IL and ICT literacy correlations; A digital creative writing device #ECIL2023

More belated liveblogging from ECIL (Sheila here). I was presenting in a session this morning from a room with no wifi connection - I will post my liveblogs of the other talks in 2 posts, and Pam also blogged my talk, so that will be posted separately. First paper in the session was: Undergraduate Students’ Information Literacy in Relation to their ICT Proficiency and Psychological Characteristics presented by Danica Dolničar, coauthored with Bojana Boh Podgornik (University of Ljubljana). She started by talking about the frameworks used in their research: the Digicomp ICT framework and the ACRL framework, and noting that ICT literacy doesn’t automatically imply information literacy.
Dolničar introduced the research questions, which were exploring relationships such as between demographics and information literacy, or between the two literacies. They had a convenience sample of 498 students at the University of Ljubljana, with a preponderance of natural science students and female students, and administered three survey instruments (concerning IL, ICT, and motivation).
A few results were: In terms of information literacy / demographics, the only difference was between the 1st & 2nd years and the greater IL of 3rd & 4th years. In terms of software, only the use of general software correlated significantly with IL. The highest correlation of IL was with communication tools, and even more with confidence in using internet. In terms of motivation self-concept about learning, self-efficacy and self-concept about problem solving were correlated with IL and ICT. 

In the same session this morning was Information and Digital Literacies as Written Culture: The Case of a Digital Creative Writing Device presented by Béatrice Micheau. The context is an institutional framework to assess digital devices used in creative writing. The studied device is the Cub’edito from Short Edition. Ethnographic research was carried out with observations and interviews (examining educational use with young people and interviewing teachers, librarians, authors and (in focus group) students). The aim was to assess the device and explore the devices use and relationship with literacies. The device is a cube which enables you write, to exchange text, and to print a short text as a long paper ticket – this helps to surface the links between paper and screen “a covenant between a long term written culture and digital textual practices and norms”.
Also it has some aspects of documentation – e.g. allocating author, title. Micheau showed how the stories could be printed out and arranged or grouped (e.g. a haiku tree hung with poems; stories physically grouped in different ways). She talked about various aspects of reading and writing that were engaged in this project such as linguistic, semiotic, finding your place in the world, aesthetic aspects and socio-pragmatic aspects.
She concluded that we don’t have to indulge in “digital dualism” (seeing the the written and digital culture as separate) but rather that should examiine them together in order to understand literacy today. Micheau also referred to cultural “poaching” between everyday written culture and school culture, and between literacy, information literacy and digital literacy. The studied device can also be seen as an “action apparatus”.
Photo by Sheila Webber: bags of ECIL (each one had free chocolates!)

New articles: politics; attention and literacy; Virtual reality; ethics in journal article publication

Thornton, S. (2019). A longitudinal comparison of information literacy in students starting Politics degrees. Learning and Teaching, 12(2), 89-111. [priced] https://doi.org/10.3167/latiss.2019.120206 there is an open access record at http://orca.cf.ac.uk/119315/ but it is still embargoed.

Hautala, J. et al. (2019). What information should I look for again? Attentional difficulties distracts reading of task assignments. Learning and Individual Differences, 75 (101775).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2019.101775 [open access]. Results included "Students with attentional difficulties made less likely look-backs on the relevant task-objective sentence." and "Probability of look-back on relevant sentence was associated with better performance in the informational tasks" (this seemed interesting to me in linking reading ability, attention, and ability to locate information on a page/screen).

Smith, F.A. (2019). Virtual reality in libraries is common sense. Library Hi Tech News. [early access: priced.] https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/LHTN-06-2019-0040/full/html

Routledge and COPE have released a research report Exploring publication ethics issues in the arts, humanities, and social sciences which is free if you give them your contact information. It investigated what scholarly journal editors perceived as ethical problems (there are plenty of them!). https://editorresources.taylorandfrancis.com/publishing-ethics-for-editors/publication-ethics-challenges-cope-study/?
Photo by Sheila Webber: Wine in the Adelaide Hills, July 2019

