#WorldBookandCopyrightDay

Today is World Book and Copyright Day, sponsored by UNESCO. 23 April was chosen when this annual event started because "23 April is a symbolic date in world literature. It is the date on which several prominent authors, William Shakespeare, Miguel de Cervantes and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all died." There is a communication toolkit (graphics with various quotes - like the one reproduced here at - in a zipped file at https://en.unesco.org/sites/default/files/toolkit-wbd-2021.zip ) Links to this and other pages e.g. to the opening ceremony at Tblisi and to various challenges are at https://en.unesco.org/commemorations/worldbookday. There are also two online World Book Day events from The British Library tonight (23 April) at 6pm UK time (Kazuo Ishiguro in conversation with Kate Mosse) and at 8pm UK time (World Book Night presents: Books to Make you Smile, hosted by Sandi Toksvig)

LIli (LifeLong Information Literacy) show and tell videos

There are recordings from the "show and tell" sessions that LILi (LifeLong Information Literacy) has been holding every other Wednesday. They include explanations of how specific tools such as Zoom, Nearpod or Mintimeter are being used in teaching information literacy, and descriptions of specific strategies and activities that people have used. Go to https://lili.libguides.com/lili/show_and_tell. There is a final show and tell session, looking at highlights and discussing a community agreement to support a safe and welcoming space at LILi events: registration is here.
Photo by Sheila Webber: secret door, April 2021

Building successful teacher collaboration through FOSIL-based enquiry

An online half-day priced training course run by Elizabeth Hutchinson and organised by UK's CILIP is Building successful teacher collaboration through FOSIL-based enquiry, on 1 June 2021 9.30am-12.30pm UK time. "It is designed for school library staff working across all sectors and is a great introduction to FOSIL (Framework Of Skills for Inquiry Learning).... Find out about the IFLA School Library Guidelines, the FOSIL Group and Backward Design. Examine how to work with teachers in supporting students through using an initial teacher contact form, which the trainer will share with delegates. This session will focus on using the initial teacher contact form to guide school library staff into conversations about curriculum topics and demonstrate how this can help teachers understand school librarians' role within inquiry." Costs: CILIP Individual Member - UK £50.00+ VAT (£60.00; CILIP Employer Partner, Supplier Partner - £60.00+ VAT (£72.00); Non-member - £80.00+ VAT (£96.00). Register at https://www.cilip.org.uk/page/CILIPTrainingteachercollabthroughinquiry
Photo by Sheila Webber: cherry blossom and new hawthorn leaves, April 2021

UNESCO webinars: Media and Information Literate Citizens: Think Critically, Click Wisely! #MILCLICKS

UNESCO has organised 3 events, which include the launch of UNESCO’s MIL Curriculum for Educators and Learners (second edition). Entitled International High-Level Event - Media and Information Literate Citizens: Think Critically, Click Wisely! , the events consist of a "High level session" on 23 April 2021 at 3pm-4.15pm CEST (which is, e.g., 2pm-3.15pm UK time, 9am-10.15am US Eastern time); and "thematic webinars" on 27 April 2021 and 29 April 2021 both at 3pm-5pm CEST. To book, go to https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_N8O1npVQTYacjSAkZhPn-A?

Keeping up with ... misinformation; open science

There are two new information sheets in the Association of College & Research Libraries' Keeping up with series. The first, just published, is Keeping Up With . . . Misinformation and News Literacy and like others in this series it has a brief summary of key terms, plus links to readings and resources. This is at http://www.ala.org/acrl/publications/keeping_up_with/misinformation. The previous sheet was on Keeping Up With... Open Science which includes a useful diagram showing a taxonomy of open science. The sheet describes what is included in open science, and talks briefly about implications for librarians - http://www.ala.org/acrl/publications/keeping_up_with/open_science
Photo by Sheila Webber: cherry blossom cluster, April 2021

Webinar: The Flywheel Effect: Bridging the gap for first-year students

A free webinar sponsored by the ACRL ULS Professional Development Committee on 11 May 2021 at 1pm USA Central time (which is, e.g., 7pm UK time) is The Flywheel Effect: Bridging the gap for first-year students in a virtual world presented by Kay Coates and Vivian Bynoe, Georgia Southern University, USA.  "While some students may be prepared [for college], others have lacked the opportunity to develop essential critical thinking skills needed to navigate their coursework and research assignments efficiently. COVID-19 has posed additional challenges for students in high school who will be transitioning to college ... This is an ideal time to ask how our instructional strategy can be thoughtfully crafted to meet these students’ needs. ... The Flywheel strategy is a business concept developed by Jim Collins, the author of Good to Great. An analogy of a flywheel is used to illustrate that successful outcomes can be achieved through deliberate, strategic intent combined with small, repetitive steps by everyone involved. Librarians can implement this strategy to link learners with skill-building resources that impact their lived experiences beyond the classroom via information literacy instruction."  Register at https://ala-events.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_4MoM7Hr5TE-iPTL-tV1t9Q

Photo by Sheila Webber: pale tulips, April 2021

Call for papers: New challenges for teachers in the context of digital learning

Comunicar is an open access journal that publishes articles in English or Spanish and covers the areas of communication and digital/media literacy, and they have included articles on information literacy. They are seeking articles for a special issue on New challenges for teachers in the context of digital learning, with a focus on: Teacher training in digital education; Digital competencies of teachers; Distance education: opportunities and risks; Teaching innovation in digital education; Media and information literacy and its integration with ICTs (my emphasis); Media configurations and learning for new generations: social networks and emerging digital resources. The deadline for submissions is 30 May 2021.
The thematic editors include Dr. Rayén Condeza (Pontifical University of Chile), Dr. Michael Hoeschsman (Lakehead University, Canada) and Dr. Divina Frau-Meigs (Sorbonne-Nouvelle University, France). The Call for Papers is at https://bit.ly/3s1aO1K and submission guidelines at  https://bit.ly/2RcCe89
Photo by Sheila Webber: tulips, April 2021

Webinar: Journalist’s perspective on COVID-19 and the infodemic

There is a free webinar at 12 noon UK time on 16 April 2020 (today) organised by the World Health Organization: The inside scoop: a journalist’s perspective on COVID-19 and the infodemic, with journalist Matt Frei talking about "misinformation and disinformation in the Europe region and how they might impede a country’s ability to respond and save lives. Matt Frei has worked as a BBC correspondent covering Europe, Asia, and the USA. Currently a news editor for Channel 4 News, he also hosts a popular talk show on LBC" "We will hear about the current journalistic climate from this experienced and respected inside perspective and focus on what we can do to control this pandemic together as individuals and as the organizations we work for and with" Register at https://who.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_wFvl2E50QxKmEUNk7uTftg

