AI and Health Information Literacy among Women in South Asia

AI and Health Information Literacy: A Study Exploring the Perceived Usefulness and Readiness among Women in South Asia is one of the projects funded last year by the Institute for Information Literacy at Purdue (IILP), Purdue University, USA. The researchers on the project are: Md. Anwarul Islam (Professor, Department of Information Science and Library Management, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh); Bhakti Gala (Assistant Professor, Department of Library and Information Science, Central University of Gujarat, India); Aminath Riyaz (Assistant Professor, Department of Social Sciences, The Maldives National University, Maldives); Raj Kumar Bhardwaj (Librarian, University of Delhi, India); and Tabassum Aslam (Academic Librarian, Lahore School of Economics, Punjab, Pakistan). There is an article about it:
Islam, M.A., Gala, B., Riyaz, A., Bhardwaj, R.K., & Aslam, T. (2024). Exploring women’s health information literacy with AI: A south asian study. Information Matters, 4(12). https://informationmatters.org/2024/12/exploring-womens-health-information-literacy-with-ai-a-south-asian-study/
There is also brief information, together with information about information about other 2024 award recipients at https://lib.purdue.edu/iilp/research-grants/
Photo by Sheila Webber; Magnolia (at its peak this weekend!), March 2025

New articles: Source evaluation; First years; Asia

Faix, A. & Daniels, T. (2023). Teaching SIFT for Source Evaluation in Asynchronous One-Credit Information Literacy Courses. portal: Libraries and the Academy, 23(3), 449-459. http://doi.org/10.1353/pla.2023.a901563. [this journal is a priced publication]
- Roth, A., Goldman, C., Amorao, A.S., & Turnbow, D. (2023). Breaking the Ice: Introducing First-Year Writing Students to “Scholarship as Conversation”. portal: Libraries and the Academy, 23(3), 571-591. http://doi.org/10.1353/pla.2023.a901568
- Ashiq, M., Adil, H.M., & Batool, S.H. (2023). Information Literacy Research in Asia: A Bibliometric Analysis. portal: Libraries and the Academy 23(3), 593-619. http://doi.org/10.1353/pla.2023.a901569
"From the Scopus database, the study’s authors extracted bibliographic data on IL from Asian countries. The findings revealed that 20 of 48 countries in Asia produced no publications on the topic. The last few years, however, have seen remarkable growth in Asian IL literature."
Photo by Sheila Webber: squirrel in the botanic gardens, July 2023

New articles: Open Science & information literacy; Information behaviour in millennials; Info creation; Trust; Self-directed learning in public libraries

These are open-access, apart from one that is indicated below.
- Antunes, M-L., Lopes, C. & Sanches, T. (2021) Open Science and information literacy: case study at a research center. Journal of the European Association for Health Information and Libraries (JEAHIL), 17(1). http://ojs.eahil.eu/ojs/index.php/JEAHIL/article/view/448/397
- Inthiran, A. (2021). Trust or do not trust: evaluation strategies used by online health information consumers in South East Asia. Information Research, 26(1), paper 886. http://InformationR.net/ir/26-1/paper886.html
- Yoshida, Y (2021). Public libraries as places for self-directed lifelong learning: narratives of empowerment. Information Research, 26(1), paper 888. http://InformationR.net/ir/26-1/paper888.html (uses a life history approach with 4 Japanese participants)
- Lee, L., Ocepek, M.G., & Makri, S. (2021). Creating by me, and for me: investigating the use of information creation in everyday life Information Research, 26(1), paper 891. http://InformationR.net/ir/26-1/paper891.html
- (priced publication) González‐Teruel, A., Campos‐Peláez, M-I. & Fortea‐Cabo, G. (2021). Information behaviour of the millennial generation: a scoping review of medical residents and their use of social media. Health Information & Libraries Journal, 38(1), 5-31. https://doi.org/10.1111/hir.12306 I will also mention that the commemorative issue of this journal in honour of Shane Godbolt (December 2020) is still free to access here https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14711842/2020/37/S1
Photo by Sheila Webber: little daffodils, March 2021

