Monday, November 30, 2015

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


Sunday, November 29, 2015

The changing world of #search

Phil Bradley's presentations are always worth monitoring, and here is a recent one (October 2015):


Saturday, November 28, 2015

Information Literacy in Sri Lanka

Earlier this month the International Conference in Information Science - ICIS 2015 was held at the University of Colombo in Sri Lanka, together with a workshop on instructional pedagogy. The conference included some papers on information literacy; there are informative abstracts in the abstract book that can be downloaded from here: http://nilis.cmb.ac.lk/index.php/19-events/symposiums/122-nilis-conference-2015
Also, the State Minister of City Planning and Water Supply, Dr. Sudarshanie Fernandopulle, commented on the need for information literacy; as is picked up by this news story.
Photo by Sheila Webber: yet more beech leaves.

Friday, November 27, 2015

Play MOOC: Minecraft, play in virtual worlds #flplay

There is still a week or two left of the Futurelearn MOOC, Exploring Play, which looks at play from many perspectives (memories of play, play and disability, physical play spaces, virtual spaces etc.) Although there is more about young people and play, it does address play at different life stages, including as adults. Last week the discussions and material were about virtual play. I discussed various aspects of play and living in the 3D virtual world, Second Life. Chris Bailey talked about his fascinating research on Minecraft "The diversity of social play in a Minecraft club", and he has blogged about the experience:
Bailey, C. (2015, November 22). Reflecting on the Power of MOOC. http://mrchrisjbailey.co.uk/2015/11/22/reflecting-on-the-power-of-mooc/

Embedded below is my video about types of play in Second Life (I present the video as my SL avatar, Sheila Yoshikawa)

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Latest articles in Portal: assessment, ACRL Framework, undergraduate research

The last issue of Portal: libraries and the academy (volume 15 issue 4, priced publication) included
- Project RAILS: Lessons Learned about Rubric Assessment of Information Literacy Skills (pp. 623-644) by Jackie Belanger, Ning Zou, Jenny Rushing Mills, Claire Holmes, Megan Oakleaf
- Standing Alone No More: Linking Research to a Writing Course in a Learning Community (pp. 661-675) by Marcia Rapchak, Ava Cipri
- From Standards to Frameworks for IL: How the ACRL Framework Addresses Critiques of the Standards (pp. 699-717) by Nancy M. Foasberg
- A Survey of Instructional Support for Undergraduate Research Programs (pp. 719-762) by Merinda Kaye Hensley
- Learning by Doing: Developing a Baseline Information Literacy Assessment (pp. 747-766) by Stephen “Mike” Kiel, Natalie Burclaff, Catherine Johnson
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/portal_libraries_and_the_academy/toc/pla.15.4.html
Photo by Sheila webber: glimpse of beech leaves by Firth Court, November 2015

News: Information Literacy

Here's a nice short news item about information literacy, on a university website. The University of Nevada, Las Vegas, is celebrating the fact that the University came out well in the Project Information Literacy study on graduates' lifelong learning needs. It seems to me a good example of getting awareness of information literacy raised on campus.
University of Nevada, Las Vegas. (2015, October 19). Job Requirement: Information Literacy. https://www.unlv.edu/news/article/job-requirement-information-literacy
Photo by Sheila Webber: Beech in autumn, November 2015

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

3 interesting items: Commodification of the information profession; Transliteracy; Information literacy taxonomy

Lawson, S., Sanders, K., & Smith, L. (2015). Commodification of the information profession: A critique of Higher Education under neoliberalism. Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication, 3(1), eP1182. http://dx.doi.org/10.7710/2162-3309.1182
"The structures that govern society’s understanding of information have been reorganised under a neoliberal worldview to allow information to appear and function as a commodity. This has implications for the professional ethics of library and information labour, and the need for critical reflexivity in library and information praxes is not being met. A lack of theoretical understanding of these issues means that the political interests governing decision-making are going unchallenged, for example the UK government’s specific framing of open access to research. We argue that building stronger, community oriented praxes of critical depth can serve as a resilient challenge to the neoliberal politics of the current higher education system in the UK and beyond. Critical information literacy offers a proactive, reflexive and hopeful strategy to challenge hegemonic assumptions about information as a commodity."

