres.php

Webinar: AI in Education: Challenges, Opportunities and the Role of Libraries

A priced webinar AI in Education: Challenges, Opportunities and the Role of Libraries is on 14 June 9.30-11.30 BST (UK time). Costs are £25 for CILIP members and £35 for non-members.
Firstly, Renate Samson (Special Projects Lead at the Ada Lovelace Institute) presents findings from the report A Learning Curve? A Landscape Review of AI and Education in the UK. Secondly, Sarah Pavey leads a "practical, interactive session on the use of AI in libraries, offering plenty of ideas and resources for attendees to take away."
For registration go to https://www.cilip.org.uk/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=1959280&group=
Photo by Sheila Webber: Hawthorn flowers, May 2025

Information Matters in Canada

A special issue of open-access Information Matters has numerous short articles focused on Canadian perspectives on Information Science. It includes:
- Stepping Up to BAT: Inspiration for a Research Process Model by Valerie Nesset
- Health Information Without Borders: The Struggles and Strategies of Older Chinese Adults in Canada by Xiaoqian Zhang, Yi Wan
- Information in Times of Crisis: Learning Together by Lisa Nathan, Luanne Sinnamon, Rachael Huegerich
- Information Literacy Instruction in Canadian Libraries by Heidi Julien
Go to https://informationmatters.org/si-canadian-perspective/
Photo by Sheila Webber: Dr Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, Vancover, Canada, May 2024

A Guide to Publishing Open Access

From Lancaster University Library, UK, a A Guide to Publishing Open Access Monographs, Books, Book Chapters and Long-form Outputs. As well as being a useful guide for you, or those you work with, it has a lot of useful links to other resources and examples. https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/articulate/OA_Books/#/
Photo by Sheila Webber: dandelion flowers and clocks, May 2025

Keeping up with ... zines

The latest in the ACRL "Keeping up with" series is on zines and has the usual format of a couple of pages with some references/links. It looks at academic libraries & zines and student success & zines.
Go to https://www.ala.org/acrl/publications/keeping_up_with/zines
Photo: Barnard Library Zine Collection. (2014, March 30). Zine Workshop - Making Zines. https://flic.kr/p/mzbfMa CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Webinar: Celebrating 30 Years of Information Research

Following on from announcing the latest issue of open access journal Information Research, there is a free webinar on 10 June 2025 at 13.00 BST (UK time)  Celebrating 30 Years of Information Research
"This event will include a keynote address by Professor Tom Wilson about his perspective about his role as an early innovator in scholarly publication, and his research generally. In addition, we will have a round table discussion about the papers in this issue, covering Professor Tom Wilson’s contributions to the field of information science, and 30 years of our unique journal, Information Research.
Registration closes on 4 June - go to https://www.hb.se/en/the-swedish-school-of-library-and-information-science-sslis/about-the-swedish-school-of-library-and-information-science/news-and-events/events1/webinar-celebrating-30-years-of-information-research/Photo by Sheila Webber: blossom and tree, April 2025

30 years of Information Research

The open access journal Information Research is celebrating 30 years of high quality publication with a special issue (Vol 30 no. 2, 2025). Information Research has maintained this quality without charging author fees. The issue includes:
- A Reflection on 30 Years of Information Research with Professor Tom Wilson (Crystal Fulton interviews founder and researcher, Professor Tom Wilson)
- Information Research at 30: its role as a diamond open access journal supporting scholarly communication in library and information science by JungWon Yoon, James E. Andrews, EunKyung Chung
- An examination of Wilson’s Concept of Information Need: implications by Charles Cole
- Expanding Wilson’s information behaviour model using social cognitive theory: A case study by Peymon Montazeri
- 30 years of Information Research papers citing Professor Tom D. Wilson: a bibliometric analysis by Tanja Svarre, Birger Larsen
- A 24-Year Bibliometric Analysis of the Journal Information Research: Insights from CiteSpace by Lin Wang, Yiyu Chen
- Searching for Information Research: A bibliometric analysis celebrating 30 years of a pioneering open access journal (1995-2024) by Gustaf Nelhans, Camilla Lindelöw, Pablo Lillo Cea, Marco Scirone, Rui José António , Björn Hammarfelt
- Tom Wilson and Information Research: Pioneers of the diamond open access by Jose-Vicente Rodriguez-Munoz, Francisco Javier Martinez Mendez, Pedro-Manuel Diaz-Ortuno, Gregorio Moya-Martinez, Rosana Lopez-Carreno
- Information Research comes to Borås by Karen Nowé Hedvall et al.
Go to https://publicera.kb.se/ir/issue/view/3787
Photo by Sheila Webber: young chestnut leaves, April 2025

Unpacking the truth

There is a teachers' kit for Unpacking the Truth, an EU/ European Commission publication. It is (to quote the site) "a new educational game designed to tackle disinformation head-on." "this interactive classroom activity empowers students aged 16 to 18 with critical thinking and fact-checking skills. Dive into a fictional social media post and navigate the world of false claims with the guidance of captivating EU-themed characters. Through engaging gameplay, students will learn to use EU resources to debunk disinformation effectively." There are professionally designed materials and a lesson plan.

They include one scenario and some social media posts that aim to lead students to very specific official EU sites. So, to be honest, this could end up being a bit tedious if the students don't pick up on the clues about which sites they are SUPPOSED to visit to combat the disinformation: I think you'd need to decide whether you were going to accept other types of disproof as well.
Also I would say calling the characters "capivating" is a bit of a stretch since all they get each is a short social media post. However, it is worth checking out for the learning design and teaching materials.
Download from https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/b955acdc-2999-11f0-8a44-01aa75ed71a1/

Information Behaviour research review

A useful, scholaly open access review:
Huvila, I & Gorichanaz, T. (2025). Trends in information behavior research, 2016–2022: An Annual Review of Information Science and Technology (ARIST) paper. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 76(1), 216–237. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24943
"We reviewed 1270 articles in the field published in the years 2016–2022 and identified seven emerging trends: The CoVID-19 Pandemic, Diversity and Inclusion, Embodiment, Misinformation and Trust, Social Q&A Websites, Collaboration, and Information Creation. The reviewed literature and trends are discussed in relation to their significance for information, earlier review of information behavior research, and the long-debated issue of theory-driven versus atheoretical research in the field."
Photo by Sheila Webber: yellow peonies, April 2025