IFLA papers: literacy

There are some full papers relating to literacy and information literacy already available, that will be presented at the IFLA conference next month:
- MUSEMBURI, Darlington and NHENDO, Collen (2016) “Information literacy for all”: Interfacing academic and public librarians in developing a legal information literate society in Zimbabwe. Paper presented at: IFLA WLIC 2016 – Columbus, OH – Connections. Collaboration. Community
- LANGENDONK, Adriaan and BON, Ingrid (2016) Literacy Matters: Strategies and best practice initiatives for supporting development through literacy and reading in the Netherlands. Paper presented at: IFLA WLIC 2016 – Columbus, OH – Connections. Collaboration. Community
- WILLANDER, Linda (2016) Literacy and Reading - Best Practices in Malmö, Sweden. Paper presented at: IFLA WLIC 2016 – Columbus, OH – Connections. Collaboration. Community
- DOWNS, Ashley L. and KENNEDY, Sarah E. and PFANDER, Jeanne L. and DOYLE, Kelly and KELLY, Julie (2016) Planning a multi-institution Wikipedia Edit-a-thon for agriculture: Fulfilling the land grant mission while contributing to the world’s understanding of agriculture. Paper presented at: IFLA WLIC 2016 – Columbus, OH – Connections. Collaboration. Community
- BERNAOUI, Radia and ANSEUR, Ouardia (2016) Information Needs of Algerian Farmers Through an Animal Agricultural Information System. Paper presented at: IFLA WLIC 2016 – Columbus, OH – Connections. Collaboration. Community
- ZIMMERMAN, Margaret Sullivan (2016) Female Literacy and Access to Information in Asia - Assessing Maternal Health Impacts. Paper presented at: IFLA WLIC 2016 – Columbus, OH – Connections. Collaboration. Community
Photo by Sheila Webber: tomatoes, July 2016

International Information Literacy Survey report

The preliminary report from the International Information Literacy Survey (IILS) project is available. "This IILS initiative is a Survey of the Information and Media Literacy Behaviors of University Students in Selected Central Asian Countries, and is still, at the moment, in the very preliminary stage of being planned, organized and structured." If you are in a central Asian country then you are encouraged to participate. The first report is available in pdf and E-PUB format. Go to http://albertkb.nl/imils.html
Photo by Sheila Webber: Moonrise, Blackheath, December 2012.

More online papers from IFLA: health, agriculture

A second batch of papers online from the World Library and Information Conference (or IFLA conference) which takes place 10-15 August..
- Shamin Renwick (University of the West Indies, Agriculture and Life Sciences Division, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago) Current trends in agricultural information services for farmers in Trinidad and Tobago/Caribbean
http://www.ifla.org/files/hq/papers/ifla76/85-renwick-en.pdf
- Liangzhi Yu (Nankai University, Department of Information Resource Management Tianjin, China) Information worlds of Chinese farmers and their implications for agricultural information services: a fresh look at ways to deliver effective services
http://www.ifla.org/files/hq/papers/ifla76/85-yu-en.pdf
- Lynn Woolfrey (DataFirst Resource Unit, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa) Skills development to assist data usage for policymaking in Africa
http://www.ifla.org/files/hq/papers/ifla76/86-woolfrey-en.pdf

There is a session on health information, including:
- Sue Thomas (Health Promotion Library, Department for Public Health and Health Professions, Welsh Assembly Government, Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom) Small steps to a healthier nation: providing and delivering health information across Wales
http://www.ifla.org/files/hq/papers/ifla76/100-thomas-en.pdf
- Jagtar Singh (Department of Library and Information Science, Punjabi University, Patiala, India) and Dilara Begum (East West University, Dhaka, Bangladesh) Student awareness of health information initiatives of the Governments of India and Bangladesh: a study of Punjabi University, Patiala and East West University, Dhaka
http://www.ifla.org/files/hq/papers/ifla76/100-singh-en.pdf
Photo by Sheila Webber: Dahlia, Southover Gardens, July 2010

IFLA Reports: Poster on faculty cooperation

I'm resuming reports on last week's IFLA/ World Library and Information Conference that took place in Milan, Italy. There was a large and interesting poster area in the exhibition. One of the posters was by Tayo Nagasawa (Higher Education Development Centre, Mie University, Japan). Her poster was Factors in developing partnerships between faculty members and librarians in higher education. She had studied the situation at two institutions in the USA (Earlham College and the University of Michigan) and categorised successful approaches in developing good relationships with academics. She lists them under two headings: Proactive approaches and Customised support. A nice touch was that she left a space on the poster for people to add comments on things that did and didn’t work for them, on post it notes that she provided.

A few people had some kind of interactive element on their posters and this was referred to in the IFLA closing ceremony as evidence of “Posters 2.0”!
You can see, above, Ms Nagasawa talking to someone by her poster and, below, the "post it" area of her poster. I was positive I had taken a picture of the whole poster, but I can't find it - sorry about that. I'll therefore add a bit more detail. The proactive approaches she listed were; librarians as facilitators, needs-oriented support for the community; support for faculty members, and informal comunication. The Customised support was: research assignments (librarians concentrate on support for classes with assignments involving research or problem solving); support regarding specific topics, and support at teachable moment.