Universal Design for Learning; Teaching in a pandemic

I'm not sure why (must have signed up a long time ago) but I periodically get a newsletter from Contact North/ Contact Nord (a non-profit corporation funded by the Government of Ontario). The latest one included a few things I thought worth passing on:
- This article describes a course Accessible Media production, that uses Univeral Design for Learning principles in its own design, as well as teaching students about its principles. The article includes some links about inclusive learninhg design: https://teachonline.ca/pockets-innovation/mohawk-college-program-improves-digital-accessibility
- They recommend: Martin, B., & Hanington, B. (Eds). (2019). Universal methods of design – 125 ways to research complex problems, develop innovative ideas and design effective solutions. Beverly, MA: Rockport Publishing.
- They link to a report which summarises results from 3 substantial surveys of online teaching experiences in the USA at tertiary level: Johnson, N., Seaman, J & Veletsianos, G. (2021). Teaching During a Pandemic: Spring Transition, Fall Continuation, Winter Evaluation. Bay View Analytics. https://www.bayviewanalytics.com/reports/teachingduringapandemic.pdf
Photo by Sheila Webber: possibly a type of cow parsley, April 2021

Challenges and Considerations for Misinformation Research

The Center for an Informed Public (University of Washington) is calling for participants for their virtual workshop on 6 May 2021, Challenges and Considerations for Misinformation Research. There will be sessions on research practices; data collection, use and ethics; communicating findings; and commitments to ethics and welfare. Participants are expected to be "academic and academic-adjacent researchers who have engaged in rapid-impact research projects and media engagement around misinformation events and conspiracy theories — particularly related to COVID-19, recent elections and the broader impacts of mis- and disinformation." They hope "to bring together researchers from across disciplines to discuss how misinformation research can have immediate impact, retain academic rigor, utilize diverse methodologies and be ethically and theoretically grounded." To express interest go to https://www.cip.uw.edu/2021/04/05/cip-challenges-considerations-misinformation-research-virtual-workshop/

Photo by Sheila Webber: row of tulips, April 2021

New articles: ACRL Framework; Fake news; Flipped classroom; Library anxiety; Peer teaching

The latest issue of the Journal of Academic Librarianship (Volume 47 issue 2) includes the following (priced publication - though one article, marked below, is open access):
- The ACRL Framework successes and challenges since 2016: A survey by Ma Lei Hsieh, Patricia H. Dawson, Sharon Q. Yang (" The findings indicate that other than course assignments, the Framework is librarians' most used document for their instruction.")
- Training peer teachers to teach first year graduate level information literacy sessions by Frances Brady
- Exploring potential roles of academic libraries in undergraduate data science education curriculum development by Gang Shao, Jenny P. Quintana, Wei Zakharov, Senay Purzer, Eunhye Kim
- Much more than a mere technology: A systematic review of Wikidata in libraries by Karim Tharani (Open access)
- Flipped classroom pedagogy in an online learning environment: A self-regulated introduction to information literacy threshold concepts by Elizabeth Humrickhouse
- Library anxiety among Omani and Saudi Arabian international students: A case study at the University of South Carolina, USA by Esra Seddiq Abdoh
- Librarians against fake news: A systematic literature review of library practices (Jan. 2018–Sept. 2020) by Jorge Revez, Luís Corujo
Go to https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/the-journal-of-academic-librarianship/vol/47/issue/2
Photo by Sheila Webber: cherry blossom, March 2021

Webinar: Searching the internet effectively

On 13 April 2021 starting at 12 noon UK time, the Association of Women Librarians in Nigeria (AWLIN) (a section of the Nigerian Library Association) in conjunction with Insights4uToday YouTube educational and technological channel, offer "a free one day online training" (I'm afaid I don't know further details) on Searching the internet effectively. Go to http://youtu.be/rdSOexuNFrY

Global Festival of Active Learning online

The free online Global Festival of Active Learning runs 19th-24th April 2021. "For two hours each day (9am-10am, 5pm-6pm UK time), there will be exciting chances to share, collaborate, listen, and network with others interested in active teaching and learning." There's an interesting range of sessions on offer, which are listed in the programme on their website - it includes a couple of library-specific items, but generally it would be of interest to people teaching information literacy https://activelearningnetwork.com/active-learning-events/ Instructions on booking at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/aln-global-festival-of-active-learning-19-23-apr-2021-tickets-148323259863

Recordings from Misinfo day

Last month, the University of Washington (USA) Center for an Informed Public held Misinfo day. There are recordings from the day, namely: Understanding the Landscape of Information Disorder (Jacquelyn Mason); Fact-checking Claims and Sources (Mike Caulfield and Scott Leadingham); Spotting Misinformation (Jevin West); Disinformation Goals & Tactics (Kate Starbird and Kolina Koltai); Disinformation Goals & Tactics (Jordan Foley) and also toolkit (list of suggested and example activitie and resources) for the day. Go to https://www.cip.uw.edu/
Photo by Sheila Webber: lost item series, lost monkey (it was someone else that tied it to the post), April 2021

Critical Disinformation Studies

Alice Marwick, Rachel Kuo, Shanice Jones Cameron and Moira Weigel have created a syllabus for Critical Disinformation Studies "as a provocation to disinformation researchers to rethink many of the assumptions of our nascent field". It is published by The Center for Information, Technology, and Public Life (CITAP) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The syllabus has 13 sections, with a topic/issue or an example for each section, in each case having a paragraph outlining the theme and some readings. The authors note that it is focused on a United States perspective, and also I would say that the disciplinary perspective is that of media literacy and communications (rather than information science and information literacy). Thus, as well as the sections making an interesting focus for discussion in themselves, it would also be interesting to reframe the syllabus to different national/cultural contexts and different disciplinary contexts. The authors themselves say that they "make this offering as a means to encourage ongoing critical and multi-faceted reflections of power and history in the study of disinformation." Go to https://citap.unc.edu/research/critical-disinfo
Photo by Sheila Webber: celandine and violet, March 2021

