MIL in Bangladesh

A short news item on a network meeting co-organised by East West University in Bangladesh:
Dhaka Tribune. (2025, June 23). EWU, Unesco hold inaugural media and information literacy network meeting, workshop. https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/event/384571/ewu-unesco-hold-inaugural-media-and-information

New articles: Health literacy in Bangladesh; Postgraduates' information literacy

Firstly, the first issue of open access Journal of Graduate Librarianship is at https://dc.etsu.edu/jgl/. I think that "graduate librarianship" is librarians who are providing services to postgraduate students - Masters or PhD students. The first issue includes
- A Two-Phase Study Examining Graduate Library Student Knowledge Gains and Perceptions of Information Literacy Modules by Holly S. Hebert, Karen V. Nourse, and Kevin S. Krahenbuhl

Secondly the latest issue of the open access IFLA Journal (Volume 49, No. 4 (December 2023) at https://repository.ifla.org/handle/123456789/3159 includes
- Community engagement of public libraries for ensuring tribal women’s health literacy in Bangladesh by  Shamima Yesmin, Md Abdul Karim and Md Atikuzzaman.
Abstract "The main aim of this study is to investigat epublic libraries’ responses and willingness in providing health information services to tribal communities. Data was collected from11 library professionals using a structured interview method and 276 tribal women through a survey. The data was then analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS).The findings show that most of the participating libraries (72.8%) did not provide any specific service for tribal-community engagement, although all of them were very positive in initiating it. On the other hand, the majorityof the tribal women were interested in getting health-related information from public libraries. ‘Community engagement fo rhealth literacy’ could be a new formula for tribal communities in this regard."
Photo by Sheila Webber: autumn leaves in Paris, November 2023

New articles: Information seeking; Self-efficacy; School to university

The latest complete issue of the Journal of Academic Librarianship (a priced publication), Volume 49 issue 4 (2023), includes the following:
- In their words: Student reflections on information-seeking behaviors by Sarah P.C. Dahlen, Kathlene Hanson
- Investigating the impact of demographic and academic variables on assessing students' perceived information literacy self-efficacy by Md. Atikuzzaman, S.M. Zabed Ahmed
- What I had, what I needed: First-year students reflect on how their high school experience prepared them for college research by Brenda Boyer, Ewa Dziedzic-Elliott
Go to https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/the-journal-of-academic-librarianship/vol/49/issue/4

Photo by Sheila Webber: Rose "Judy Dench" (should be "Judi"!), June 2023

Recording: Untold Stories ... Continued! Information practices in Bangladesh, and in the US-Mexico borderlands

A webinar held on 28 October 2022, co-organised by ASIS&T European Chapter and the Information School, University of Sheffield, UK. Dr Viviane Hessami presented her research: The Use of Notebooks by Bangladeshi Village Women to Backup Digital Data and Dr Sara Vannini presented on The information practices and politics of migrant-aid work in the US-Mexico borderlands. The webinar was chaired by Dr Andrea Jimenez, Information School, University of Sheffield. The recording is embedded below and the link to it is here. The event also celebrated Global Media and Information Literacy Week 2022.
Dr Hessami is a Lecturer and Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow in the Faculty of Information Technology, Monash University, Australia https://research.monash.edu/en/persons/viviane-hessami Dr Vannini is a Lecturer/Assistant Professor at the University of Sheffield Information School http://www.saravannini.com/wordpress/

Recent articles: Science literacy; Copyright literacy; Imposter syndrome; Students sharing info during COVID19

Howell, E.L., & Brossard, D. (2021) (Mis)informed about what? What it means to be a science-literate citizen in a digital world. PNAS, 118 (15) e1912436117. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1912436117 Another literacy - though "science literacy" has been a concept for a while. The authors say that these abilities include: "1) Understanding how science is produced, and what that means for how science relates to broader society, or “civic science literacy”; 2) understanding how science information appears and moves through media systems, or “digital media science literacy”; and 3) understanding how people interpret science information when they come across it, or “cognitive science literacy.”" 