Re-theorizing #Literacy Practices

An interesting book published right at the end of 2018: Bloome, D., Castanheira, M.L., Leung, C., & Rowsell, J. (Eds). (2018). Re-theorizing Literacy Practices: Complex Social and Cultural Contexts. Routledge. information here (or rather interesting-looking book: unfortunately, like all academic looks, it is not cheap, so I'm not sure yet whether I'll buy it and the library doesn't have it yet).
It focuses on literacy as a social practice: for me this connects, or should connect, with the work which looks at information literacy as a social practice (but I don't think the authors make that connection). The book is a tribute to the work of Brian V. Street, author of, for example, Social Literacies: Critical Approaches to Literacy in Development, Ethnography and Education (1995, Routledge) (information here).
Photo by Sheila Webber: Canary Wharf from the O2, December 2018

Literacy, Democracy and #fakenews

The latest issue of the open access publication Literacy in Composition Studies (volume 5 issue 2, 2017) is a special issue, on Literacy, Democracy, and Fake News. The main articles are:
- Navigating a Varied Landscape: Literacy and Credibility of Networked Information by Jacob W. Craig ("Drawing on two accounts of information literacy, one from American students and another from teenaged Macedonian fake news makers, I argue that developing an information literacy reflective of the monetized and hierarchical nature of networks is paramount to writing and research. Focusing on the relationship between technological discourse—what is said about technology—and literacy—what people do with technology, I argue that recognizing the influence of corporations and differences between print and digital media are paramount for the development of information literacy.")
- How Automated Writing Systems Affect the Circulation of Political Information Online by Timothy Laquintano and Annette Vee ("This article argues that fake news is only one instantiation of a shift that literacy studies will need to reckon with to understand how people encounter texts on an everyday basis. It argues that looking at the information ecologies in which fakes news circulates reveals a shift to the reliance on computational and automated writing systems to circulate texts and amplify their distribution. The article critically synthesizes existing literature and provides key examples of how algorithms and bots were deployed strategically to pollute the media ecology with fake news in the time immediately preceding the 2016 Presidential election in the United States. The argument ultimately raises a series of questions that literacy studies will need to confront given the importance influence of computation in contemprary information environments, including how people engage in responsible discourse in the face of rapidly evolving technologies that can be exploited and offer a bullhorn to the most detestable of political positions.")
- ‘Globalist Scumbags’: Composition’s Global Turn in a Time of Fake News, Globalist Conspiracy, and Nationalist Literacy by Christopher Minnix ("... This article maps out how global higher education is constructed in the populist rhetoric of the political right, both in accounts from fake news sources and hard right news sources and in the educational policy discourse of conservative organizations like the National Association of Scholars. It then explores the consequences of anti-global education rhetoric for the global turn in rhetoric and composition studies and maps out both a critical and political response.")
- Toward a Theory and Pedagogy of Rhetorical Vulnerability by David Riche
Go to http://licsjournal.org/OJS/index.php/LiCS/issue/view/13
Photo by Sheila Webber: sparkle, Peter Lewis store, London, December 2017

#Literacy matters #wlic2017

An updated version of the Literacy Matters website has been launched at WLIC 2017. The portal is for librarians, teachers and parents. "It has been developed to support the Literacy Matters! campaign, devised and launched by the Literacy and Reading Section, the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA). The campaign is part of the United Nations 2030 Agenda: Sustainable Development Goals to support the development of literacy for all peoples across all nations." It includes lots of links to articles, policy documents, accounts of what is being done by libraries, and infographics. The site is at http://www.literacymatters.org.au/
Photo by Sheila Webber: in the Japanese garden, Wroclaw, August 2017

Policy Brief on libraries and literacy; Soutenir les efforts nationaux d'alphabétisation: le rôle des bibliothèques; Aportes de las bibliotecas para contribuir a las iniciativas nacionales de alfabetización

UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning's Libraries and literacy: Using libraries to support national literacy efforts - UIL Policy Brief 6 (December 2016) has been published in French, Spanish and Arabic. The brief is a 4 page document which "examines the role of libraries in supporting lifelong literacy. The policy brief looks at how libraries nurture early literacy skills up to advanced levels of literacy proficiency, and the need for libraries to be involved in policy dialogue connected to literacy. The publication goes further to highlight the fact that libraries at every level, local and national, should be well-resourced to serve their surrounding communities and users in order to create a successful learning environment."
Thanks to Lisa Krolak for guiding me to the two ways in which you can access the non-English versions
1) There is a catalogue entry that has links to all four documents (English, French, Spanish, Arabic) at http://www.unesco.org/ulis/cgi-bin/ulis.pl?catno=246778
2) There is a news page with information about the document. You can see this page in English, French or German (but not Arabic!), and each version just contains a link to the briefing in that language. The English version is at http://www.uil.unesco.org/literacy-and-basic-skills/libraries-and-literacy-using-libraries-support-national-literacy-efforts. If you want the Spanish or French versions, look to the top left of the home page, where it says "English Français Español" and click for the appropriate language.
Photo by Sheila webber: fountain, Sheffield Botanic Gardens, March 2017

Did Media Literacy Backfire?

This is the title of a blog post by danah boyd earlier this month. The nub of it, that she highlights at the end is that "Media literacy asks people to raise questions and be wary of information that they’re receiving. People are. Unfortunately, that’s exactly why we’re talking past one another." Before that she talks, specifically in the context of the USA, of people having decreasing trust in doctors, the media, politicians, and experts, and preferring to believe friends, family and the "research" (usually a quick google) that they do themselves. Therefore "Addressing so-called fake news is going to require a lot more than labeling. It’s going to require a cultural change about how we make sense of information, whom we trust, and how we understand our own role in grappling with information."
She's talking about "media literacy" (and now I know more media literacy people I know it's not exactly the same as information literacy). However, I think on this topic, points she makes about media literacy education could also apply to some ways in which information literacy is taught. Indeed you still see librarians proposing labelling of sources as a counter to the "fake news" problem. I think that is in fact where a more holistic information literacy approach is more helpful, in that it should not be just focused on "media" sources but getting people to reflect on the full range of information that they use in their lives. "Other people" always emerge as key sources and informants in studies of everyday information behaviour and information literacy, and I think it's important to acknowledge this and bring them into the information literacy discussion. However, as boyd says, there are deeper cultural (and political, religious and social) issues at play. Engaging with these issues is challenging even for people who have more power over the whole curriculum than (normally) do librarians.

boyd, d. (2017, January 5). Did Media Literacy Backfire? https://points.datasociety.net/did-media-literacy-backfire-7418c084d88d
By the way, the site, Points, says it is "an experimental collection of pieces from the Data & Society community: occasional extracts and essays — provocations — to manifest, complicate, and re-frame the relations between data, technology, and society" and is worth bookmarking.
Photo by Sheila webber: bags of lego at the iSchool's awayday yesterday

September 8th was International Literacy Day; Global Report on Adult Learning #50ILD

Apologies for missing International Literacy Day on September 8th. This was the 50th anniversary of the day and information about it is here
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/events/prizes-and-celebrations/celebrations/international-days/literacy-day/
As part of the commemoration, UNESCO published the 3rd Global Report On Adult Learning and Education. It is subtitled "The Impact of Adult Learning and Education on health and Well-Being; Employment and the Labour Market; and Social, Civic and Community Life" and chapters discuss the evidence for these links, reporting on a monitoring survey to which 139 countries responded. The report can be downloaded at http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/global_report_on_adult_learning_and_education_calls_on_count/

Reading Express; service for newcomers and refugees #WLIC2016

the IFLA World Library and Information Congress in Columbus, USA. In a session on libraries and the UN 2030 goals, Ingrid Bon (Rijnbrink, Netherlands - she presented) and Karien van Buuren (Rijnbrink, Netherlands) had authored Reading Express; service for newcomers and refugees (full paper at http://library.ifla.org/1333/1/081-bon-en.pdf)
This was a project "Voorlees Express", in the Netherlands. It was about a reading programme, carried out in the home or shelter where the refugee families live. The aim is reading to children, with the parents/carers there, to get a reading culture. There are a lot of aspects which the library offering the programme has to deal with: PR, getting funding, recruiting families, recruiting and training reader volunteers and quality control.
They aim to have 250 "matches" (reader-family) per season, with readings in Spring and in Autumn. Although there are volunteers, this is not free of cost. The costs are seen as part of ongoing reading programme. It does take up staff time (including training, getting official documents). However, this programme is seen as very important: making new entrants to the country feel at home, improve language skills, start a reading culture, get connection to the library, improve school performance and last but not least it is important that it is fun.
Also there is a new initiative with young adults, to help them improve their pronunciation of Dutch (which is so important for learning and employment): the results of this have been fast and obvious. They have had a pilot, and hope now for extra funding. Again, do look at the paper which has more information (this was the last paper in the session, and the speaker very effectively shortened her talk to finish within time, but it meant I couldn't capture everything).
Photo by Sheila Webber: therapy dog, WLIC 2016