Call for proposals: LILi conference 2021 #LILiConf2021

Proposals are sought for the 2021 Lifelong Information Literacy (LILi) conference, which will take place online on 9 July 2021. Deadline for proposals is 15 April 15 2021. The theme is What You Don’t Know & Are Afraid to Ask: Teaching Ourselves & Others. which is "about examining and reflecting on who we are as teachers, learners, or any stakeholder in that relationship through time, space, format (online, in person, hybrid), and location such as: in community, in the home, at the institution, in the streets, and in our learning journeys. As we know, teaching/learning is a relationship that is dynamic and multifaceted. This conference will explore and include discussion about what it means “to educate”, “to learn”, and the process of learning including where we learn, how we learn, what we learn, do not learn, unlearn, re-learn and beyond."
Session formats will include 10-minute lightning talks, 20-minute presentations, a poster session, and virtual roundtable discussions. Example topics include:
- Learning communities; pedagogies; community teaching and learning; community work
- Creating inclusive instructional environments in a remote world; what skills and ideas are needed?
- Land acknowledgments; indigenous-led topics and themes; tribal histories
- Advocacy and abolition; access and the digital divide
- Universal Design in information literacy
- Information literacy for workers and learning on the job
- Decolonizing the LIS curriculum
- Educational equity and trauma informed teaching
- Effective classroom management; facilitating synchronous and asynchronous sessions with equity in mind
- Negotiation skills; how to get buy-in
More information at https://lili.libguides.com/lili There are links to information on the previous Lili conferences at https://lili.libguides.com/c.php?g=660853&p=6557962

Photo by Sheila Webber: fallen blossom, April 2021

London Kent Surrey and Sussex regional searching guidance for health librarians 2nd edition

There is an updated edition (April 2021) of the open-access London Kent Surrey and Sussex (NHS) regional searching guidance. It is "intended for librarians tasked with searching the evidence on behalf of NHS staff" but most of it would be valuable in other healthcare settings, and indeed as general advice for good searching. The guidance is laid out very clearly in bullet points. As well as the guidance, which includes sections on different types of evidence search (e.g. evidence search for care of a specific patient; for (NHS) commissioning; for study; for a business case) there are sets of links to other useful resources (e.g. training materials, search tools and other search guidance). It is produced by expert staff in Kent, Surrey and Sussex NHS Library and Knowledge Services Searching and Training Forum. Go to https://sites.google.com/site/healthliteraturesearchers/Home
Photo by Sheila Webber: white daffodils, I think Thalia, March 2021

Responses to #COVID19 : Librarians in lockdown in Scotland; the state of American libraries

Two new reports with insights into the response of libraries to the pandemic. Firstly, Peter Reid & Lyndsay Bloice (Robert Gordon University) undertook research supported by the Scottish Library & Information Council and the Arts and Humanities Research Council, now published as Libraries in Lockdown. Through analysis of social media and web based content and interviews with librarians they examine "Scottish Public Libraries and their response to the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020-21 and in particular the way in which they have, through their digital offering, helped to support community resilience and cohesion. The research also explores the issues that library services have had to contend with during lockdown." It is a 100 page report that finishes with reflections and recommendations. Go to https://librariesinlockdown.weebly.com/
Secondly the State of America's Libraries 2021 Special Report: COVID-19 has been published by the American Library Association. The ALA produces a "state of the libraries" report every year, and it's always interesting to see their perspective on trends and developments. This time they "find 2020 was a year when library professionals answered the call to serve amid multiple emergencies and a year when library workers again proved to be essential 'first restorers' or 'second responders.' " The final section in the report is about librarians fighting disinformation "Throughout 2020, librarians responded to misinformation about vaccines, the census, and the November election, as well as the demonization of the mainstream media as purveyors of “fake news,” by creating resources to fight disinformation." It also talks about issues such as internet/broadband provision, supporting learning, dealing with banning of books. and dealing with inequalities. Go to http://www.ala.org/news/state-americas-libraries-report-2021
Photo by Sheila Webber: tulips, March 2021

Internet Archive scholar

New to me - Internet Archive Scholar "This fulltext search index includes over 25 million research articles and other scholarly documents preserved in the Internet Archive. The collection spans from digitized copies of eighteenth century journals through the latest Open Access conference proceedings and pre-prints crawled from the World Wide Web". It brings up interesting results for Information literacy searches - I think it will be a source to consider searching along with others when doing subject searches. https://scholar.archive.org/
Photo by Sheila Webber, blackthorn, March 2021

Recordings on librarians' self-care conference

There are recordings of most of the sessions from the recent Blossom (Building Life-long Opportunities for Strength, Self-Care, Outlook, Morale, and Mindfulness) online conference that was a "free virtual symposium for library staff focused on their health and wellness". It has a North American focus, but obviously themes that are more widely applicable. https://blossom.heysummit.com/replays/
Photo by Sheila Webber: Blossom, March 2021

Webinar: how Media and Information Literacy is linked to Digital Skills from a creative point of view

On 6 April 2021 at 3pm Athens time (which is, e.g., 1pm UK time) there is a media and information literacy webinar organised by EKOME in partnership with UNESCO MIL Alliance Europe Sub Chapter Mediterranean Group. It will explore how Media and Information Literacy is linked to Digital Skills from a creative point of view and be in English. Speakers will be: Alex Le Voci Sayad, UNESCO MIL Alliance International Steering Committee co-chair; Alessandra Falconi, Head of Centro Zaffiria, Italy; and Cristina Pulido, Serra Húnter Professor of Department of Journalism and Communication Studies, Autonomous University of Barcelona. The moderator will be Irene Andriopoulou, Head of Education Department of EKOME and UNESCO MIL Alliance ISC co-Secretary General and take place in English. To register, go to: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_povlLLhaQDu-ydG1mzalyg

Photo by Sheila Webber: more violets, March 2021

Webinars: Online training; Health literacy; Spotting misinformation

CILIP Scotland has free online training sessions in the next couple of months:
- Hosting successful online training – experiences and tips – 23 April 2021 11am-12 UK time "delivered by Katie Edwards, NHS Education for Scotland ... The session will aim to share experiences of delivering remote learning and offer various tips for doing this."
- Health Literacy – Online Learning for all sectors – 7 May 2021 11am-12 UK time "Initially, delegates will be asked to complete a short eLearning module in their own time and in advance of the course. This one-hour session will then consolidate learning and build confidence in its application."
- How to help pupils spot misinformation online and debunk it – a session for school librarians with The Ferret – 18 May 2021 9.30-12.30 UK time "This training for school librarians in Scotland will focus on how to deliver sessions to pupils on spotting visual hoaxes, be that video or image-based, as well as unreliable news sources." Go to https://www.cilips.org.uk/about/cilips-online-learning/
Photo by Sheila Webber: cherry blossom, March 2021

New articles: Open Science & information literacy; Information behaviour in millennials; Info creation; Trust; Self-directed learning in public libraries