Le Deuff, O. (2015, 29 May) Voyage en translittératie. Intercdi, (255), 4-7. http://intercdi.com/post/2015/05/29/Voyage-en-translitt%C3%A9ratie
"La translittératie reste encore apparemment obscure, malgré une première publication sur le sujet qui tentait de faire le point il y a quelques années. Visiblement, la transe littéracique reste encore l’apanage d’initiés. Et pourtant, nous pratiquons la translittératie au quotidien, tel M. Jourdain faisant de la prose. Je vous propose donc de vous emmener dans un périple dans des mondes qui vous semblent inconnus et éloignés, mais qui vous sont bien plus proches."
The author proposes that although transliteracy still seems to be the province of specialists, in fact transliteracy is something that people are practicing already (like M. Jourdain in Molière's play who, on being told the difference between prose and verse observes "For forty years I've been speaking prose without realising it".) The author outlines the nature of transliteracy, linking it with Paul Otlet's idea of hyperdocumentation, and proposes a route for one's voyage into transliteracy. (In French)

Hamminger, L. (2014) A Taxonomy of Information Literacy. MA thesis, Fakultät der Paris Lodron Universität Salzburg, Fachbereich Erziehungswissenschaft. https://www.academia.edu/8747671/Master_Thesis_A_Taxonomy_of_Information_Literacy
Just came across this. I haven't read it properly yet, and I think one could debate the final taxonomy, but it is an approach I haven't come across before and it is an interesting way to think about what information literacy is, and what "kinds" of information literacy there are. The thesis is carefully argued and in English. You may have to sign in to Academia.edu to get full access to this.
Photo by Sheila Webber: fan window, view from the apartment, Tallinn, October 2015



Tuesday, November 24, 2015

cfp extended #CCLI2016

The Proposal Deadline has been extended to December 4, 2015 for the California Conference on Library Instruction, due to take place at the University of San Francisco on April 29, 2016. The conference theme is Reframing Instruction: Looking at What We Do with a New Lens. "CCLI invites you to share teaching strategies and tools for reframing information literacy instruction, from first-year seminars to capstone projects." Prospective presenters can refer to the proposal evaluation rubric at http://www.cclibinstruction.org/ccli-presenter-rubric/ and the submission form is at http://goo.gl/forms/qzjkokRJQt
Photo by Sheila Webber: squash and celeriac, Farmers' market, Blackheath, November 2015

PRIMO site: University of West Florida Libraries Research Tutorials

The latest Peer-Reviewed Instructional Materials Online (PRIMO) Site of the Month is: Navigate: University of West Florida Libraries Research Tutorials. The interview with producer Britt McGowan and further information are at http://acrl.ala.org/IS/october-2015-site-of-the-month/
The site itself is at http://uwf.edu/library/research_help/tutorials/
Photo by Sheila Webber: Lost item series: lost hat, Blackheath, November 2015

Monday, November 23, 2015

Survey on use of critical information literacy in teaching

Eamon Tewell is running a questionnaire survey on academic librarians' experience of incorporating critical information literacy into their teaching practice. He says that the survey aims to recruit you "If you provide library instruction in some capacity and identify as incorporating critical information literacy into your instruction" The survey is at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/criticalIL and will remain open until December 11.
Photo by Sheila Webber: autumn leaves in Tallinn, October 2015

Reminder: cfp Lagadothon at #lilac16

A reminder that 27 November (this Friday) is the deadline for applications for the Lagadothon at the LILAC (UK information literacy) conference being held in March 2016 in Dublin. This is for people who have an information literacy "product" at beta testing stage. More information at http://www.lilacconference.com/lilac-2016/lagadothon

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Recent school-related articles: information production; motivation / Uganda; Wikipedia; Indonesian IL model

- Forte, A. (2015). The new information literate: Open collaboration and information production in schools. International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, 10, 35–51. Preprint: http://ijcscl.org/download.php?file=forte_10_1.pdf&path=_preprints/volume10_issue1
"In a series of qualitative studies, I examined high school students’ information assessment practices as they helped build a collaborative online information source. I identified two types of strategies for assessing information sources: first-order strategies involve adopting known heuristics for assessing sources whereas second-order strategies involve reflective construction of standards based on students’ understanding of how information is produced and the tasks in which they are engaged."

