New articles: immigrants' information needs; scholarly misconduct

- Shahid, S.H. & Sinnamon, L. (2026). A meta-ethnographic synthesis of researchers' views on scholarly misconduct in the health sciences. Library & Information Science Research, 48(1), Article 101399. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2026.101399 ("Complimentary access" which I think is free access for a limited period)
"the three forms of misconduct of most concern to researchers are fabrication and falsification, plagiarism, and unethical authorship, while emerging issues include power manipulation and failure to report integrity concerns." Although the focus is health sciences, I would think the findings are of interest/concern in other subjects too.

- Ahmadinia, H. (2026). Belonging through information: Mapping immigrant integration needs in Nordic societies. Library & Information Science Research, 48(1), Article 101400 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2026.101400 (Open access)
"The findings show that difficulties in locating reliable information, limited access to familiar languages, and fragmented institutional communication constrain participation across daily life. Participants often relied on informal networks to compensate for unclear or inaccessible official information."
Photo by Sheila Webber: snow, a few weeks ago, January 2026

#LILAC24 Generating understanding: opportunities for institution-wide development of information literacy in an age of AI

Pam McKinney live blogging from the Lilac conference in Leeds. Erin Nephim from Leeds Beckett University is presenting on Generating Understanding: Opportunities for institution-wide development of information literacy in an age of AI. There has been a lot of activity in the University to produce guiding principles for the use of AI, and the library has been a key partner in this activity. They are taking a pragmatic approach, in that these tools are here to stay and the focus is on how to use tools ethically and effectively.  The guiding principles encompass critical thinking, ethical use, bias and misinformation and employability.  There is no outright ban on the use of AI or generative AI, but possibly some restrictions in specific circumstances e.g. a coding exam.
Lots of professional services departments have been involved in this activity, including the students' union, IT services, centre for Learning and Teaching. One of the principles is for people to understand how the tools work, and how this affects their use. The success of the programme has been measured through post-session feedback. Colleagues have said that they have a better understanding of information literacy, and IL has been included more overtly in teaching materials. Strategic support and buy-in to this programme has been good, and now there is better sharing of AI issues across the university. 
Now the university is working on a set of prompts that can be used to support academic writing, and people are sharing what went well. Policies on plagiarism and academic misconduct are being adjusted to take account of generative AI. The AI Turnitin detector is enabled, but this isn't the only way to identify unfair use. Erin recommended the JISC National Centre for AI and the ALDinHE AI forum and Community of practice for discussion across institutions.

#lilac24 Plagiarism and AI tools: An example of linking information- and digital literacy in your teaching

 Pam McKinney from the first session after lunch at the Lilac conference, on Plagiarism and AI tools: An example of linking information- and digital literacy in your teaching by Anna-Lena Hoh. Anna is based in the Netherlands at Maastricht University, which is a very international university. She works across the university supporting digital literacy. There is a cross-institutional working group on digital literacy, and there is activity to develop teaching and support in this area. They use the ACRL definition of information literacy, which seems very standard, but there seems to be a wide range of definitions of digital literacy in use in the Netherlands. Anna spoke of the "battle of the literacies" where there are many competing conceptions and definitions of information and digital literacy. She encouraged us to think about the theoretical similarities between these models, for example, academic digital creation, ethics, safety.  All student assessments are digital, so students need support in using digital tools. 

They run a plagiarism workshop which includes elements of how chat GPT can be used ethically.  They asked students to define how ChatGPT tools fit within current definitions of plagiarism, and look in detail at the current rules and regulations and whether the use of chatGPT is allowed.  The IL team worked with Anna to design teaching around use of AI tools. They did some experimentation with a range of AI tools, to see where they thought they could offer meaningful support for the institution.  They have monthly sessions now for staff to encourage critical appraisal of the tools, and explore disciplinary differences in the tools. There is a need to combine information and digital literacy experts in supporting use of AI in the institution.