These are open-access, apart from one that is indicated below.
- Antunes, M-L., Lopes, C. & Sanches, T. (2021) Open Science and information literacy: case study at a research center. Journal of the European Association for Health Information and Libraries (JEAHIL), 17(1). http://ojs.eahil.eu/ojs/index.php/JEAHIL/article/view/448/397
- Inthiran, A. (2021). Trust or do not trust: evaluation strategies used by online health information consumers in South East Asia. Information Research, 26(1), paper 886. http://InformationR.net/ir/26-1/paper886.html
- Yoshida, Y (2021). Public libraries as places for self-directed lifelong learning: narratives of empowerment. Information Research, 26(1), paper 888. http://InformationR.net/ir/26-1/paper888.html (uses a life history approach with 4 Japanese participants)
- Lee, L., Ocepek, M.G., & Makri, S. (2021). Creating by me, and for me: investigating the use of information creation in everyday life Information Research, 26(1), paper 891. http://InformationR.net/ir/26-1/paper891.html
- (priced publication) González‐Teruel, A., Campos‐Peláez, M-I. & Fortea‐Cabo, G. (2021). Information behaviour of the millennial generation: a scoping review of medical residents and their use of social media. Health Information & Libraries Journal, 38(1), 5-31. https://doi.org/10.1111/hir.12306 I will also mention that the commemorative issue of this journal in honour of Shane Godbolt (December 2020) is still free to access here https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14711842/2020/37/S1
Photo by Sheila Webber: little daffodils, March 2021

Trust in News

Last week there was the Trust in News conference, part of the Trusted News initiative. It seems like the output that you can watch (on the BBC website, link below) consists of four panels lasting about 40-55 minutes each (plus a 6 minute highlight video). The panels are:
- The view from the frontline ("Jon Sopel, BBC North America Editor is joined by BBC Director General, Tim Davie and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, Director of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism")
- Fact checking masterclass ("Jon Sopel, BBC North America Editor is joined by: Maria Clara Pestre, Brazil-based fact checker for AFP, will reveal the challenges she faces when trying to fact check politicians, including President Jair Bolsonaro; Hazel Baker, Head of UGC Newsgathering, Reuters, explains how debunking takes time, and also shares the critical questions to ask if you’re asked to fact check under pressure; Peter Mwai, Kenya-based journalist for BBC Reality Check.")
- Young people: The first line of defence (apparently "When misinformation enters the home, it’s often down to the young people to separate fact from fiction, to keep their relatives safe." "Philippa Thomas, Chief Presenter for BBC News is joined by: Ankur Garg, Country Director Indonesia, BBC Media Action talks about the success of using fast fiction, radio drama to inform audiences across Indonesia; Abbie Richards, Science communicator and Tik Tok creator. Her videos about disinformation and Q Anon have gone viral, seen by millions on different social platforms. She’ll explain how to create relatable content for younger audiences.")
- The tech giants’ role ("BBC Technology Correspondent, Rory Cellan-Jones is joined by: Ben McOwen Wilson, Regional Director, YouTube EMEA and MD YouTube UK and Ireland; Markus Reinisch , VP Public Policy, Facebook EMEA; Sinéad McSweeney, VP for Public Policy in Europe, Twitter EMEA and MD Twitter Dublin")

Additionally on the Beyond Fake News/ Trusted News page which hosts these videos are a number of vieos and advice articles about fake news, disinformation etc., in particular stressing the role and value of journalism and media literacy. Go to https://www.bbc.co.uk/beyondfakenews/

Photo by Sheila Webber: Blackthorn & gorse on the heath, March 2021 (in fact the blackthorn blossom is already fading, after a week...)

Call for papers: exploring the impact of #COVID19 on information literacy

The open access Journal of Information Literacy has put out a call for papers exploring the impact of COVID-19 on information literacy: deadline for full papers is 10 January, 2022, with the special issue published in June 2022. They welcome "submissions exploring the impact of COVID-19 on information literacy within all of its forms. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: changing understandings of workplace information literacy in relation to COVID-secure workplaces, home-working, furlough or job seeking contexts; intersections and the blurring of boundaries between education, health and community information literacy; shifting understandings of digital literacy, including related to privacy, surveillance, and digital inequality; information literacy and mental health, physical health and disability; COVID-safe information literacy research methods."

The call for papers has more information here: https://ojs.lboro.ac.uk/JIL/announcement/view/38 and the general guidelines for submission are here: https://ojs.lboro.ac.uk/JIL/about/submissions 

There is a background reference cited in the full call: Lloyd, A., & Hicks, A. (2021). Contextualising risk: The unfolding information work and practices of people during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Documentation. https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10121120

Lizards and information literacy

An article published last month which is well worth careful reading and discussion is the first in Project Information Literacy's Provocation series. Written by Barbara Fister, it is very good at reflecting on the complexities of engaging with information, and how you can't educate people simply by insisting that yours is the way of truth. Fister notes that "we are experiencing a moment that exposes a schism between two groups: those who have faith there is a way to arrive at truth using practices based on epistemology that originated in the Enlightenment, and those who believe events and experiences are portents to be interpreted in ways that align with their personal values." It is not that the latter group are lacking in information skills - they are using different information practices that are meaningful to them. Fister's examples are primarly from the USA, but her insights are definitely more generally applicable.

There are two versions: the article for the Atlantic is a litte shorter and gives more explanation about terms that would be unfamiliar to non-library people.
- Fister, B. (2021, February 3). Lizard People in the Library: As “research it yourself” becomes a rallying cry for promoters of outlandish conspiracy theories with real-world consequences, educators need to think hard about what’s missing from their information literacy efforts. https://projectinfolit.org/pubs/provocation-series/essays/lizard-people-in-the-library.html
- Fister, B. (2021, February 18). The Librarian War Against QAnon: As “Do the research” becomes a rallying cry for conspiracy theorists, classical information literacy is not enough. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2021/02/how-librarians-can-fight-qanon/618047/
Photo by Sheila Webber, created in Second Life, March 2021

Online: 1st International Online Conference on Digital Transformation in Culture and Education

An international free English-language conference takes place 14-16 April 2021: 1st International Online Conference on Digital Transformation in Culture and Education with a wide range of topics, including some on information and digital literacy. The programme is at https://digital.bds.rs/conference-program If you just want to dip in to watch, they say you can follow their conference youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUzKBqsz6md6otnHGvgWcnQ Registration (restricted number of places) for the full conference is on Eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1st-int-conference-on-digital-transformation-in-culture-and-education-tickets-148240532423

Webinar: Search Mastery as Critical Information Literacy: What LIS adds to the conversation #critlib