- Crow, S. (2015). The information-seeking behavior of intrinsically motivated elementary school children of a collectivist culture. School Library Research, 18. http://www.ala.org/aasl/sites/ala.org.aasl/files/content/aaslpubsandjournals/slr/vol18/SLR_InformationSeekingBehavior_V18.pdf "The basic research question addressed is: “What are the experiences in the lives of upper elementary-aged Ugandan children that foster an intrinsic motivation to seek information?” A secondary question is also addressed: “How do the experiences of students from a collectivist culture (Kampala, Uganda) who are intrinsically motivated to seek information compare and contrast with the experiences of similarly aged students from an individualistic culture (Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S.)?”

- Stinson, A. (2015, October 7). Librarian as Teacher: Ways to use Wikipedia. http://interlibnet.org/2015/10/07/librarian-as-teacher-ways-to-use-wikipedia/

- George, H. C. (2015). POLA LISA: An Information Literacy Model for National Curriculum-based Schools in Indonesia. http://www.consalxvi.org/sites/default/files/8-Hanna%20Chaterina%20George.pdf
Photo by Sheila Webber: Kehrwider cafe, Tallinn, October 2015

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Storify and copyright; Wayback and big data bias

A couple of items I just happened across:

1) Leetaru, K. (2015, November 16). How much of the internet does the wayback machine really archive? Forbes. http://www.forbes.com/sites/kalevleetaru/2015/11/16/how-much-of-the-internet-does-the-wayback-machine-really-archive/
Results of a study of the number of web pages archived from sites by that useful (but, it turns out, in some ways, arbitrary) site, the Internet Archive. A sound bite that sprang out at me was
"the “big data” era is unfortunately being increasingly defined by headline-grabbing results computed from datasets being plucked off the shelf with little attempt to understand their inner biases."

2) Watson, I. (2015, November 13). Storify, embedded images and copyright. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/storify-embedded-images-copyright-ian-watson
A short post on Linked-In, but raising the issue of copyright of images on Storify, with the cautionary tale of the Tron Theartre in Glasgow. Ian (currently a knowledge manager) used to manage a newspaper library, and has expertise in this area.
Photo by Sheila Webber: a pleasant coffee, chocolates and a glass of Vana Tallinn, in Tallinn, October 2015

Monday, November 16, 2015

Call for nominations: 2016 Library Instruction Round Table (LIRT) Awards

Nominations are solicited for the 2016 Library Instruction Round Table (LIRT) Awards. The LIRT Librarian Recognition Award is presented to an individual librarian in appreciation for her/his contributions to the field. The LIRT Innovation in Instruction Award is awarded to a Library that demonstrates innovation in support of information literacy and instruction. Deadline for nominations is 31 December 2015. More information at http://www.ala.org/lirt/awards
Photo by Sheila Webber: Traveller on the road to Kimu, Tallinn, October 2015

Sunday, November 15, 2015

Peer review - #uksg webinar

UKSG offer a free webinar at 1pm UK time (which is 8am US Eastern time) on 26 November 2015 lasting 45-60 minutes. It is on Peer review in 2015: a global view - Key findings from the Taylor & Francis white paper, with speakers Elaine Devine, Senior Communications Manager (Author Relations) and Will Frass, Senior Research Executive, both Taylor & Francis. More info at http://www.uksg.org/webinars/peerreview
Photo by Sheila webber: cloths at the Kehrwieder cafe, Tallinn, October 2015

