New articles: Infolit and politics postgraduates; Sensory knowledge

The latest issue of Learning and Teaching (vol 19 issue 1) includes (open access): 
- Atkinson, D. & Thornton, S. (2026). Information literacy in the postgraduate Politics and International Relations classroom. Learning & Teaching, 19(1). 108-126. https://doi.org/10.3167/latiss.2026.190106 
A survey was administered to taught postgraduate (PGT) students studying Politics at a British and and Austrian univerity (this included students from other countries as well). In the conclusion the authors note limitations of the study, but say that "the main finding of this research is unambiguous: namely that, unless the students surveyed here were wholly unrepresentative of the wider population, we simply cannot assume that all – even most – PGT students can confidently manage, critically engage with, and use ethically any sources of information they might encounter. Where comparison with undergraduate students was possible, PGT students surveyed did generally suggest higher levels of information literacy but not by an overwhelming degree, and in some aspects – including awareness of any previous information literacy training – there was barely any difference at all. If this finding proves not to be a one-off, then this discovery has important implications for the ability (or not) of PGT students to deal with information in a sufficiently sophisticated manner to do well in their academic studies, particularly in a discipline such as Politics and International Relations. This conclusion would be striking enough in a world in which generative AI tools were not liberally available. That we now do live in such an environment only makes this finding even more concerning. As the authors argued even before this new information revolution kicked off, the discipline really does need to wake up and start to take information literacy seriously."

- Lane, K., Welch, C. & Miller, A. (2026). Music in the city : Teaching and learning through the senses. Learning & Teaching, 19(1). 108-126. https://doi.org/10.3167/latiss.2026.190102 (This discusses sensory knowledge) 
Photo by Sheila Webber: found allium seed head, July 2026

New articles: Health information; Information Behaviour; Music Selection; Fake news; Listening practices

The latest issue has been published (Vol. 29 No. 2, 2024) of open access journal Information Research. This is the final issue with Professor Emeritus Tom Wilson as Editor in Chief. He founded the journal in 1995, and it a tribute to his hard work and inspiration that it remains a high quality publication with no charges for either author or reader. 

He notes in his editorial
"I thought when I started the journal that the new technologies would bring about major changes in the scholarly publishing arena: it was now possible for a single academic, like myself, to create a new journal independently of the commercial publishers who dominated the field, much to the economic costs of academic institutions. Sadly, that potential future has not been realised and the commercial publishers are as much in control as ever, and there are even fewer, as a result of mergers and acquisitions.
"There are obvious reasons for this: on one hand academics have increased teaching loads and pressure to research and publish, and the institutions are (at least in the UK) "marketised" and in competition, with a reduction in the possibilities of cooperation. On the other hand, governments are more interested in preserving their publishing industries than in genuine freedom of information. They would rather see publishing companies making massive profits from their so-called "open access" policies than support the development of genuinely open access in universities. How "open" can publishing be if authors and/or their institutions are required to pay?" 

There are two parts to this issue: regular contents and also the proceedings of the 15th ISIC conference. I will cover the latter in a future post. The regular peer-reviewed papers include:
- Reasons to fight: preliminary results on motivations to combat fake news by Wenting Yu
- ‘Alexa, play metal’: exploring music selection and personal information management via voice assistants by Jochen Steffens, Jesse David Dinneen, Sascha Donner, Tom Potthoff
- Cognitive authorities of COVID-19 information: educational differences and outcomes of trust in health experts and social media influencers in Finland Sanna Malinen, Aki Koivula
- Developing expertise and managing inaccessibility: a study of reading by listening practices among students with blindness or vision impairment by Anna Lundh
- Health information-seeking on Reddit, by people who use opioids by Margaret Sullivan, Jonah Hancock, George Shaw, Chaoqun Ni
- Approaching information-seeking habits and their contextual features by Reijo Savolainen
Go to https://informationr.net/infres/issue/view/37
Photo by Sheila Webber: Bandstand (June 2024) in Sheffield, original home of Information Research (that is: the university, not the bandstand)