New articles: ChatGPT & libraries

The latest issue (vol 84 issue 6, 2023) of the open-access College & Research Libraries news includes:
- ChatGPT conundrums: Probing plagiarism and parroting problems in higher education practices by Zoë (Abbie) Teel, Ting Wang, Brady Lund
- My new favorite research partner is an AI: What roles can librarians play in the future? by Leo S. Lo
Go to: https://crln.acrl.org/index.php/crlnews/issue/view/1639/showToc 

Image by Sheila Webber using Midjourney, with the prompt ChatGPT conundrums: Probing plagiarism and parroting problems in higher education practices (i.e. the first article's title) - since it's Midjourney the text in the pages is unreadable, which seems appropriate to the subject. Not too sure what that thing top right is - the scroll of knowledge disintegrating under the post-it notes of AI?

Alfabetización informacional y la integridad académica

There is a recording of the online conference that took place earlier this month on Alfabetización informacional y la integridad académica [Information Literacy and academic integrity]
- Dr. Serap Kurbanoglu (Information Science department, Hacettepe, Turkey) spoke (in English) on Disinformation literacy: is it time to reconfigure IL instruction?
- Dr. Jesús Lau (Profesor/investigador, Universidad Veracruzana, México) spoke (in Spanish) on Plagio, info-habilidades y integridad académica [Plagiarism, info-skills and academic integrity]
- Camilo Ayala Ochoa (Jefe del Departamento de Contenidos Electrónicos y Proyectos Especiales, Dirección General de Publicaciones y Fomento Editorial, UNAM, México) spoke (in Spanish) on Alfabetismos aumentados y editores disminuidos [Augmented literacy and diminished editors]
- Dr. Estela Morales Campos (Investigadora del Instituto de Investigaciones Bibliotecológicas y de la Información, UNAM, México) spoke on (in Spanish) Informacion, etica y el binomio biblioteca-escuela [Information, ethics and the library-school binomial - I think this was about how the library could also be a school, rather than about "library schools"]
- Dr. Daniel Márquez Gómez (Director General de Estudios de Legislación Universitaria, UNAM, México) also spoke. Recording (5 hours, though it does include a break) is at https://www.facebook.com/100064816655687/videos/965214094465015 reports in Spanish here and here
Photo by Sheila Webber: freesias at the market, February 2023

New articles: Embedded libriarians; Academic integrity; Teaching competencies; Online IL

From the last 2 issues of priced journal portal: Libraries and the Academy
- Hammons, J. (2023). A Profile of Teaching and Learning Departments in ARL Libraries. portal: Libraries and the Academy 23(1), 111-144. https://doi.org/10.1353/pla.2023.0001
- Ferguson, J.S. (2023). Flipping the (COVID-19) Classroom: Redesigning a First-Year Information Literacy Program during a Pandemic. portal: Libraries and the Academy 23(1), 145-168. https://doi.org/10.1353/pla.2023.0002
- Miyaoka, M., Toolsidass, R., & Magee, M. (2023). Embedded Librarians and Scaffolding for Remote Learning. portal: Libraries and the Academy 23(1), 169-195. https://doi.org/10.1353/pla.2023.0010
- Daines, J.G., III, Kopp, M.G., & Skeem, D.M. (2022). Bridging the Gap: Competencies for Teaching with Primary Sources. portal: Libraries and the Academy 22(4), 855-878. https://doi.org/10.1353/pla.2022.0045
- Ma, L.F.H., Horban, Y., & Skachenko, O. (2022). Enhancing Academic Integrity in Academic Libraries: The Experience in Hong Kong and Ukraine. portal: Libraries and the Academy 22(4), 797-810. https://doi.org/10.1353/pla.2022.0042

Photo by Sheila Webber: Fresh produce, January 2023

New articles from @JInfoLit - Academics; Story time; Teens and video games; Learning diaries