On 12 April 2021 at 12 noon US Eastern time (which is, e.g. 5pm UK time) there is a free webinar as part of the Univerity of Maryland College of Information Studies' Search Mastery Speaker Series: Search Mastery as Critical Information Literacy: What LIS adds to the conversation, given by Dr. Ana Ndumu. "Critical Information Literacy (CIL) provides an orienting lens by which to theorize, teach, and apply search mastery. A response to normative, prescriptive approaches to information-seeking, CIL scrutinizes knowledge production and the information economy. Dr. Ndumu will explain connections between CIL and search mastery, and situate both within the broader Critical Librarianship or #CritLib movement." More information at https://ischool.umd.edu/events/search-mastery-speaker-series-ana-ndumu

Photo by Sheila Webber: blackthorn blossom, March 2021

Seeking: short examples of socially-just learning & teaching practices

Ruth and Mick Healey, well known educationalists, are seeking "mini-case studies (250-300 words) of socially-just learning and teaching practices at module, programme, and institutional levels, particularly those that involve student-staff partnerships, from anywhere in the world. We are adopting a broad definition of ‘socially-just pedagogies’ which may involve creating ‘places of possibility’ (Osman & Hornsby 2018) through a wide range of topics that explore social inclusion and diverse knowledges (Soudien 2015), including for example: diversity, inclusion, equity, anti-racism, indigenising or de-colonising the curriculum, and mental health and well-being. We are also interested in mini-case studies of interesting ways you have engaged staff and students with these issues." 

They will add these to the very useful Resources area of their website, where they already maintain a number of bibliographies about aspects of learning in higher education https://mickhealey.co.uk/resources 

They collect examples from all over the world and I'm sure there are a lot of examples which involve librarians that could be added! Send your mini case studies (or any questions) to Dr Ruth Healey at r.healey@chester.ac.uk

Photo by Sheila Webber: fragrant hyacinths, March 2021

Webinar: large scale survey of information use during COVID

There is a launch webinar for a study that collected data from 23,500 respondents, aged 18-40 years in 24 countries: Social Media & COVID-19: A Global Study of Digital Crisis Interaction among Gen Z and Millennials. It has been produced by the World Health Organization, Wunderman Thompson (a consultancy), the University of Melbourne, and Pollfish. The full report is being launched next week on the project website, but there is already a lot of information: I will cover that in a separate post as it's of great interest - but - it appears "libraries and librarians" were not listed as an option in the survey either as sources used OR sources trusted! (whereas 10 different types of social media were listed as sources). Anyway, the webinar is at 1.30pm CET (which is, e.g. 12.30 UK time, 7.30am US Eastern time). "Join us in this webinar as we discuss key insights, implications and take a tour of the Interactive Dashboard with a breakdown of all data by country, gender and age." It is moderated by Sarah Hess (Technical Officer, World Health Organization) and speakers are: Ingrid Volkmer (Digital Communication & Globalization, Faculty of Arts, University of Melbourne); Justin Peyton (Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer, APAC, Wunderman Thompson); Thomas Brauch (Chief Data Officer, APAC Wunderman Thompson); John Papadakis (Founder and CEO, Pollfish). https://who-e.zoom.us/webinar/register/tJUufuCuqzIpGtIjsVTliD4Twbh95C2tTKqf/success?user_id=IFKQhgqyTay4F03u3vS8rg

Photo by Sheila Webber: Blackthorn, March 2021

Webinars: Public Interest Data Literacy #PIDLit

There are 2 webinars from the Public Interest Data Literacy (PIDLit) project in the USA, which I blogged about a few months ago. "PIDLit is focused on reaching first-year students and underrepresented groups and seeks to expand programs that promote data literacy for the public good and build a more diverse pipeline of students pursuing careers in data science." I think both webinars have similar goals.

- Defining Data Literacy for First-Year College Students. March 31, 12 noon-1.30pm US Eastern time (which is, e.g. 5pm-6.30pm UK time) "In this conversation about the Public Interest Data Literacy (PIDLit) initiative, panelists from Georgia State University and their interuniversity partners will provide an overview of program goals and gather feedback from panelists and attendees as to what constitutes “data literacy for the public good.” Registration & list of speakers here. 

- The Public Interest Data Literacy (“PIDLit”) Initiative: Sharing and Gathering Feedback. April 22, 2pm–3pm US Eastern time (which is, e.g., 7-8pm UK time). "panelists and presenters from Georgia State University and their interuniversity partners (Clemson University, North Carolina State University, and University of Cincinnati) will provide an overview of program goals and gather feedback from panelists and attendees on what constitutes “data literacy for the public good.” This discussion will also highlight the role of libraries in fostering data literacy in undergraduates" Registration & list of speakers here.

Photo by Sheila Webber: daffodils are in full bloom, March 2021

Bursaries for the Critical Approaches to Libraries Conference #CALC2021

Thanks to sponsorship from the CILIP Community, Diversity and Equality Group, University of Sheffield Information School (my department) and University College London Dept. of Information Studies there are at least 22 bursary places for the Critical Approaches to Libraries Conference (CALC2021) which takes place online 5-6 May 2021. "Bursary places will offer a free ticket for the CALC2021 e-conference and are designed to improve the representation of groups/individuals who experience underrepresentation and/or marginalisation in academia, librarianship and traditional conference programmes. Groups eligible for bursary places include: POC/BAME/non-white attendees; Those for whom English is an additional language; LGBTIQA+ attendees; Disabled people/people with disabilities (including both physical, learning and mental-health related impairments); Deaf attendees; Neurodiverse attendees; Attendees from working class backgrounds. Eligibility is based on self-identification and no bursary applicants will be required to ‘prove’ their eligibility for the bursary. Bursary holders will not be named or identified at the conference." Places will be allocated on a lottery system (see the link below for more background on this). You have to apply by 11.59pm UK time on 16 April 2021, and a random draw will be made shortly afterwards. Go to http://calc.coventry.domains/participate/bursary-places/ for more info and the link to apply.