Music students and information literacy

An article which talks about applying the ACRL Framework for information literacy to the music curriculum, with some detailed examples and lesson plans:
Roush, K. (2023). Applications of Information Literacy to Teaching Independent Music Analysis. Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy, 37, 124-156. (this is the link to the whole issue) https://digitalcollections.lipscomb.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1439&context=jmtp
Image by Sheila Webber using Midjourney AI, prompt is: musical notation, notes flying in the air, green forest, spring flowers --v 6.0

New articles: infolit in music education; media literacy in the curriculum

Firstly, an article about information literacy education for music students.
Pratesi, A. & Yang, Z.(2023). User education. Notes, 80(1),73-81. https://doi.org/10.1353/not.2023.a905317 or open access at https://scholarship.depauw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1015&context=library_facpubs

Secondly, a frustrating article which claims to be a systematic review on the incorporation of "Media and Information Literacy" into the curriculum. However, there is a flaw in their search strategy, since whilst they searched for "Media Literacy" and "Media and Information Literacy" they did not search for "information literacy" meaning that they have missed out on a swathe of articles, and as a consequence do not include librarians as a specific stakeholder group engaged in MIL work (in fact it doesn't mention them once). Sigh.
On the up side, this article is open access and does provide international insight
Rojas-Estrada, EG., Aguaded, I. & García-Ruiz, R. (2023). Media and Information Literacy in the Prescribed Curriculum: A Systematic Review on its Integration. Education and Information Technologies. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-023-12154-0
Photo by Sheila Webber: Willow tree memorial, Sheffield, September 2023

Creators in the Academic Library: Instruction and Outreach

A new book is: Watkins, A. & Kuglitsch, R.Z. (Eds.) (2023). Creators in the Academic Library: Instruction and Outreach. ACRL. US$72.00 (ALA members $64.80); ISBN 978-0-8389-3970-3
There are 17 chapters, including, for example:
- Creative Research and Digital Visual Literacy: Teaching Students to Search for Images Online
- Highlighting Engineers Diverse Information Sources Through Customized LibGuides For Engineering Design Courses
- Creating Information-Literate Musicians in the Academic Library
Information at https://www.alastore.ala.org/content/creators-academic-library-instruction-and-outreach
Photo by Sheila Webber: kingyo, August 2023

Music and Information literacy

A lazy seasonal search ("information literacy" christmas) failed to find any actual articles applying information literacy in a Christmas context. However, I did get a hit for the word Christmas (albeit in passing) in an article about IL and music, so I decided that I would go with music as the theme for this Christmas Eve blog post. Firstly, the article that mentions Christmas carols in passing:

- Kimball, K. & O'Connor, L. (2010). Engaging Auditory Modalities through the Use of Music in Information Literacy Instruction. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 49(4), 316-319. (open access) https://journals.ala.org/index.php/rusq/article/view/3609 It gives examples using music relating to the ACRL IL Standards. 

Moving on from the Standards to the Framework:
- Conor, E. (2016). Engaging Students in Disciplinary Practices: Music Information Literacy and the Acrl Framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education. Notes, 73(1), 9-21. (not open access) https://doi.org/10.1353/not.2016.0087 "This article presents possible ways to implement the Framework, using the author’s collaboration with Reed College Associate Professor of Music Morgan Luker as a case study." 

Something different from standards or frameworks from Australia: Lupton's illuminating research into the information literacy of music students and tax law students (also helps you think about what does "information" itself mean in a music context):
- Lupton, M. (2008). Information literacy and learning. PhD thesis, Queensland University of Technology. (open access)  https://eprints.qut.edu.au/16665/

Next, a bibliography
- Duffy, M.(2018) Contemporary Analysis of Information Literacy in Music: A Literature Review and Selected Annotated Bibliography. Music Reference Services Quarterly, 21(2), 45-77. (I think this is opne access) https://doi.org/10.1080/10588167.2017.1398801 

Finally, a book (definitely not free!)
- Christensen, B., Conor, E. & Ritter, M. (2018). Information Literacy in Music An Instructor's Companion. A-R Editions & Music Library Association. https://www.areditions.com/christensen-et-al-information-literacy-in-music-tr035.html