Supporting development and access through literacy #WLIC2016

Liveblogging from the IFLA World Library and Information Congress in Columbus, USA, in a session on libraries taking action for the UN 20130 goals, Annie Everall (Authors Aloud UK, United Kingdom) talked about Literacy Matters: Supporting Access and Development through Literacy and Reading Initiatives in Libraries
She talked about 2 library initiatives: Big Book Bash for Children in Care (UK) and Better beginnings/ Reparation through Reading in Western Australia. The latter is a collaborative approach to adult literacy and family history. It is a family literacy programme, using established networks of libraries, coommunity health etc. to work with families at risk. It is a joint initiative with WA Corrective Services and prison-based services. They learn ways of improving young children's literacy and this also changes parent behaviours as the prisoners' confidence in reading improving and they can enjoy sharing and supporting their children's reading. Some research undertaken by Edith Cowan University showed improvement in reading, books in the home etc. There was a paper about this at IFLA in 2014 http://library.ifla.org/893/1/169-jones-en.pdf
Big Book Bash for Children in Care targets a group that has lower literacy levels (those in local authority care or in foster homes). The initiative is in Derbyshire, UK, where there are 620 children in care. It is a one day reading festival for children and their carers (plus birth children of foster carers). It is annual and the last one was the 13th book bash. They aim to promote enjoyment in reading, and bring authors/artists in contact with children in care and to raise awareness of library services. The steering group for the event has representatives of many stakeholders including children and parents. The day includes a reading relay, free books, meetings with authors etc. In 2016 there were 500 children, 40% said they visit libraries more, over 90% said they are sharing and reading books more.They are on Twitter @BigBookBash
Photo by Sheila Webber: registration, WLIC 2016

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 Literacy Day

Rather belatedly, Today was International Literacy Day. http://internationalliteracyday.org/
There is a Call To Action on the IFLA website, with a quotation from Kofi Annan " For everyone, everywhere, literacy is, along with education in general, a basic human right.... Literacy is, finally, the road to human progress and the means through which every man, woman and child can realize his or her full potential." and IFLA says "On International Literacy Day, 8 September 2015,we would like to ask the United Nations Member States to go further in their ambitions to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all as stated in the Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Goal 4." IFLA (The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions) then identifies the key action points. http://www.ifla.org/node/9861

Literacy as a foundation for lifelong learning #wlic2015

A final post about the Literacy session at the World Library and Information (IFLA) Conference yesterday. Lisa Krolak (UNESCO Institute of Lifelong Learning) talked about Literacy Matters! Literacy as a foundation for lifelong learning. The UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning is at http://www.uil.unesco.org/home/ and this is an interesting initiative: I only came across it recently, but it should have relevance for lifelong information literacy initiatives. They have a "Literacy and basic skills" section on the website which notes that "The right to literacy is an inherent part of the right to education. Yet adult literacy is one of the most neglected of the Education for All (EFA) goals".

To turn to Krolak's presentation, she explored definitions of lifelong learning and literacy, including UNESCO's 2003 definition of literacy (shown in the photo above). The reference to a "continuum of learning" makes a particular link with lifelong learning. Krolak said that "Literacy, as a human right, lies at the heart of basic education and is the foundation for future learning opportunities". She saw literacy as a continuous life-wide and lifelong process and identified the need for development on five fronts. These were: laying down strong foundations through early childhood care and education; universal good quality basic education for all children; "scaling up and reaching out with relevant literacy provision for all young people and adults"; developing literacy-rich environments and a literate culture; dealing with root causes of illiteracy (e.g. poverty). She mentioned a programme at Vancouver City Libraries, but I haven't been able to track down a link for that yet.