Recent articles: Teaching roles; Visual literacy; Ambiguity; Critical thinking

From the last couple of issues of Portal: Libraries and the Academy (priced publication), articles include:
- Baer, A. (2021). Exploring Librarians’ Teaching Roles through Metaphor. portal: Libraries and the Academy, 21(1), 63-79. https://doi.org/10.1353/pla.2021.0005
- Huber, S., Bosman, L., & Bartholomew, S. (2021). Library Instruction and Adaptive Comparative Judgment to Foster Visual Literacy Skills. portal: Libraries and the Academy, 21(1), 149-169. https://doi.org/10.1353/pla.2021.0001 (" In a Midwestern research university, students in an engineering technology portfolio class assembled a visual career board and visual résumé. The instruction and research team collaborated to provide an active learning module on visual literacy that integrated library instruction with an assessment-based pedagogical approach called adaptive comparative judgment (ACJ).")
- Kapfer, P., & Ryan, M. (2021). The Quandary of Factual Ambiguity. portal: Libraries and the Academy, 21(1), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1353/pla.2021.0002
- Klucevsek, K.M., & Brungard, A.B. (2020). Digital Resources for Students: Navigating Scholarship in a Changing Terrain. portal: Libraries and the Academy, 20(4), 597-619. https://doi.org/10.1353/pla.2020.0040
- Worosz, M.R., Farrell, B., & Jenda, C.A. (2020). Teaching Critical Thinking via the “Wicked Problem” of Food Insecurity. portal: Libraries and the Academy, 20(4), 621-653. https://doi.org/10.1353/pla.2020.0030 ("This article describes a project to engage sociology students in real-world research designed to foster critical thinking about food security. Faculty-librarian collaboration was an essential component. ... Results (from an evaluation) show that the project helped students identify the complex processes and relationships that contribute to food insecurity."

Photo by Sheila Webber: spring violets, March 2021

Posts from the ILG blog: School libraries; OERs

Today I'll highlight a couple of interesting recent posts from the UK Information Literacy Group blog: 

Firstly a post from Rebecca Jones (9 March 2021) with Some thoughts from a school librarian in lockdown: in her conclusion she points out that this has been a chance to rethink educational guidelines and practice and "This is a perfect opportunity to promote the need for change and the potential of school libraries, and enabling the school librarian as part of this new innovative and creative approach to thinking and learning." https://infolit.org.uk/some-thoughts-from-a-school-librarian-in-lockdowns/

Secondly, Jane Secker (11 March 2021) talks about a new initiative for Sharing information literacy teaching materals as Open Educational Resources that is just starting up. She calls for anyone who's interested in getting involved to contact her https://infolit.org.uk/sharing-information-literacy-teaching-materials-as-open-educational-resources/
Photo by Sheila Webber: not that long til it's Easter bunny time

Presentations from: Employability and information and digital literacies

Another catchup on presentations from a teachmeet that took place a while ago. The teachmeet Employability and information and digital literacies was run on 16 July 2019, at Canterbury Christ Church University, UK. There is a great blog post with information about each presentation and the links to the slides.
- Keynote: Avoiding the skills trap: Reflections on using the UAL Digital Creative Attributes to design teaching and learning (David White, Head of Digital Learning, University for the Arts London (UAL).
- Mapping our Digital and Information Literacy Framework to the new Employability Framework and JISC Learner Profile. Cheryl Coveney, Senior Library Manager (Academic Liaison, STEM, FBL), The Open University (OU).
- Digital Monsters. Mike Alsford, Academic Skills Tutor, University of Greenwich.
- You’ve got a PAL in me: Mentorship and employability in a Peer Assisted Learning programme. Cathryn Peppard, Academic Services Librarian (Health), University of Greenwich.
- Helpful Tools for Employability. Andy Prue, Subject Liaison Librarian, University of Kent.
- Professional resources for practitioners. Ian Badger, Learning & Teaching Librarian, University for the Creative Arts (UCA), Canterbury.
- Commercial Awareness: a cross-department collaboration. Amy C Haworth, Service Development Manager, Learning Services, University of Sheffield.
- Ideas from others: Employability in library teaching and learning. Doug Broadbent-Yale, Academic Librarian Social Science, University of East Anglia (UEA).
- Workshop and world café: employability skills. Rosie Greenslade, Senior Academic Developer at CCCU
Go to https://blogs.canterbury.ac.uk/library/library-teachmeet-employability-and-information-and-digital-literacies/
Photo by Sheila Webber of Academia Electronica, a Polish educational area in Second Life, March 2021

Webinar: Beyond CRAAP: SIFT & Information Literacy!

On 24 March 2021 at 10am US Pacific time (which will be eg. 5pm UK time, since the UK has not yet changed to summertime) there is a webinar CRAAP: SIFT & Information Literacy! organised by Lifelong Information Literacy (LILi) "How do we teach information literacy in an online environment? How many of us are using outdated techniques (such as CRAAP) as outlined by Sam Wineburg of Stanford History Education Group? What is lateral reading and how do fact-checkers use it to evaluate information and sources? Is lateral reading something that comes naturally or instinctively to students or is it a learned skill? Come hear some thoughts about all of this and then let's brainstorm how to better teach information literacy to our students and to get information literacy embedded in every class on our campuses. To provide an example, we are delighted to have CSUN Research and Instruction Librarian Jamie Johnson share with us how she implemented Lateral Reading strategies in U100, a freshman seminar course." Book at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/online-instruction-show-tell-19-tickets-146818364681?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

Photo by Sheila Webber: yet more plum blossom, March 2021

Partnerships to aid students in the information literacy transition from school to university

The American Library Association Library Instruction Round Table Transitions to College Committee is discussing, online, Creating meaningful and sustainable partnerships to aid students in the information literacy transition from high school to college on 24 March 2021 at 2.30pm US Central time (n.b. the USA has gone over to summer time so this is one hour earlier than normal in many places e.g. 7.30pm in the UK). The organisers say "The event will not be recorded, but we'll be sharing session notes and resources afterward." Register at https://usi.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwrceutrTwiHNAnijZZotBmvhNBMo4pI5Ru
Photo by Sheila Webber: plum branch, March 2021

Maddie is Online resource booklet

The Maddie is Online project has produced a new booklet with a few suggested lesson plans and an annotated and categorised list of resources: https://www.slideshare.net/martzoukou/series-1-resource-booklet-maddie-is-online, aimed at school teachers, librarians and parents. This accompanies the cartoon series which focuses on online resilience: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGdWX4t_arWjW2Kva3-wBfQ/playlists