Photo by Sheila Webber: the wreath at number 24, December 2021

Readings in Job Placement and Diversity

Thanks to Esther Grassian for highlighting an annotated bibliography Readings in Job Placement and Diversity, in the current issue of the Music Library Association Newsletter (no. 106, November/December 2019. Although a couple of them are focused on music (and there is also a North American focus) most of the items address the issue more generally. There are a couple which are specifically relevant to information literacy too. The brief introduction is on p.13 and the bibliography is from pages 14-22. Download the whole issue at http://www.musiclibraryassoc.org/resource/collection/EF36C0DF-5954-4A46-B8FB-55C73A2BE86B/206PDF.pdf (the newsletter home page is here)
Photo by Sheila Webber: taken in Ahiru Village in Second Life

Recent articles: Big 6; music and information literacy; publication output

Some recent articles/chapter available on open access:
- Baji, F., Bigdeli,Z., Parsa, A. and Haeusler, C. (2018) Developing information literacy skills of the 6th grade students using the Big 6 model. Malaysian Journal of Library & Information Science, 23(1), 1-15, https://ajba.um.edu.my/index.php/MJLIS/article/view/11088
- Manus, S. (2018). Embedding the Framework: Using Embedded Librarian Techniques to Facilitate Music Information Literacy. In: Abromeit, K.A. (Ed.). Ideas, strategies, and scenarios in music information literacy. Middleton, Wisconsin: A-R Editions, Inc. and Music Library Association. Open access version at https://discoverarchive.vanderbilt.edu/handle/1803/8779
- Veer, D., Khiste, G. and Deshmukh, R. (2018). Publication Productivity of ‘Information Literacy’ in Scopus during 2007 to 2016. Asian Journal of Research in Social Sciences and Humanities, 8(2), 171-183. It is available open access at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322931219_Publication_Productivity_of_%27Information_Literacy%27_in_Scopus_during_2007_to_2016
Photo by Sheila Webber: Beech leaves by Firth Court, May 2018

Recent articles: infolit and music; tutorials; OER and infolit

These are priced articles.
- Camacho, L. (2018). If we built it, would they come? Creating instruction videos with promotion in mind. Journal of Business & Finance Librarianship. Early online publication https://doi.org/10.1080/08963568.2018.1431867
- Duffy, M.J. (2017). Contemporary Analysis of Information Literacy in Music: A Literature Review and Selected Annotated Bibliography. Music Reference Services Quarterly. Early online publication https://doi.org/10.1080/10588167.2017.1398801 (definitely worth getting hold of if you have an interest in information literacy in the music discipline)
- Evelyn, S. and Kromer, J. (2017). OER evaluation as a means of teaching information literacy in individual and small group settings. The Reference Librarian. Early online publication https://doi.org/10.1080/02763877.2017.1402730
- Lantz, C. et al. (2018) “I'm a Visual Learner so I like this”: Investigating Student and Faculty Tutorial Preferences. Internet Reference Services Quarterly. Early online publication https://doi.org/10.1080/10875301.2018.1427171
Photo by Sheila Webber: strange freezing mist today, Sheffield.

Recent articles: discovery search; music; research methods courses; screencasting; flipping

The latest issue (volume 42, no. 3) of The Journal of Academic Librarianship (priced publication) includes:
- Blakesley, E. (2016) Cognitive Bias and the Discovery Layer. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 42(3), 191. (an interesting short think piece!)
- Dempsey, M. and Valenti, A. (2016) Student Use of Keywords and Limiters in Web-scale Discovery Searching. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 42(3),200-206
- Myers, A. and Ishimura, Y. (2016) Finding Sound and Score: A Music Library Skills Module for Undergraduate Students. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 42(3), 215-221
- Adams, C. et al. (2016) A Collaborative Approach to Integrating Information and Academic Literacy into the Curricula of Research Methods Courses. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 42(3), 222-231
- Murphy, J. and Liew, C. (2016) Reflecting the Science of Instruction? Screencasting in Australian and New Zealand Academic Libraries: A Content Analysis. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 42(3), 259-272
- Loo, J. et al (2016) Flipped Instruction for Information Literacy: Five Instructional Cases of Academic Librarians. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 42(3), 273-280
- Lombard, E. (2016) Information Fluency: Not Information Literacy 2.0. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 42(3), 281-283
The contents page is at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00991333/42/3
Photo by Sheila Webber: Blackheath wildflowers, May 2016