Krolak highlighted a just-published special issue of the International Review of Education: Journal of Lifelong Learning focusing on lifelong literacy: volume 61 issue 3 at http://link.springer.com/journal/11159/61/3/page/1 (priced publication). It includes articles on Literacy in the 21st century: Towards a dynamic nexus of social relations; Lifelong literacy: Some trends and issues in conceptualising and operationalising literacy from a lifelong learning perspective; Learning and literacy: A research agenda for post-2015; and (coauthored by Krolak) The potential of community libraries in supporting literate environments and sustaining literacy skills.
During her presentation, Krolak showed this nice video, on the Power of Literacy. She identified it as demonstrating some of the characteristics of literacy learning, for example that it takes place in various life contexts, and that emotional engagement is important.

Using Research to Promote Literacy and Reading in Libraries #wlic2015

Blogging from the World Library and Information (IFLA) Conference, another current publication which the IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions) Literacy and Reading section wants to update is Using Research to Promote Literacy and Reading in Libraries: Guidelines for Librarians. There was some discussion about this at the roundtable session I attended, with suggestions such as wanting advice/support on carrying out studies into user needs, finding out about your population and also looking at what they are actually doing in the library. In this context I will also mention the Centre for the Public Library and Information in Society led by my colleague Dr Briony Birdi which includes research into reader development.

Successful #literacy programmes #wlic2015

The IFLA Literacy and Reading Section's 2nd session at the World Library and Information (IFLA) Conference had some short presentations about successful literacy programmes. I will blog these briefly together. Firstly, Christina J. Nel talked about Library competitions promoting libraries, reading and literacy in a rural African environment. There were annual competitions for children, which involved having a standard form each year for children to work with or complete. They tried different things each year. For example, one year had a comic strip with speech bubbles (see example above), another year children had to illustrate the idea that "books take you anywhere". The children who won certificates were very proud and encouraged by them (see 2nd photo, below), and children enjoyed the competitions. There is a full paper here http://library.ifla.org/1173/

Libraries, literacy and technology: A new training module for public librarians in developing countries targeted at integrating libraries into literacy projects was presented by Ari Katz. He was describing an initiative, Beyond Access, supported by the Gates Foundation. There is a lot of information on the website and a paper here: http://library.ifla.org/1205/

Reading aloud as intangible cultural heritage: A German initiative to support literacy, reading and libraries worldwide was presented by Klaus U. Werner. He was advocating the value of live reading aloud as something to be preserved consciously as cultural heritage, to be added to the UNESCO official list. The paper is here: http://library.ifla.org/1177/

Library for all: Also for the print disabled was about a Finnish initiative concerning talking books (they reckon that about 5% of Finns are print disabled, and 11% of the population are poor readers). It was presented by Rauha Maarno. The initiative took talking books to the local level, and now covers 144 libraries: loans of talking books increased 50% in 2014. They included other stakeholders, such as users and disability organisations, in planning the service. Specific examples of  services were a talking book club for those with intellectual disabilities, and collaboration with a prison for talking books for prisoners. The conference paper is here http://library.ifla.org/1175/ and there is an article by the presenter here:
Maarno, R. (2014) A library for all – including people with print disabilities. Scandanavian library quarterly, 47 (4). http://slq.nu/?article=volume-47-no-4-2014-7

Finally, Atlanta Meyer talked about Technology classes for senior citizens: Creating an environment where senior citizens can develop technology skills to actively participate in a strong society (this is in Australia). These include classes e.g. in "using your android" and "using an ipad". The paper is here http://library.ifla.org/1176/

Literacy matters #wlic2015

I'm attending the 2nd session of the IFLA Literacy and Reading Section the World Library and Information (IFLA) Conference taking place in Cape Town, South Africa. This is a round table session, so I'm not sure yet whether liveblogging will be appropriate. However I wanted to highlight the "Literacy Matters" statement (see photo and below). The Section's website is here: http://www.ifla.org/literacy-and-reading . The current guidelines for Library-Based Literacy Programs are at http://www.ifla.org/publications/guidelines-for-library-based-literacy-programs, and one of the aims of the session is to work to revise these
This is the Literacy Matters! statement:
"I read, therefore I am.
I can.
- Be smart and become smarter;
- Communicate with others;
- Understand and connect with new challenges;
- Participate in family life, the workplace and community life;
- Use a range of technologies;
- Think for myself and with others;
- Keep my culture alive;
- Share with others; and
- Be creative and laugh.