Series 1 resource booklet 'Maddie is Online' from Konstantina Martzoukou

New Book: Library Pedagogies: Personal Reflections from Library Practitioners

A new book is Library Pedagogies: Personal Reflections from Library Practitioners, edited by Sam Aston and Andrew Walsh, ISBN: 978-1-911500-18-6, published by Innovative Libraries. https://librarypedagogies.wordpress.com/ Chapters include:
Pam McKinney - Inquiry Based Learning in Higher Education
Emma Coonan - Librarian through the looking-glass: developing a teaching philosophy on shifting sands
Jane Pothecary - Finding Feminist practice in the library classroom: mapping my teaching practice
Kodi Saylor - Curiosity, Pedagogy, and Becoming
Sarah Wolfenden - Utilising coaching to enhance teaching practice
Melissa Kalpin Prescott - Antiracist Pedagogy in Libraries: Working Within and Beyond the Classroom
Olivia Piepmeier - A Journey in Feminist Pedagogy
Amy Pajewski - Critical Compassionate Pedagogy: Serving First-Gen Students in the Library Classroom
Lesley English - You have a PhD in physics, right?
Mackenzie K. Brooks - A pedagogy of trial and error
Anna Boutin-Cooper - No One is Alone: A Critical Feminist Pedagogy
Maria Sclafani - So You Think You Can Teach? Finding My Teacher Identity in the Classroom, the Writing Center, and the Library
Karen Marie Øvern - The teaching tube: reflections on a journey
Paul Newnham - Transforming lives: social class and information literacy
Catherine Tomlin - Creating confidence: developing academic writing skills using visual methods
Heather Barker - Creating confidence: developing academic writing skills using visual methods
Jess Wallis - Teaching with Feminist Pedagogy
Claire Wotherspoon - Digital literacy in a post-COVID world: e-pedagogical approaches to develop social, academic and employability skills

Photo by Sheila Webber: mirabelle plum branches, spring, March 2021

#Misinformation and the Coronavirus Vaccines

The latest episode (no. 97, published 12 March 2021) in the Pew Charitable Trusts' After the Fact podcast is: Misinformation and the Coronavirus Vaccines (15 minutes). "In this episode, we discuss the facts about the science of the vaccines—and the importance of communicating accurate information to the public—with Dr. Rebecca Wurtz, infectious disease physician and associate professor at the University of Minnesota’s Division of Health Policy and Management." Go to https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2021/03/12/misinformation-and-the-coronavirus-vaccines

Recent books: Epitexts; Online learning; School collaboration; News literacy

Books from publisher Libraries Unlimited over the past months include:
- Bober, T. (2021). Building News Literacy: Lessons for Teaching Critical Thinking Skills in Elementary and Middle Schools. ISBN 978-1-4408-7515-1
- Harada, V.H. & Coatney, S. (2020). Radical Collaborations for Learning: School Librarians as Change Agents. ISBN 978-1-4408-7238-9
- Mune, C.D. (2020). Libraries Supporting Online Learning: Practical Strategies and Best Practices. ISBN 978-1-4408-6175-8
- Witte, S., Gross, M. & Latham, D. (2021) [Due out later this month]. From Text to Epitext: Expanding Students' Comprehension, Engagement, and Media Literacy. ISBN 978-1-4408-7749-0
Photo by Sheila Webber: Lost item series, colourful plastic trolley, February 2021.

Teachmeet presentations

There are presentations from a teachmeet that was held on 26 June 2019, organised by/for University of London Libraries. A bit late, but I don't seem to have blogged this previously. Presentations are:
- Blended learning: using a flipped classroom in information literacy teaching.
- The invisible audience: engaging students in live online teaching environments.
- Using audience response systems to enhance student engagement in information literacy teaching
- Engaging with Special Collections: teaching with rare books and manuscripts at Senate House Library.
- Developing an online, interactive citing and referencing resource: a collaborative project
- Referencing picture books.
- Using fake news to engage students in critical source evaluation.
- Research Support at Birkbeck Library
- Providing reviews of search strategies using PRESS and direct collaboration on Systematic Review literature searches (for publication).
- Developing “Resistance Researching” workshops at Goldsmiths Library.
Go to https://libguides.city.ac.uk/teachmeet/presentations
Photo by Sheila Webber: March 2021 blossom

Call for proposals: South Carolina Conference on Information Literacy

The South Carolina Conference on Information Literacy is a virtual conference, running 4-6 August 2021. The theme is Reshaping the future of instruction. There is a call for proposals, deadline 2 April 2021. The conference is "focused on providing instruction librarians a space for professional development and networking opportunities. Based in Charleston, South Carolina, we welcome any and all librarians who are interested in learning about new classroom strategies, instruction ideas, or anything else involved in teaching students information literacy skills." 
Example topics include: Engagement & Outreach; Critical Information Literacy; Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Instructional Services; Assessment; Pedagogy; Reflective Practice, Morale, & Self Care; Active learning in an online environment. The format options are:
- 60+ minute sessions (Mediated Roundtable or  Cracker Barrel (rotating presentations)
- 50 minute sessions: Panel discussions or Problem based discussion or Project demonstrations or Expert lecture
- 20 minute sessions: Mini-lecture with Q&A
- Poster Session
The website including online proposal form is here: https://musc.libguides.com/SCCIL
Photo by Sheila Webber: plum blossom March 2021

Media bias; research impact via Twitter; researcher open practices; fake news on Facebook #ISI2021

I'm liveblogging from an Information Behaviour and Information Literacy session, which has a social media theme, at the International Symposium on Information Science (ISI 2021) today. There is more information on all 4 presentations in the full text conference proceedings (starting page 79) here: https://files.mi.ur.de/f/b11233047d864a1d822b/?dl=1

The first presentation was Omission of information: Identifying political slant via an analysis of co-occurring entities (Jonas Ehrhardt, Timo Spinde, Ali Vardasbi, & Felix Hamborg) Their project site is here: https://media-bias-research.org/ They focused on the issue of media bias by omission, identifying that this had not been a major focus in quantitive research so far. The created a data set of articles from a range of North American media, which had been previously categorised as left, right or centre leaning. They then performed a sequence of analyses, including a manual stage to examine the co-occurrences that had emerged from the quantiative analysis, and as the research was still in progress (including creating a much bigger data set of news articles), the focus of the paper were the methods used. 

The second paper was Does the General Public Share Research on Twitter? A Case Study on the Online Conversation about the Search for a Nuclear Repository in Germany (Steffen Lemke, Paula Bräuer, Isabella Peters). This involved two research projects TRANSENS https://www.transens.de/ (concerning issues to do with nuclear waste) and MeWiko https://mewiko.de/ which is concerned with the impact of scholarly publications. While there is a lot of research on social media and academia, there is not so much which examines the engagement of non-academics. There was also existing research with evidence that references to academic research on Twitter tended to link to intermediate sources (e.g. media reports of research), not the original research.
They collected tweets based on German words concerned with nuclear waste, identified the 50 most frequent participants (the conversation was dominated by comparatively few people), and examined their profiles so they could categorise them in various ways (e.g., did they appear to be academics). The most frequent participants were non-academic activists and the most influential (in terms of follwers) were journalists. As an automatic approach (looking for dois) didn't work well, they selected a subset of tweets and examined them manually. They found very few direct links to research papers, but more links to news or journalism, and also paraphrased reports or summaries, or "popular science" videos etc. One conclusion is that you can't measure impact of research just by counting direct links to articles, as the majority of impact comes through other types of publications. They also observed how the conversation about nuclear energy is very different in different countries (e.g. USA vs. Germany) so you can't neccessarily transfer results to other countries.