IFLA papers

There are papers about information literacy, literacy & media literacy on the IFLA conference website (which takes place in August, but many papers are posted in advance)
* Broad Horizons: The Role of Multimodal Literacy in 21st Century Library Instruction
SEAN CORDES (Western Illinois University, Macomb , USA )
http://www.ifla.org/files/hq/papers/ifla75/94-cordes-en.pdf
* A method for the design, delivery and evaluation of an information literacy programme for development workers studying Participation, Power and Social Change
MARK HEPWORTH (Loughborough University , Loughborough, United Kingdom) and JULIE BRITTAIN (Institute of Development Studies , Brighton , United Kingdom )
http://www.ifla.org/files/hq/papers/ifla75/94-hepworth-en.pdf
* Community Learning Centre (CLC): Developing a Learning Society in Bangladesh
SAFIQUL ISLAM (BRAC, Bangladesh)
http://www.ifla.org/files/hq/papers/ifla75/94-islam-en.pdf
* A constructivist approach to media literacy education: The role of the library
KIM E. MOODY (Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia)
http://www.ifla.org/files/hq/papers/ifla75/94-moody-en.pdf
* Effects of Online Audio-Book Resources on Library Usage and Reading Preferences and Practices of Young Learners in an Elementary School Library Setting in Hong Kong
PATRICK LO (Graduate School of Education, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK; Hong Kong (SAR), China) http://www.ifla.org/files/hq/papers/ifla75/94-lo-en.pdf
* Visual literacy: to comics or not to comics? How libraries can promote literacy using comics
LEONÉ TIEMENSMA (Midrand Graduate Institute, Kempton Park, South Africa)
http://www.ifla.org/files/hq/papers/ifla75/94-tiemensma-en.pdf
* Promote Popular Cultural Literacy throughout the Countryside in China
HUANG QUNQING and XU YIXING (Sun Yat-sen Library of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou, China) http://www.ifla.org/files/hq/papers/ifla75/94-qunqing-en.pdf

The whole programme is at http://www.ifla.org/annual-conference/ifla75/programme2009-en.php
Photo by Sheila Webber: Tiny tiny strawberries in my garden, July 2009

UNESCO-SALIS e-Learning Portal

The UNESCO-SALIS e-Learning Portal on information literacy for South Asia has been launched. There is a story about it here and the portal itself is at http://salisonline.org/frontend/
Photo by Sheila Webber, Golden Pavilion, Kyoto, Japan, 2005

Recent articles

.. that caught my eye recently

Vol. 12 issue 4 of the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication (free online) includes various articles on use of social networks including students' use of facebook; also articles on blogging, including on on the differences between male and female British bloggers http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol12/issue4/

Bennett, S. (2007) "Campus Cultures Fostering Information Literacy." portal: Libraries and the Academy, 7 (2), 147-167. (available to subscribers only). "The 2004 and 2005–06 workshops sponsored by the Council of Independent Colleges and the National Institute for Technology & Liberal Education have generated much data that can be used to describe aspects of the campus cultures at some 130 institutions that foster information literacy. These data are particularly informative regarding collaboration among faculty and academic support staff, curricular reform, the role of chief academic officers, library space design, and the deployment of campus networks and electronic information resources."

Yuen, T.J. and Majid, M.S. "Knowledge sharing patterns of undergraduate students in Singapore." Library review, 56 (6), 485-494. (available to subscribers only). I think this is interesting as students do share information with each other and I think we could help them to do this in a more effective and information literate way - which would also include open discussion about what the boundaries are between knowledge sharing and cheating. I think this latter issue can be genuinely confusing for students.

Photo by Sheila Webber: Honeysuckle, Sheffield, August 2007.

EBL papers

Full papers from the Evidence-based Library and Information Practice conference held in May are at: http://www.eblip4.unc.edu/ Particularly relevant papers:
Brettle, Alison. Information skills training in health libraries: Are we any nearer the evidence?
Myers, Glenda & D. R. Prozesky. Comparison of training interventions for PubMed search skills amongst 3rd and 4th year medical students.
Nagata, Haruki, Akira Toda & Päivi Kytömäki. Students’ patterns of library use and their learning outcomes. (I liked the idea that "strolling around" the shelves could be associated with motivation to learn ;-)
Oakleaf, Megan. Using rubrics to collect evidence for decision-making: What do librarians need to learn?
Phelps, Sue F. & Karen R. Diller. Transforming the library: Applying multiple assessment methodologies to library instruction and planning.
Photo by Sheila Webber: Another one of Carmen's cats, Madrid, July 2007.

Culture, Assessment

The latest issue of the IFLA journal has a couple of articles on information literacy:

Dorner, D.G. and Gorman, G.E. (2006) "Information Literacy Education in Asian Developing Countries: cultural factors affecting curriculum development and programme delivery." IFLA Journal, 32 (4), 281 - 293. (This seems to be the same as the IFLA paper presented at the 2006 IFLA conference: http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla72/papers/082-Gorman_Dorner-en.pdf. An interesting paper this, in relating cultural issues to pedagogic approaches to information literacy.

Murta, L., Stec, E. and Wilt, M. (2006) "Using Assessment as a Tool to Improve Learning: an IFLA Workshop." IFLA Journal, 32 (4), 294-307. "Assessment" here means both assessment and evaluation (of teachers/programmes). It arises from the workshop at the 2003 IFLA conference in Berlin.

You download the whole issue (not individual articles) at http://www.ifla.org/V/iflaj/IFLA-Journal-4-2006.pdf. I was at that workshop, mentioned above, and this is where I stayed in Berlin during the conference.