Adams, K. (2021, February 10). Combatting Imposter Syndrome with Comradery and Critical Pedagogy [blog post]. https://acrlog.org/2021/02/10/combatting-imposter-syndrome-with-comradery-and-critical-pedagogy/

The latest issue of the open access IFLA journal (Volume 47 Number 1 March 2021) includes:
- Information-seeking behaviour of science and technology researchers in Nigeria: A survey of the Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi by Olayinka Babayemi Makinde, Glenrose Velile Jiyane and Tinashe Mugwisi
- Copyright literacy of library and information science professionals in Bangladesh by Zakir Hossain ("The results of this study suggest that librarians overall are at least somewhat familiar with a wide range of copyright issues and topics. The findings suggest that in Bangladesh there is a need for improvement."
Download the whole-issue pdf at http://www.ifla.org/files/assets/hq/publications/ifla-journal/ifla-journal-47-1_2021.pdf

Hashim, L. et al. (2020). Students’ Intention to Share Information Via Social Media: A Case Study of Covid-19 Pandemic. Indonesian Journal of Science & Technology,  5(2), 236-245. https://ejournal.upi.edu/index.php/ijost/article/view/24586
Photo by Sheila Webber: hawthorn blossom, May 2021

Recent articles: oral information literacy; professional identity; information behaviour in Bangladeshi students

The latest issue (vol 45, no 2) of open access IFLA Journal includes:
- Impact of tailor-made information literacy provision on rural dwellers’ participation in sustainable development targets in Nigeria: Implications for public library services to oral societies by Chimezie P. Uzuegbu "This paper examined the impact of tailor-made information literacy provision on Nigerian rural dwellers’ participation in three sustainable development targets. A mixed method research design comprised of field experimental approach, site visit and focus group technique was used to collect data that answered the five questions raised in the study. From the findings, rural dwellers who received information literacy provision participated more in the sustainable development targets than their counterparts who depended only on the existing information communication systems accessible to them. Information literacy provision to a sample of 20 households had a spill-over effect on the behaviour of non-sampled households of the same village. In conclusion, the triangulation of methods used in this study showed that rural dwellers’ effective participation in development programmes can be achieved through contextual information literacy provision. This draws implications that are summarised into a model. Public libraries in Nigeria and in similar developing countries can explore the strategy conveyed in the model to launch effective outreach services to their rural dwellers."

- Evolving practices and professional identity: How the new ways we work can reshape us as professionals and a profession by Melissa Ann Fraser-Arnott "This paper’s first objective is to provide insights into how professional identity development occurs and how the emergence of a new or unusual take on the library and information science profession based on professional experiences working in non-traditional roles can be seen as both an opportunity and a threat to the library and information science profession, using the experience of library and information science graduates working in non-library roles as a lens. The second objective is to translate the experiences of library and information science graduates working in non-traditional roles into recommendations for promoting diversity in the definition of the profession."

- Information-seeking behaviour of undergraduate students: A developing country perspective by Ahmadul Islam Howlader and Md Anwarul Islam "The purpose of this study is to investigate the information-seeking behaviour of the undergraduate students at Dhaka University, Bangladesh. Questionnaires were distributed to the students and data were collected over a period of 60 days between November and December 2017. Of the 450 questionnaires distributed, 339 were returned where the response rate was 75.33%. It was found that most undergraduates needed academic and job-related information. To meet those needs, they often went to the library to study and to prepare for competitive job exams. For doing academic work, they were heavily dependent on the class lectures and they were only slightly satisfied with the library services they get. This study brought out the findings that undergraduates’ information skills were poor and they were not aware of the library resources. "

Go to: home page - https://www.ifla.org/publications/ifla-journal and pdf of this issue http://www.ifla.org/files/assets/hq/publications/ifla-journal/ifla-journal-45-2_2019.pdf
Photo by Sheila Webber: more poppies on Blackheath, June 2019

Media and Information Literacy for sustainable development goals

A book which can be downloaded as a pdf is: Singh, J., Grizzle, A., Yess, S.J. and Culver, H. (2015). Media and Information Literacy for the Sustainable Development Goals: MILID Yearbook 2015. Gothenburg, Sweden: Nordicom.
MILID is Media and Information Literacy and Intercultural Dialogue, a programme fostered by UNESCO and UNaOC. There are chapters from different parts of the world e.g.
- Li Xiguang, Zhao Pu, Ouyang Chunxue: News Kills: Media Literacy and Health Education
- Ogova Ondego: Media Wise: Empowering Responsible Religious Leadership in the Digital Age
- Jun Sakamoto: Intercultural Dialogue and the Practice of Making Video Letters between Japanese and Chinese Schools
- Dilara Begum: Media and Information Literacy in Bangladesh: A Case Study of East West University
- Forest Woody Horton Jr.: Muses on Information Literacy, Media Literacy and Intercultural Dialogue: A Coffee and Tea Shop Application
The photo shows the printed version which I got at the inaugural meeting of the European chapter of GAPMIL (Global Alliance for Partnerships on Media and Information Literacy), which is taking place at UNESCO HQ in Paris. I'm chairing the meeting on behalf of IFLA so I'm not doing any liveblogging, but I'll do a post afterwards.Find the book at http://www.nordicom.gu.se/en/publikationer/media-and-information-literacy-sustainable-development-goals