Volume 13 No. 1 (2019) of the open access journal Journal of Information Literacy has been published. The articles are:
- Shaking up story time by Bartlomiej A. Lenart and Carla J. Lewis (Looks at the Philosophy for Children (P4C) method)
- What academics really think about information literacy by Deborah Stebbing, Jane Shelley, Mark Warnes, Carol McMaster ""We took a qualitative approach to this research, using semi-structured interviews with a convenience sample of participants drawn from nursing subjects and business subjects in a post-1992 university in the United Kingdom. The research questions asked about academics’ perception of IL, the impact of their discipline on IL and their view of the ideal information literate student. Six key areas of concern emerged around the teaching of IL: students transitioning into higher education, developing evaluation skills, the significance of the undergraduate major project and discipline differences, the information landscape and the perceived need for preparation for IL at work. The article discusses the findings, difficulties surrounding students achieving adequate IL and considerations for future practice in delivering focused IL support."
- How do teens learn to play video games? by Ruth S. Contreras-Espinosa, Carlos A. Scolari. "The aims of this article are to identify the main ILS ]informal learning strategies] that teens apply as they acquire and improve their video game literacy, and to develop a series of categories for analysing and classifying these informal learning experiences."
- Attribution and plagiarism in the creative arts by Joanna Hare, Kimburley Choi
- Using learning diaries to evaluate and improve online information literacy and academic skills provision by Aidan Tolland, Dr, Rebecca Mogg, Amanda Bennett
There are also book reviews and conference reports. Go to https://ojs.lboro.ac.uk/JIL/issue/view/206
Photo by Sheila Webber: Rose, Sheffield, June 2019

New articles: Plagiarism; Privilege; Credit-bearing courses; Student success; Workplace IL; Librarians' research

Firstly, in the new issue of the open access journal College and Research Libraries (volume 79 issue 6, 2018)
- Faculty Perceptions of Plagiarism: Insight for Librarians' Information Literacy Programs by Russell Michalak, Monica Rysavy, Kevin Hunt, Bernice Smith, Joel Worden
- Credit-Bearing Information Literacy Courses in Academic Libraries: Comparing Peers by Spencer Jardine, Sandra Shropshire, Regina Koury
- Academic Librarian Research: An Update to a Survey of Attitudes, Involvement, and Perceived Capabilities by Marie R. Kennedy, Kristine R. Brancolini
- Information Privilege Outreach for Undergraduate Students by Sarah Hare, Cara Evanson
- The Academic Library’s Contribution to Student Success: Library Instruction and GPA by Ula Gaha, Suzanne Hinnefeld, Catherine Pellegrino
Go to https://crl.acrl.org/index.php/crl/issue/view/1108

Secondly, a couple of items from the latest issue of Libri
- Wu, Dan / Liang, Shaobo / Dong, Jing / Qiu, Jin. (2018). Impact of Task Types on Collaborative Information Seeking Behavior. Libri, 68(3), 231–245.
- Naveed, Muhammad Asif / Rafique, Fariha. (2018). Information Literacy in the Workplace: A Case of Scientists from Pakistan. Libri, 68(3), 247–257.
Go to: https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/libr.2018.68.issue-3/issue-files/libr.2018.68.issue-3.xml
Photo by Sheila Webber: carrots at the Farmers Market, September 2018

