New articles: IL in Workplace; Schools; Curriculum mapping; Supporting communities; Teaching through popular culture

The latest issue of open access Journal of Information Literacy (Vol. 19 No. 2, 2025) is available. The articles are:
- Mapping the core dimensions of information literacy in the critical and workplace domain A thematic analysis by Dijana Šobota
- Integrating service-learning into information literacy education A case study from the Philippines by Ana Mae Cantel, Eun Youp Rha,
- Toward a coherent framework for school-based information literacy Delphi-based expert perspectives on competence and implementation by Ivana Martinović
- Reflection as a means to assess information literacy instruction by Natalia Kapacinskas, Veronica Arellano Douglas, Erica Lopez, Mea Warren
- Teaching critical information literacy through popular culture A media studies approach using the Oz texts by Daniel Williford
- Using Nuthall’s ideas to conceptualise and support children’s information needs by Andrew Shenton
- Information literacy without walls Comparative insights from India’s implementation and Greece’s emerging approaches by Nihar K Patra, Panorea Gaitanou
- Curriculum mapping for identifying and assessing information literacy teaching in humanities and social sciences libraries by Paul Cooke
Go to https://journals.cilip.org.uk/jil/issue/view/55
Photo by Sheila Webber: gingko leaves on a bench, November 2025

Maddie Is Online in an elementary school #ECIL2023

The next presentation I (Sheila Webber) am blogging at ECIL is Maddie Is Online: Embedding Creative Audio-Visual Resources to The Teaching of Information Literacy in an Elementary School in Greece from Konstantina Martzoukou (Robert Gordon University , Scotland) and Evi Tramantza (Anatolia College, Thessaloniki, Greece).
I have blogged about the excellent videos series Maddie is online before and the channel is here https://www.youtube.com/@maddieisonline2579. After introducing the Maddie is Online series, the presenters explained how they used Maddie is Online series 2 and decided to integrate it into primary school lessons at Anatolia College Elementary School in Greece (it is an American school and therefore the students can cope with English language). This was done in collaboration with teachers, and sessions were in the library (with teachers also attending).
Tramantza examined material to select and contextualise it for the students. Lesson plans and assignments were developed. They surveyed both students and teachers after the last lesson. Benefits included
- interactive and video material appealed to student
- the quantity and quality made it easier to select and introduce material
- storytelling aided the effectiveness of the learning, including describing feelings
- Maddie herself was a good role model
Interaction included students reciting key messages together – they enjoyed this. They also enjoyed competing in groups to produce fake news posters. Another activity was students taking on a character in the series and exploring that character in more depth.
From the post-class survey, student and teacher feedback was positive overall, and they think the activity should be repeated. Tramantza herself also reflected that she enjoyed using different ways to teach information literacy. Some challenges were also identified. Recommendations included sharing lesson plans; the need to discuss Miss Mason’s deceitfulness (she's a teacher in the series), how even usually trusted people may be untrustworthy and the need to be careful; that Maddie can be used by both teachers and librarians; that the videos are engaging.
Photo by Sheila Webber: brochure in the presentation room

New: Research coherence; Learning design; thesis topics; Open Science; Data literacy

A few recent articles, a blog post and a thesis.
- Sisamaki, E. (2020). The Advising Dimension of Information Literacy: Helping Students Decide on a Thesis Topic. (Masters thesis, Tampere University of Applied Sciences). https://www.theseus.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/337111/Sisamaki_Evgenia.pdf (the research was undertaken in Greece)
- Hart, E. & Annear, C. (2020). Research Coherence: A Framework for Successful Student Research. College Teaching. [early online publication]. https://doi.org/10.1080/87567555.2020.1758022 (priced) "This article develops a coherence framework to address problems students face throughout the research and writing process. This framework joins literature on coherence techniques and effective pedagogies including guided research, peer modeling, checkpoints, and reflection. The article presents pedagogical recommendations for establishing coherence in student research and writing projects."
- Pagowsky, N. (2020). Leaving the one-shot through a feminist approach to designing an instruction program. https://www.nicolepagowsky.com/blog/leaving-one-shot (a blog post with text and slides from a talk she gave at NELIG, April 15, 2020).