Journal of Documentation: taxonomy of literacies; Sadomasochism; credibility judgements;

The latest issue (online early publication) of the (subscription-only) Journal of Documentation (volume 71 issue 3) includes an article by my colleague Dr Peter Stordy which provides an analysis of various kinds of literacy using a matrix:
Taxonomy of Literacies by Peter Howard Stordy
There is also a research article on a less usual topic: Information Literacies of Self-Identified Sadomasochists: An Ethnographic Case Study by J. Tuomas Harviainen
and one on a perenially interesting theme: As simple as that?: Tween credibility assessment in a complex online world by Mega Subramaniam , Natalie Greene Taylor , Beth St. Jean , Rebecca Follman , Christie Kodama, Dana Casciotti
Abstracts at http://www.emeraldinsight.com/toc/jd/71/3
I haven't covered JDoc for a while, so I'll also pick some articles from the last couple of issues
Koltay, T. (2015) Data literacy: in search of a name and identity. Journal of Documentation, 71(2), 401 - 415. http://www.emeraldinsight.com/toc/jd/71/2
Kostagiolas, P. et al (2015) Music, musicians and information seeking behaviour: A case study on a community concert band. Journal of Documentation, 71(1), 3-24.
Hampson Lundh, A., Francke, H. and Sundin, O. (2015) To assess and be assessed: Upper secondary school students’ narratives of credibility judgements. Journal of Documentation, 71(1), 80-95.
Savolainen, R. (2015) The interplay of affective and cognitive factors in information seeking and use: Comparing Kuhlthau’s and Nahl’s models. Journal of Documentation, 71(1), 175 - 197. http://www.emeraldinsight.com/toc/jd/71/1
Photo by Sheila Webber: Cherry Blossom, April 2015

Latest articles Journal of academic librarianship

The latest issue of the Journal of academic librarianship (volume 41 no. 1)includes
- The Student Confidence/Overconfidence in the Research Process by Valeria E. Molteni, Emily K. Chan
- Promoting Academic Library Research Through the “Faculty-Member-In-Residence” Program by Brian Detlor, Vivian Lewis
- Library Instruction and Themed Composition Courses: An Investigation of Factors that Impact Student - Learning by Erin E. Rinto, Elisa I. Cogbill-Seiders
- Relationship of Library Assessment to Student Retention by Elizabeth M. Mezick
- Finding the Right Notes: An Observational Study of Score and Recording Seeking Behaviors of Music Students by Kirstin Dougan
- The Shift of Information Literacy Towards Research 2.0 by Tibor Koltay, Sonja Špiranec, László Z. Karvalics
- Interactive Training Materials Developed by Spanish University Libraries by Marta Somoza-Fernández
For the abstracts, go to http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00991333
Photo by Sheila Webber: Durham, January 2015

New articles in Reference Services Review

The latest issue of (priced publication) Reference Services Review is online: volume 40 issue 4 2012. As with all issue 4s of this journal, it includes the useful annual annotated bibliography of articles on information literacy (522 identified this year).
- Library Instruction and Information Literacy 2011 by Anna Marie Johnson, Claudene Sproles, Robert Detmering, and Jessica L English.
Other articles include
- Development of the Graduate Library User Education Series by Lori Critz, Mary Axford, William Matthew Baer, Chris Doty, Heidi Lowe, and Crystal Renfro
- Working Together: Library and Writing Center Collaboration by Elise Ferer
- Information Seeking Behaviors of Music Students by Kirstin Dougan
Journal home page at: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?issn=0090-7324
Photo by Sheila Webber: Hawthorne branch, late sunshine, Hellingly September 2012

INTUTE tutorials

Intute has just released 8 Internet tutorials for the Arts and Humanities: Internet for Architecture ; Internet for Art and Design; Internet for Media and Communication; Internet for English; Internet for Fashion and Beauty; Internet for History and Philosophy of Science (HPS); Internet for Learning Languages; Internet for Music. This is part of a major programme of change to update and revise all the tutorials in the Virtual Training Suite in time for the new UK academic year (which starts at the end of September). For all the tutorials go to http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/

Photo by Sheila Webber: Dress and hair pin (using "cutout" effect in photoshop) July 2007.