2 new PRIMO tutorials of the month: PICO and Academic Integrity

Two new Peer-Reviewed Instructional Materials Online (PRIMO) "sites of the month", both tutorials from the same university library. Firstly: Academic Integrity at
https://www.asu.edu/lib/tutorials/storyline/academic-integrity/story_html5.html - the interview with creators Bee Gallegos & Deirdre Kirmis is at http://acrl.ala.org/IS/instruction-tools-resources-2/pedagogy/primo-peer-reviewed-instruction-materials-online/primo-site-of-the-month/october-2017-site-of-the-month/ "Academic Integrity is an interactive web-based tutorial that teaches students about academic integrity and the consequences of academic dishonesty. It features an interactive game with academic integrity scenarios, a 10-question quiz at the end that can be graded, and a script of the tutorial."
Secondly, PICO: Research Questions for Health Sciences at https://www.asu.edu/lib/tutorials/storyline/pico/story_html5.html The interview with creators Bee Gallegos, Deirdre Kirmis, and Kevin Pardon is at http://acrl.ala.org/IS/instruction-tools-resources-2/pedagogy/primo-peer-reviewed-instruction-materials-online/primo-site-of-the-month/november-2017-site-of-the-month/ "PICO: Research Questions for Health Sciences tutorial is part of a series of general research skills tutorials developed for ASU students. Although the focus, as the title implies, is the health sciences, the PICO framework has value for students in other disciplines who are trying to define a topic and develop a thesis statement or answerable research question. This tutorial is licensed through Creative Commons, so individual branding and other modifications can be made with attribution."
Photo by Sheila Webber: winter berries, November 2017

Plagiarism in high places

There has been an interesting discussion on the North American information literacy discussion list about how and whether Melania Trump's apparent plagiarism can be used in information literacy education. It has been pointed out that it can also be used to raise discussion of issues such as ghostwriting, and also differing types and degrees of plagiarism. To me, it seems particularly problematic to plagiarise something which is supposed to be about how you feel, but I'm probably just politically naive.
In case you haven't already found them, useful resources are:
The CNN video comparing Melania Trump's and Michelle Obama's speeches: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcbiGsDMmCM
A BBC multiple-choice quiz (guess who was plagiarised) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-36836101
It's also interesting how the issue is being discussed in different ways in different media.

Brian Martin has written a lot about his strong opinions on academic integrity, plagiarism, suppression of whistleblowing and what he calls "Institutionalised plagiarism ... when credit for work is routinely attributed wrongly, nearly always to those with more power." (Martin, 2008). His articles could also provide fuel for discussion. This page has his essays and articles, but also chapters by other authors from The handbook of academic integrity (2016) (by the way, I have to ask, what market is this book priced for?! it makes you extra grateful for the extracts published on Martin's website) http://www.bmartin.cc/pubs/plagiarismfraud.html

Reference: Brian Martin. (2008, 31 October). When ghosts plagiarise. ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/10/31/2406376.htm
Photo by Sheila Webber: Eliza thinks I may have plagiarised, July 2016

PRIMO site of the month: Plagiarism 101

The latest Peer-Reviewed Instructional Materials Online (PRIMO) Site of the Month is Plagiarism 101, "a tutorial that covers the basics of plagiarism, including what it is, what the consequences are, and how to avoid it, in three separate sections that can be viewed separately or as a whole. " The tutorial is at http://library.albany.edu/infolit/plagiarism1 and the interview with creator Allison Hosier is at http://acrl.ala.org/IS/november-2015-site-ofthe-month/

Journal of creative library practice @CreativeLibPrac

This journal had slipped under my radar (or perhaps I just forgot about it...) anyway, I came across this article:
Carroll, A. J. and Dasler, R. (2015). ’Scholarship is a Conversation’: Discourse, Attribution, and Twitter’s Role in Information Literacy Instruction. The Journal of Creative Library Practice. http://creativelibrarypractice.org/2015/03/11/scholarship-is-a-conversation/ (describes use of the @prodigalsam plagiarism debate to develop understanding of academic integrity)

and realised there were more recent articles also relevant to the blog, in particular:

- Griner, L. et al. (2015). Supporting the Professional Writing Program with Online Modules – Collaboration and Engagement, Theory and Reality. The Journal of Creative Library Practice. http://creativelibrarypractice.org/2015/11/04/supporting-the-professional-writing-program-with-online-modules/
- Tekulve, N. et al. (2015). The Game of Research: [Board] Gamification of Library Instruction. The Journal of Creative Library Practice. http://creativelibrarypractice.org/2015/09/23/the-game-of-research/
- Smale, M.A. (2015). Play a Game, Make a Game: Getting Creative with Professional Development for Library Instruction. The Journal of Creative Library Practice. http://creativelibrarypractice.org/2015/05/18/play-a-game-make-a-game/
Photo by Sheila Webber: more leaves, November 2015

International students and academic integrity #ecil2015

I'm attending a doctoral forum at the European Conference on Information Literacy 2015 and will blog some of the presentations from the doctoral students.