(Not new, but new-to-me)
- Lopes, C., da Luz Antunes, M. & Sanches, T. (2019). Information Literacy and Open Science: Before and After the New ACRL Framework. European Conference on Information Literacy 2018 proceedings. https://www.academia.edu/38506350/Information_Literacy_and_Open_Science_Before_and_After_the_New_ACRL_Framework?
- Dai, Y. (2019). How many ways can we teach data literacy? IASSIST Quarterly, 43(4), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.29173/iq963 (open access) "(1) We initiated the yearlong series of events titled ‘Lying with Data’, inviting faculty across disciplines to each address one core data literacy question that students of data science may elude. (2) We offered workshops and in-class instruction that are up-to-date with the latest technology and that fit with the curriculum. (3) We created online casebooks on various topics in the data lifecycle, tackling user needs at different levels."
Photo by Sheila Webber: pink horse chestnut blossoms, May 2020

Information literacy papers from #WLIC2019

These are full-text papers related to information literacy which were presented at the IFLA World Library and Information Conference this week:
- REPANOVICI, Angela and LANDOY, Ane (2019) Methods to implement new information technologies for teaching Information Literacy. Paper presented at: IFLA WLIC 2019 - Athens, Greece - Libraries: dialogue for change in Session 234 - Education and Training. http://library.ifla.org/id/eprint/2529 "The authors ... will share their experience with the introduction of training masterclasses on the use of knowledge and interactive teaching technologies using Kahoot and Hypersay
- BRINDESI, Hara and PAPAZOGLOU, Alexandra (2019) Information literacy efforts addressed to schools in Greece. Paper presented at: IFLA WLIC 2019 - Athens, Greece - Libraries: dialogue for change in Session 207 - Information Literacy with Library Theory and Research. http://library.ifla.org/id/eprint/2579
- COSTA, Margarida (2019) The issue of media literacy in Portuguese school libraries: data inspire action. Paper presented at: IFLA WLIC 2019 - Athens, Greece - Libraries: dialogue for change in Session 190 - School Libraries. http://library.ifla.org/id/eprint/2546
"Launched in 1996, the School Libraries Network Program aims to install and develop libraries, making available to users the necessary resources for reading, accessing, using and producing information in print, electronic and digital media. ... systematic gathering of information led to the identification of a critical issue, because it corresponds to the persistence of a trend: there is an uneven distribution of activities by the three areas of literacy and media literacy is clearly the one that is less addressed. In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the intervention strategies designed by the School Libraries Network have involved raising awareness of teacher librarians and training them for a more consistent and confident approach to media literacy."
- CHANG, Naicheng and HSU, Hsuanyu Sheila (2019) Integrating action learning into information literacy instruction in a cross-disciplinary blended learning environment. Paper presented at: IFLA WLIC 2019 - Athens, Greece - Libraries: dialogue for change in Session 207 - Information Literacy with Library Theory and Research. http://library.ifla.org/id/eprint/2507
- CONNAWAY, Lynn Silipigni et al. (2019) Authority, Context and Containers: Student Perceptions and Judgments When Using Google for School Work. Paper presented at: IFLA WLIC 2019 - Athens, Greece - Libraries: dialogue for change in Session 207 - Information Literacy with Library Theory and Research. http://library.ifla.org/id/eprint/2508

Some recent articles of interest

Harris, B. (2008) "Communities as Necessity in Information Literacy Development: Challenging the Standards" Journal of academic librarianship, 34 (3) , 248-255. "Contemporary standards suggest that information literate activity is a solitary process. As a corrective, research and pedagogical theories related to “learning communities” and “communities of practice” have become valuable sites of inquiry for librarians. The author provides strategies for making community a topic of instruction."

Jacobs, H. (2008) "Information Literacy and Reflective Pedagogical Praxis. " Journal of academic librarianship, 34 (3) , 256-262. "Drawing on discussions within Composition and Rhetoric, this article examines information literacy pedagogy. It considers how academic librarians can work toward theorizing our profession in such a way that we may ask new questions of it and foster creative, reflective, and critical habits of mind regarding pedagogical praxis." A North American focus. I like her subheading "thinking outside the rubric".

Korobili, S., Malliari, A. and Christodoulou, G. (2008) "Information literacy paradigm in academic libraries in Greece and Cyprus." Reference Services Review, 36 (2), 180 - 193. "The purpose of this study is to investigate the attitudes and perceptions of Greek librarians regarding information literacy programs and their preparedness for such programs. ... Most libraries do not deliver information literacy programs, but some kind of library instruction."
Photo by Sheila Webber: Copper beech leaves, June 2008