I have the world and beyond at my feet.
I can read, therefore I am empowered and can learn lifelong.
I can read, therefore I am part of the future.
I can read, therefore I am,

Because literacy matters!"

Literacy Matters! Information literacy, reading and libraries #wlic2015

A catchup blog from the World Library and Information (IFLA) Conference taking place in Cape Town, South Africa. Another talk in the Literacy and Reading session was Literacy Matters! Information literacy, reading and libraries from Sharon Mader (Chair IFLA Information Literacy Section, United States).
Like others in this session, Mader started by looking at the term literacy. She identified that it could be seen at a personal, professional, national or global level. Looking at her own region, she noted that one in six people in Louisiana had literacy problems, so that even in developed countries there were inequalities in literacy levels (as is highlighted in the Lyon Declaration on access to information and development).
So, how do literacy and information literacy relate to each other? Mader first turned to Wikipedia to see what it said about the term literacy: there it was noted that the term had developed from the simple ability to read and write, to include a wider range of literacy skills. She then looked at the definition of literacy of the IFLA Literacy and Reading section, that incuded “the capacity to question, problem solve think and create” which overlaps with definitions of information literacy.

That brought Mader to information literacy. She talked about the Media and Information Literacy Recommendations developed by IFLA with UNESCO and accepted by the UNESCO General Conference. Then Mader mentioned the definition of Information Literacy that was presented in the new ACRL Framework for Information Literacy, which includes ethical engagement with information and creation of new knowledge. The Lyon Declaration talks about universal literacy being essential in order to gain access to information, which should link literacy and information literacy.There is a statement from IFLA Literacy and Reading section relating to the Lyon Declaration here, by the way

Obviously those assembled at the IFLA conference thought that literacy matters, and libraries support literacy: but not everyone seems to be so committed to that. The IFLA Toolkit: Libraries and the UN post-2015 development agenda can help librarians take the message outside of the circle of those who already know. The toolkit "provides background on the issues and practical advice on how to set up meetings with government representatives." Mader mentioned the UN2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, and particularly goal 16 where ensuring access to information is said to contribute to sustainable development. The Lyon Declaration is a response to the new agenda and several sessions at this IFLA conference look at how libraries can contribute to these new United Nations sustainable development goals.

Going back to IFLA’s Media and Information Literacy Recommendations, these urged governments to embed MIL in curricula, use MIL for employability etc. However, this needs advocacy to achieve, to lobby government to implement the recommendations. The IFLA Information Literacy section has got IFLA project funding to produce a MIL Recommendations Advocacy Brief, to help people campaign. There is also a workshop session on Thursday which is also looking at the impact of information literacy, and I’ll blog a report from that (though probably not a liveblog as I will be helping to facilitate, I think).
Photo by Sheila Webber: marimbas and librarians at the conference exhibition opening yesterday

Literacy Matters! Literacy, libraries and building strong societies in Africa #wlic2015