Amanda Click talked about International students and academic integrity: global perspectives on a complex issue, reporting on emerging findings from her doctoral study. She is investigating how international graduate students studying in the USA conduct their academic research and writing, and how they engage with, and negotiate, issues of academic integrity.

She is using cross-cultural adaption theory (with critical incident technique for data elicitation), and as part of this she has been looking at stress points and adaptions e.g.

Stress - learning a new academic style (adaption is e.g. guidance from lecturers, feedback from American classmates

Stress - fear of commiting academic dishonesty (adaption as e.g. understanding the honor code, learning to cite)

Stress - reading and writing in English (with difficulty in finding adaptions!)

Students felt that in their own countries they did pay attention to academic integrity, but it was more implicit, whereas in the USA they were warned against plagiarism all the time and became afraid about it. There was also worried about unauthorised collaboration - they were unsure what was ok in the many different assignments they took. There was also the issue that lecturers themselves had different approaches to what acceptable behaviour was (e.g. some telling students to avoid direct quotation, others encouraging it).

Research challenges were particularly assessing material as to whether it was relevant, and synthesising information.

In the discussion afterwards, implications of the various interpretations of academic integrity by both academics and students, were discussed (obviously when the academics have different interpretations it is difficult for the students; there was also the question of the phrase itself, whether it is easily understood).

Systemic Disturbances in Thesis Production Processes #ecil2015

My next liveblog at the European Conference on Information Literacy 2015 in Tallinn is about Systemic Disturbances in Thesis Production Processes by Juha Kämäräinen, Erja Moore, Ilkka Mönkkönen and Jarmo Saarti
They used Engestrom's activity system approach: looking at the process of preparing and finalise a thesis, in which the elements were fullfilling administrative tasks (factitive system), the thesis process as the thesis research and reporting process unique to each student, (the object system) and the activities to support students in completing the thesis (the support system). In addition to this the speakers looked for anomalies in information use. For example the ideal is to write an original text, plagiarism is an anomaly; the ideal is to do a rich information search, not doing one is an anomoly. This opposes the idea of accepting that there is a "new normal" (of superficial search and copying).
They took the example of "unclear references within a text" - a student might use many references in a paragraph, but the role of each reference may be unclear. The second case was of a thesis detected to have plagiarised material; it was implied (I think) that this might be ignored or remain undetected. Another example was where student and others including supervisor made assumptions that were in fact incorrect (should the librarian intervene here?)
In conclusion, the speakers felt that at the moment the actors were seen to be the student, supervisor and (if present) project or client partner (i.e. not the librarian). They proposed that institutions should be more open about it being OK for theses to be "quick and dirty" or take things like plagiarism more seriously.

I think it would be interesting to have learnt more about the use of activity theory here. In teh questions there were various questions raised about plagiarism (including what IS plagiarism)
Photo by Sheila Webber: more food at the reception last night

The Debate Over Anti-Plagiarism Software: fair deal for students?

A fairly routine news article about anti-plagiarism software, and whether it should be used to punish or to educate. However, I think the long debate in the comments about whether or not the repeated use of students' work in the Turnitin database is really "fair use" is interesting.
Turner, C. (2014, August 25). Turnitin and the Debate Over Anti-Plagiarism Software. npr. http://www.npr.org/blogs/ed/2014/08/25/340112848/turnitin-and-the-high-tech-plagiarism-debate
Photo by Sheila Webber: Michaelmas daisy, Charlton House, September 2014

Short video about paraphrasing

Lehman College library recently put a short video, Just Because You Put It In Your Own Words..., reminding people about the need to acknowledge sources even when not directly quoting - I like the introductory conversation with the three students (where one person is "paraphrasing" another person's anecdote)