New articles on information literacy

Nazari, M. (2011) "A contextual model of information literacy." Journal of Information Science, 37(4): 345-359. This describes her model of IL for Geographic Information Science/Systems. An article from my former PhD student, Maryam Nazari, now teaching at the University of Malaya.

Mansour, E. and Alkhurainej, N. (2011) "Information seeking behaviour of Members of the Kuwaiti Parliament." Library Review, 60(8), 671-684. This investigated things such as why they needed the information, what sources they used, and who supported them

Salisbury, F. and Sheridan, L. 2011 "Mapping the journey: Developing an information literacy strategy as part of curriculum reform." Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 43 (3), 185-193. Describes initiatives at La Trobe University, in Australia.

Shenton, A. and Hay-Gibson, N. (2011) "Information behaviour and information literacy: The ultimate in transdisciplinary phenomena?" Journal of Librarianship and Information Science September, 43, 166-175.

Shoeb, Z.H. (2011) "Information literacy competency of freshman business students of a private university in Bangladesh." Library Review, 60(9), 762-772. A survey was conducted to identify students' current perceptions and competence, to help prepare an IL curriculum for the future.

These are all in priced journals.
Photo by Sheila Webber: Autumn beech tree, Sheffield, November 2011

Using mobile phones for teaching in Bangladesh #csnl2011

Today and tomorrow I'm at the Centre for the Study of New Literacies Conference which is taking place in Sheffield. The Centre is based in Sheffield University's School of Education. The focus is "new methods for new literacies" and I'm speaking tomorrow on reasearching in Second Life (the video I posted a couple of days ago is for the talk). The talk I will pick out today was by Christopher Walsh (Open University): Rethinking teacher professional development: going digital on low-cost phones in Bangladesh..
He is part of the English in Action multimillion pound project funded by UKaid from the Department for International Development (DFID) in cooperation with the Government of Bangladesh. Two of the partners are the Open University and the BBC. The project aims to teach 25 million people English (!) and the initiative that Walsh was talking about is targetting 102,000 teachers and the 17 million students they teach.
Walsh talked about the "multiliteracies pedagogy for teacher professional development" that underpinned his approach. This involves situated practice (linking into the Bangladeshi national curriculum); overt instruction (to teach communicative English language teaching practices to teachers, so they then use the same methods with pupils); critical framing; and transformed practice. The problem with English teaching has been that it is textbook-based, with little pupil interaction and little use of spoken English at all, so even teachers might not be confident in speaking English.
The approach they have taken is practical and sustainable, since they are focusing on use of low-priced mobile phones, which are very common. They call them the Trainer in your pocket. Walsh observed that most schools have no electricity, and simply getting other devices charged up (devices that people do not use every day) was an issue.
There are training meetings where teachers get classroom materials and support (e.g. flashcards, figurines) and learn some new classroom practices. In their turn they should be able to teach others. At the moment the teachers are each given a mobile phone that takes an SD card, so they get set of audio files of English teaching material aligned with the Bangladeshi national curriculum. They also get portable rechargeable speakers, so they can plug their phones into these and use the audio English language material direct in the classroom. When the project is no longer giving out mobiles, they will still be able to give out memory cards to fit in teachers' own phones, and also ensure files can be downloaded cheaply.
From impact evaluations, teachers are saying that they are gaining confidence in speaking English and using different teaching practice. There is more of teachers speaking English, and and more of students speaking English in class.
The project website includes some pictures and other material such as conference papers and teacher's journal. Walsh's actual presentation, including some videos of classrooms, is on Prezi and I hope it is embedded below:

Rethinking teacher professional development: Going digital on low-cost mobile phones in Bangladesh on Prezi

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