This is the next liveblog from the World Library and Information (IFLA) Conference taking place in Cape Town, South Africa. Victoria Okojie (IFLA Chair, Africa Section, Nigeria) talked on Literacy Matters! Literacy, libraries and building strong societies in Africa. She started by highlighting that Africa is a diverse continent, with countries at different levels of development. Generally literacy levels are low for various reasons (e.g. political instability, poverty) and there is a poor reading culture with a high school drop-out rate. Libraries are poorly resourced.
The roll out of ICTs has been low in Africa, reflected in the lack of technology in schools and libraries. However, there are opportunities to leapfrog, as new mobile tecdhnologies come along: Africa has one of the fastest growing mobile penetration.
Libraries of course have a role for literacy development, aligning with government programmes, training community leaders and trainers etc. Libraries are also identified by IFLA as helping to build strong societies, for example giving access to lifelong learning and promoting equal opportunities. Thus they can, for example, provide an enabling environment for innovation.
Okojie picked out some examples of initiatives in Africa. Generally, they were aiming to support literacy anfd reading, help children with school work and ICT skills, and encourage the community to use the library. Challenges include the lack of local language materials, funding, inadequate skills, a lack of an enabling environment, a definition of literacy, and monitoring of impact. Some initiatives:
- Reading Clinics in Ghana: this is a partnership between school and the Ghana Library Association, designed for pre-school children. An example is http://mmofraghana.org/our-work/language-club/reading-clinics/
- Bring Back the Book programme in Nigeria. This was initiated by the President, so put reading on the agenda of local government. See http://www.bringbackthebook.org/
- Use of tablets: with the eKitabu project in Kenya and Opn Imo project in Nigeria.
- National Farmers Information Network in Kenya
- Center for the Book programmes and projects e.g. Funda Mzantsi in South Africa
- Mobile library services e.g. donkey carts in Zimbabwe; services to Internally Displaced Persons camps.
Okojie concluded by identifying the need to reprofile, reposition and restructure library services, for example to be able better to meet needs, to collaborate and to market services. There were already good examples and success, but there needed to be a lot more work to make libraries a pivot for development.

Literacy Matters! The literacy and reading needs of people with special needs #wlic2015

Further liveblogging from the World Library and Information (IFLA) Conference taking place in Cape Town. Helle Mortensen (IFLA Library Services to People with Special Needs, Denmark) talked on Literacy Matters! The literacy and reading needs of people with special needs. A paper is already online at http://library.ifla.org/1231/1/099-moretensen-en.pdf.
Mortensen talked about the work of the People With Special Needs IFLA section, which includes meeting the needs of those who cannot visit the library. Literacy matters because it is crucial for education and participation. Those with special needs have particular literacy and reading needs. Firstly, easy to read publications - appropriate to different age groups, and taking account of those with intellectual disabilities, dyslexia etc. (there are IFLA guidelines for easy to read materials). There also have to be alternative ways of reading: this involves a lot of reading tools and devices. The next thing that Mortensen mentioned were materials for raising memories e.g. memory boxes: again there are IFLA guidelines for library services to those with dementia.
Techniques included guided shared reading, which could be used with homeless people, those with dementia etc. Some librarians in Denmark have been trained as reading guides. It was important that library staff were unprejudiced and were aware of the different kinds of reading needs. Mortensen emphasised that these needs were diverse.
It was important to have a physically accessible library, with an inviting space and presentation, with outreach for those who cannot visit the library. The speaker recommended partnering with appropriate organisations, and also employing those with special needs.

Literacy Matters! Digital Literacies, Reading and Libraries #wlic2015

I'm liveblogging from the World Library and Information (IFLA) Conference taking place in Cape Town, South Africa. In the session on Literacy, a paper Literacy Matters! Digital Literacies, Reading and Libraries was given by Barbara Combes (Charles Sturt University, Secretary IFLA Literacy & Reading
Section, Australia). She started talking about the vast amount of information that isn't found by search engines. It is a dynamic information lanscape and can make information decontextualised, so that there are problems along with the many benefits and convenience of online information.Coombs highlighted the multipliocity of apps and technologies available.However, many people do not have physical or cognitive access to the web. Cognitive access means not being able to read or interpret the information, even if you physically have access.
Coombs went on to consider the word literacy. She wondered - had it been hijacked, when it has been tacked on to so many other words? She posed the question whether competency, rather than literacy, was meant. She showed some definitions of literacy that included critical thinking and reading, learning, and also being actively literate (e.g. "purposeful" reading). Thus it was more than just being able to read, and including understanding and reusing.
Turning to digital literacy, she saw it as including computer and ICT literacy, Web 2.0 literacy, network/internet literacy (including "knowing where you are" on the internet), multimedia literacy and information management. However she also saw digital literacy as about ethical use of information, cultural awareness, access for the disabled, privacy and safety, and applying information to your lives. Thus digital literacy was a complex and evolving concept, and it was affected not just by technology but by the people developing and using technology. A prerequisite is literacy: being able to read, write and understand.
Coombs concluded that although "literacy" did mean competency in the context of digital literacy, it was important to think about the deeper aspects.