BeJLT anniversary updates: assessment, plagiarism, research-based learning, and technology-supported learning

The Brookes eJournal of Learning and Teaching (BeJLT) is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a special issue (volume 6, issue 1, 2014) in which the authors of the most cited papers of the previous years update the papers and/or reflect on developments since the paper was written. An interesting read for those who involved in learning and teaching: The papers are:
- Quality enhancement of Undergraduate Research – further strategies to increase student engagement in research dissemination: Helen Walkington
- Reflections on ‘The student experience of e-learning in higher education: a review of the literature’ Rhona Sharpe and Greg Benfield
- Where is the new blended learning? Whispering corners of the forum: Richard Francis and George Roberts
- Online formative MCQs [multiple choice questions] to supplement traditional teaching: improving retention, progression and performance – the longer view: Paul Catley
- Revisiting the management of student plagiarism in the light of ideas outlined in 2005: Jude Carroll
- ASKe Manifesto seven years on: so what did change? Margaret Price, Chris Rust, Berry O'Donovan
​​http://bejlt.brookes.ac.uk/issue/vol-six-issue-one-may-2014-special-10th-anniversary-issue/
Photo by Sheila Webber: crab apple blossom, Sheffield, April 2014

Primo site of the month: ITT

The latest Primo site of the month consists of tutorials at the Institute of Technology Tallaght (ITT Dublin), South Dublin, Ireland. The tutorials are at http://millennium.it-tallaght.ie/screens/tut.html and the interview with ITT Deputy Librarian Philip Russell is on the Primo website at http://www.ala.org/acrl/aboutacrl/directoryofleadership/sections/is/iswebsite/projpubs/primo/site/2013september
Photo by Sheila Webber: Ivy, October 2013, photoshopped.

Report: Impact of Digital Tools on Student Writing

On Tuesday The Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project published:
Purcell, K., Buchanan, J. and Friedrich, L. (2013) The Impact of Digital Tools on Student Writing and How Writing is Taught in Schools. Pew Research Center.
The research methods consisted of: "an online survey of a non-probability sample of 2,462 middle and high school teachers currently teaching in the U.S., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands" (March/April 2012) and "a series of online and in-person focus groups with middle and high school teachers and students in grades 9-12" (2011/12).
A majority of teachers felt that learners' ability to share and collaborate, and their creativity, was affected positively by use of digital technology. Google Docs (for collaborative writing) seemed particularly popular. Digital tools also seem to include social networking sites, mobile phones etc.; so a broad interpretation. Teachers also had some concerns, e.g. "68% say that digital tools make students more likely—as opposed to less likely or having no impact—to take shortcuts and not put effort into their writing". Despite the fact that 88% of teachers spent "class time “discussing with students the concepts of citation and plagiarism” there were also particular concerns about learners' understanding and ability as regards fair use, citation etc.
You can download the report or read it online at http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2013/Teachers-technology-and-writing.aspx

The Citation project

The (North American) Citation project "is a multi-institution research project responding to educators’ concerns about plagiarism and the teaching of writing.... Our team systematically studies student papers that were produced in college writing courses and that draw on sources. Our purpose is to describe how student writers use their sources." They analyse student papers to see how students have used sources: "quotation, summary, paraphrase, or patchwriting". They give a detailed account of their methods. In analysing the student papers they went to the original sources to see how they had been used. The first phase concentrated on first year undergraduate writing classes, but the second phase will include a wider range of papers. The results of the initial pilot study are reported in:
Howard, R., Rodrigue, T. and Serviss, T.(2010) “Writing from sources, writing from sentences.” Writing and pedagogy, 2(2), 177-192. http://writing.byu.edu/static/documents/org/1176.pdf
and show e.g. that patchwriting (taking some text and changing bits here and there) and paraphrasing were very common, but summarising (which would require more effort and understanding) was not. The website is at http://site.citationproject.net/
Photo by Sheila Webber: Interior of a house in the Kulturen Open Air Museum, Lund, Sweden, May 2013