The third paper was Open practices of early career researchers A qualitative study on research and teaching behavior (Tamara Heck, Ina Blümel). Practice here mean practices in daily life concerned with research or teaching, and the "open" can refer to open science and open educational practices (both with principles of transparency, re-use, participation etc.) The research emerged from the observation that, whilst attitudes towards attitudes are very positive, still there is less actual implementation of these practices. The participants were 10 early career researchers from the educational field. There was a multistage qualitative study, involving interviews, focus groups and diarying. From the analysis the main motivations were: to be more independent with open tools; allow for better outreach/transparency; improve students' communication/collaboration; improve collaboration with colleagues. Barriers included lack of motivation because tools were not easy to use, or not more (or as) useful as non-open alternatives, also other people (e.g. colleagues) are using and used to non-open tools and do not see the benefits of the open tools/working. An observation was that there needed to be "value alignment" so that all involved needed to see the benefits, have some buy-in to the underlying values and be motivated to collaborate.

The final paper in the Information Behaviour and Information Literacy session at the International Symposium on Information Science (ISI 2021) was Information Behavior towards False Information and “Fake News” on Facebook The Influence of Gender, User Type and Trust in Social Media (Thomas Schmidt, Elisabeth Salomon, David Elsweiler, Christian Wolff). They focused on Facebook, as this is the most popular social media in Germany. As variables, they examined gender, trust in social media, and frequency of social media use. In terms of engaging with fake information, they were interested in asking about how it was identified, verified, shared etc., and the survey instrument was a 42 item German-language questionnaire, completed by 119 people. In terms of gender - they did not find any significant results. They used two existing scales to measure Facebook use, and trust in social media. Respondents said that they frequently encountered false information, but never or rarely engaged with it. Verification strategies varied, but the most frequent were looking at the source, and checking comments. As a reaction, mostly people would not do anything about false information, and said they would more often unsubscribe/mute the poster, rather than report the post. Other findings were that: the more participants used social media, the more they were likely to trust social media, and more likely to engage with false information (e.g. like, comment).

Recording: Learning and teaching with students remotely

On 16 December 2020, the Wales Higher Education Libraries Forum (WHELF) held a teachmeet Is there anybody there? Learning and teaching with students remotely and there is a recording of the one-hour event which had the presentations:
- Creating interactive library tutorials with LibWizard (Jose Lopez Blanco, University of South Wales)
- Creating online library content using Microsoft Sway and Articulate Storyline (Alice de Angeli and Peter Duffield Fuller, University of Wales, Trinity St. David)
- Changing times: a case study of embedded asynchronous learning and teaching (Rebecca Mogg and Neil Pollock, Cardiff University).
Go to https://whelf.ac.uk/is-there-anybody-there-learning-and-teaching-with-students-remotely-whelf-teachmeet-16-december-2020/ for the embedded video and padlet and description or direct to https://youtu.be/O4nctz2vKfw for just the recording

International Symposium on Information Science #isi2021

The 16th International Symposium on Information Science (ISI 2021) is being held 8-10 March 2021, online, with presentations in either German or English. Registration is still open, but I think when registering late you will only get included from the next day. In terms of live participation I would highlight the session on 10th March, on Information Literacy and Information Behaviour with the talks:
- Omission of information: Identifying political slant via an analysis of co-occurring entities (Jonas Ehrhardt, Timo Spinde, Ali Vardasbi, Felix Hamborg)
- Does the General Public Share Research on Twitter? A Case Study on the Online Conversation about the Search for a Nuclear Repository in Germany (Steffen Lemke, Paula Bräuer, Isabella Peters)
- Open practices of early career researchers: A qualitative study on research and teaching behavior (Tamara Heck, Ina Blümel)
- Information Behavior towards False Information and “Fake News” on Facebook: The Influence of Gender, User Type and Trust in Social Media (Thomas Schmidt, Elisabeth Salomon, David Elsweiler, Christian Wolff)
The website is at https://isi2021.net/ with registration for the main conference and side events at https://isi2021.net/index.php/events/
The full text proceedings (including some more papers on information literacy and information behaviour) are already available at https://files.mi.ur.de/f/b11233047d864a1d822b/?dl=1 There is also a 3D coffee cup, which you could print if you had a 3D printer https://p3d.in/ljhXd/spin
Photo by Sheila Webber: Blackheath mist, February 2021

New open access book: Introduction to College Research

A new open-access book, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, is: Butler, W.D., Sargent, A. & Smith, K. (2021). Introduction to College Research. Pressbooks. https://introtocollegeresearch.pressbooks.com/

 The introduction says "This book acknowledges our changing information landscape, covering key concepts in information literacy to support a research process with intention." The chapters are: The Age of Algorithms; Disinformation; Fact-Checking; Types of Information Sources; Getting Your Research Started; Search Strategies; Finding Materials in the Library; Using Library Databases; Searching the Web: Strategies and Considerations; Ethical and Legal Use of Information; Citing Sources.

Photo by Sheila Webber: plum blossom, March 2021

Fakehunter: German-language anti-fake news programme

A German language game/lesson plan, Die FakeHunter, has been developed to turn students into fake-news hunters. Developed by libraries in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, the full material is available to people who have gone through their training programme, but there is an abbreviated version that can be downloaded. The full workshop sequence involves a phase of the schoolchildren being introduced the the scenario and given training as fake-news hunters, then practising on their own devices and trying out their skills on stories in a special news-portal that includes fake news, and then a debriefing and the participants get a fake newshunter certificate. Website here https://www.diefakehunter.de/, downloads here https://www.bz-sh.de/projekte-bestaende/die-fakehunter 

On the same theme, a blog post in German talking about the problem of fake news and how to spot it: Dallinga, A-C., Moll-Seiler , F. & Steyer, T. (2021, 9 February). Der Wolf im Schafspelz: Fake News im digitalen Kosmos. [Wolf in sheep's clothing: fake news in the digital universe] https://blogs.tu-braunschweig.de/ubbs/2021/02/09/der-wolf-im-schafspelz-fake-news-im-digitalen-kosmos/