Presentations from CILIP Information Literacy day #infolit2012

There was a one-day event on Information Literacy at the UK's Chartered Institute for Library and Information Professionals yesterday. Speakers were:
- Chair’s Welcome and introduction to Information Literacy: Debbi Boden-Angell, Director of Information Learning Services & University Librarian, York St John University
- Welsh Information Literacy Framework: Andrew Eynon, Library and Learning Technology Manager, Grŵp Llandrillo Menai
- Developing digital literacies: Paul Bailey, Programme Manager, e-Learning, JISC
- LolliPop & Sir LearnaLot: Moira Bent, Faculty Liaison Librarian & National Teaching Fellow, Newcastle University
- A new curriculum for Information Literacy: Jane Secker, Copyright and Digital Literacy Advisor, at Centre for Learning Technology, LSE & Emma Coonan, Research Skills and Development Librarian, Cambridge University Library
- SMILE - Supporting the graduate skills and the employability agenda: Debbi Boden-Angell, Director of Information Learning Services & University Librarian, York St John University
- Information Literacy: the cure for health information obesity: Caroline De Brún, Clinical Support Librarian, University College London – Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust
- Workplace Information Literacy: Mark Hepworth, Reader in People’s Information Behaviour, Department of Information Science, Loughborough University
- The Public Library Information Offer: Sally McMahon, Head of Libraries and Information Services, Brighton & Hove City Council
The presentations, powerpoints in pdf form, are all here: http://www.cilip.org.uk/infolit2012/pages/presentations.aspx and the twitterstream is here: https://twitter.com/#!/search/%23infolit2012
Photo by Sheila Webber: Foxgloves (lightly photoshopped), July 2012, Sheffield.

Missouri is 3rd US Information Literacy month State!

Missouri has joined Massachusetts and New York as states in the USA which are supporting Information Literacy month in October. "The University of Missouri-Columbia Libraries Instruction Committee submitted the request: Goodie Bhullar (chair), Rachel Brekhus, Rebecca Graves, Brenda Graves-Blevins, and Paula Roper." More info on the initiative at http://infolit.org/2012-information-literacy-campaign/

Project mapping Twitter rumours, in graphics

A project which shows, graphically, how rumours spread via Twitter about events in the 2011 UK riots won a Data Journalism award: First Prize for ‘Data Visualisation and Storytelling". These visualisations could be useful if you are working with learners on topics to do with information, misinformation and social media. You can move the timeline along and see key tweets, and see how the tweets are connected (see the screenshot, which is taken from the site which I linked to below).

The project was led by Dr Farida Vis, who will be joining us here at Sheffield University in September. She has a research fellowship and is attached to my department, the Information School, so it will be exciting to work with her. The Twitter project was "carried out in collaboration with Dr Rob Procter from the University of Manchester, the project lead and Dr Alex Voss from St. Andrews University. The team analysed 2.6 million tweets to show how rumours ebbed and flowed across Twitter as claims were bolstered or debunked. Topics covered ranged from the absurd – animals on the loose after damage to London Zoo – to the true, such as the arson attack on Miss Selfridge in Manchester."

The website is here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/interactive/2011/dec/07/london-riots-twitter

NAKLIV (National Cluster of Information Literacy) Czech project

The NAKLIV (National Cluster of Information Literacy) project aims to "establish informal partnership of institutions which are dealing with information literacy and which decided to gain profits from mutual cooperation. As the output of the project the modern environment for communication and education of non-pedagogical employees (librarians), academic employees and graduants. The effective cooperation will be supported, the sharing of materials is expected and so is the exchange of knowledge between cooperating institutions.  This includes running seminars and workshops, and creating and sharing material." The partner universities are: Masarykova univerzita (leader); Mendelova univerzita; Moravská zemská knihovna; Obchodní akademie, SOŠK A VOŠKISS; Slezská univerzita v Opavě; Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci; Univerzita Karlova v Praze; Vysoké učení technické v Brně.
The main website is: http://www.nakliv.cz/
If you can speak Czech (there is only a basic explanation of the project in English), there is useful material already e.g. a guide to various web-based tools and applications, in Czech, dated 2011 and uploaded in February 2012.
Photo by Sheila Webber: poppy after rain, July 2012, Sheffield

European Conference on Information Literacy 2013: call for papers

There is a first call for papers for the European Conference on Information Literacy which will take place in Istanbul, Turkey, 23-25 October 2013. There will be further calls, and proposals are due February 2013. Any and all themes around information literacy are welcome. http://www.ilconf.org/paper-submission/
Photo by Sheila Webber: Red valerian and marguerite, July 2012

Developing Digital Literacies Briefing Paper

Last month JISC published a short Developing Digital Literacies Briefing Paper which provides soundbites from 12 projects it is funding in UK Higher and Further education. JISC defines digital literacy as "those capabilities which fit an individual for living, learning and working in a digital society" and there is a focus on digital literacy for employability and academic success (rather than a more socially constructed view of digital literacy). There are some emerging messages which seem common sense e.g. that students need to be supported by staff in developing their digital literacy. The report is at http://www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/briefingpapers/2012/developing-digital-literacies.aspx and the Developing Digital Literacies programme page is at http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearning/developingdigitalliteracies
Photo by Sheila Webber, June 2012

New York State and Massachusetts support IL month!

The US National Forum on Information Literacy is encouraging all United States states and territories to submit requests to their governors’ offices to proclaim October as Information Literacy Month. Massachusetts was the first to make this declaration and now New York State is the second. Sharon Weiner, Vice-President, National Forum on Information Literacy, said that "Trudi Jacobson (U. Albany) led the NYS initiative, with the critical assistance of the President-Elect of the New York Library Association (NYLA), Carol Anne Germain. They worked with Mark McBride (Buffalo State College); Jenna Hecker (U. Albany); Michael Daly (Fulton-Montgomery Community College); Mark Lasek (Bryant and Stratton); Kim Davies Hoffman (SUNY Geneseo); Michael Borges (NYLA Government Relations Consultant); and MaryAnne Waltz (NYLA)." This is the New York State Legislation and the information about the IL month campaign is here: http://infolit.org/2012-information-literacy-campaign/
Photo by Sheila Webber: 02on the Thames, from the new London cable car, June 2012