Friday, November 13, 2015

Social media and libraries: Twitter and more

Firstly, Alison Skoyles reported back yesterday on an informal survey of library Twitter use she did on lis-link discussion list (asking e.g. what libraries used it for, how often they tweeted): https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A2=ind1511&L=LIS-LINK&O=D&P=38476

Secondly, The Canadian Journal of Information and Library Science (volume 39, no. 3/4: priced publication) has a special focus on Archives, Libraries and Museums in the Era of the Participatory Social Web. It includes:
- Preface: Archives, Libraries, and Museums in the Era of the Participatory Social Web in English and French by Fidelia Ibekwe-SanJuan, Elaine Ménard
Influence, Reciprocity, Participation, and Visibility: Assessing the Social Library on Twitter/Influence, réciprocité, participation, et visibilité : Évaluation de la bibliothèque sociale sur Twitter by Lorri Mon, Jisue Lee at http://bit.ly/cjils393_4d
- “Library 2.0” Viewed through the Prism of the French Librarians’ Blogs/La « Bibliothèque 2.0 » vue à travers le prisme des blogs de bibliothécaires français by Bérengère Stassin at http://bit.ly/cjils393_4e
- Social Media in Libraries and Archives: Applied with Caution/Les médias sociaux dans les bibliothèques et les archives : Appliqués avec prudence by Chern Li Liew, Shannon Wellington, Gillian Oliver, Reid Perkins at http://bit.ly/cjils393_4j
Photo by Sheila Webber: house near Kumu, Tallinn, Estonia, October 2015

Thursday, November 12, 2015

#i3rgu conference presentations

I just noticed that the presentations from the i3 conference held in June 2015 are online, and can be found at http://www.rgu.ac.uk/research/conferences/i-2015
They are just identified by name of presenter, so unless you want to take a lucky dip approach you will need to refer to the programme at http://www.rgu.ac.uk/file/i3-programme-2015-pdf-500kb
There were many interesting research presentations about information literacy and information behaviour (some of which I blogged - afraid I'm not going to be going back and adding presentation links, though)
Photo by Sheila webber: pears at the farmers' market, November 2015

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

New articles: Misinformation, search behaviour, situated learning, undergraduate research

The Journal of Academic Librarianship, volume 41, issue 5, includes (priced articles)
- Why Students Share Misinformation on Social Media: Motivation, Gender, and Study-level Differences by Xinran Chen, Sei-Ching Joanna Sin, Yin-Leng Theng, Chei Sian Lee
- The SHU Research Logs: Student Online Search Behaviors Trans-scripted by Beth Bloom, Marta Mestrovic Deyrup
- Beyond Mechanics: Reframing the Pedagogy and Development of Information Literacy Teaching Tools by Stephanie Margolin, Wendy Hayden
- The Effect of a Situated Learning Environment in a Distance Education Information Literacy Course by Amy Catalano
- What do You Give the Undergraduate Researcher who has Everything? An Academic Librarian by Kimberly Douglass, Thura Mack
- Advanced vs. Basic Search: Digital Perception and Library Learning by Jill Strykowski
Issue at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00991333/41/4

There is also a new early release open access article:
Faculty and Librarians' Partnership: Designing a New Framework to Develop Information Fluent Future Doctors by Rachid Bendriss, Reya Saliba, Sally Birch http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0099133315002050
Photo by Sheila Webber: Sheffield University campus: St Georges church and a glimpse of the Diamond building, November 2015

Monday, November 09, 2015

Education in Chemistry

Education in Chemistry is a publication from the UK's Royal Scociety of Chemistry, and it aims to support chemistry teaching at secondary and tertiary levels. There was recently a supplement to this online magazine on Using technology to empower student learning: this includes an article (by a chemistry academic) on getting students to develop a wiki as an assessment and to develop teamwork skills: obviously one can see an information literacy aspect to this.
Education in chemistry https://magazines.rsc.org/web-reader/eic/
Photo by Sheila Webber: War memorial, Sheffield, October 2015

Sunday, November 08, 2015

University of South Carolina Upstate infolit award criteria

The University of South Carolina Upstate Library (USA) announced its criteria for information literacy awards to students and faculty. If you are thinking of introducing similar awards you might find this useful: http://news.uscupstate.edu/2015/10/criteria-set-for-information-literacy-awards/
Photo by Sheila Webber: produce at Blackheath Farmers market, November 2015

Friday, November 06, 2015

cfp 15th Annual Information Literacy Summit (USA)

There is a call for papers for the 15th Annual Information Literacy Summit (to be held at Moraine Valley Community College, Palos Hills, USA, April 29 2016) which has the title Shifting Perspectives: Developing Critical Approaches in Information Literacy The Keynote Address will be Critical Pedagogy in a Time of Compliance delivered by Emily Drabinski.
"We are seeking presenters to lead engaging and interactive discussions about information literacy and library instruction. We are especially interested in breakout sessions and panels which explore critical pedagogies, the evolving nature of information literacy, and are related to this year's theme: Shifting Perspectives: Developing Critical Approaches in Information Literacy. We hope to foster conversations across all types of libraries, schools and other organizations and encourage a diversity of perspectives in this proposal call." Breakout sessions and panels are called for, with a deadline for proposals of January 22, 2016.
For more information, go to http://informationliteracysummit.org/
Photo by Sheila Webber: the library at Tallinn Airport. There was also a cute shabby-chic coffee shop that did aeropress coffee; and various other amenities. This gives it the rare disctinction of being an airport departure lounge I would have liked to have spent more time in. October 2015

Thursday, November 05, 2015

Mathematics and information literacy: chat and article

On November 16th, 2-3 PM US Eastern time EST (that's 7-8pm UK time) there is the November Science and Technology (ACRL STS) Information Literacy Chat. Jeffra Diane Bussmann (Senior Assistant Librarian at California State University East Bay) and Jeffrey Bond (Science Librarian at Texas Christian University), will summarise results of a survey and lead a discussion on Information Literacy in Mathematics. It is recommended that beforehand you look at:
- Bussmann, J. D., & Bond, J. D. (2015). Information Literacy in Mathematics Undergraduate Education: Where Does It Stand Today? Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship, 81, DOI:10.5062/F4WM1BD8 http://www.istl.org/15-summer/refereed2.html
- Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL). (2015). Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework
Questions to be discussed include:
- How have you been most successful in teaching information literacy for math students?
- How have you been most challenged?
- Have you made use of the new information literacy framework in your instruction to math students? Have you thought about how to make use of it? Which of the threshold concepts seem most relevant to math students?
The discussion is in Adobe Connect: go to http://ala.adobeconnect.com/r9d5u9fcgv9/
If you have never attended an Adobe Connect meeting before: test your connection at http://ala.adobeconnect.com/common/help/en/support/meeting_test.htm and get an overview at http://www.adobe.com/products/adobeconnect.html
STS Monthly chats are archived at http://bit.ly/stsilmonthlychatarchive
Photo by Sheila Webber: Seagull overlooking Tallinn, October 2015

Tuesday, November 03, 2015

Framework spotlight on scholarship

A new column highlights articles which engage with the new ACRL Framework for Information Literacy. The latest item mentioned in the Framework spotlight on scholarship series is:
Garcia, L. (2014). Applying the Framework for Information Literacy to the Developmental Education Classroom. Community and Junior College Libraries, 20(1-2), 39-47.
http://acrl.ala.org/framework/?cat=17
Photo by Sheila Webber: Tallinn, October 2015

Engaging with the ACRL Information Literacy Framework Conference

This will be taking place on March 10, 2016 at the University at Albany, USA. "There will be opportunities to engage in discussions about the Framework, share your experiences with it, learn from colleagues, and engage with a panel of disciplinary faculty members. Look for a call for poster sessions soon with registration information to follow." There doesn't seem to be a website yet: information was posted by Allison Hosier, Information Literacy and Undergraduate Outreach Librarian, University at Albany, ahosier@albany.edu