Literacy Information

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

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

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

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

Firstly, an open access version of
Archambault, S. and Masunaga, J. (2015) Curriculum Mapping as a Strategic Planning Tool (post-print proof) Journal of Library Administration. 55(6) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/susan_gardner/19
"Curriculum mapping is a procedure for documenting and visualizing student learning at the programmatic level. The process allows libraries the opportunity to record where information literacy skills are taught across the curriculum in order to locate gaps and redundancies within a library instruction program. It also allows for alignment of the library’s learning outcomes with the learning outcomes important to the institution. This paper presents a review of the history of curriculum mapping, followed by a case study of how Loyola Marymount University (LMU) used the process to support information literacy in a new core curriculum."

Secondly, recent items from the priced publication International Information and Library Review (2015, not yet allocated to an issue at time of writing)  http://www.tandfonline.com/action/showAxaArticles?journalCode=ulbr20#.Vb0j6kZOOZM
- Perceptions of Faculty about Information Literacy Skills of Postgraduate Engineering Students by Mamoona Kousar and Khalid Mahmood
- Perceptions and Knowledge-Sharing Behavior of Pre-University Students by Shaheen Majid and Chitra Panchapakesan
Abstract extracts: "Knowledge sharing is an essential element of a collaborative learning process. The purpose of this study was to investigate students' knowledge-sharing behavior with their classmates, frequency and type of knowledge shared, preferred communication channels, and the factors likely to motivate or inhibit knowledge sharing. A pre-tested questionnaire was used for data collection and 220 higher secondary students (equivalent to “A” levels) from India participated in this study. ... It was found that the top three sources for seeking study-related information were the internet, teachers, and classmates. The primary motives of sharing knowledge were to improve understanding of concepts discussed in the class and to build good relationship with classmates. For group assignments, more knowledge sharing occurred within the group members than with other groups. The major barriers to knowledge sharing were the lack of time, lack of a sharing culture, and inadequate depth in relationships"
- Everyday Life Information-Seeking Behavior of Marginalized Youth: A Qualitative Study of Urban Homeless Youth in Ghana by Evelyn Markwei and Edie Rasmussen
Abstracts extracts "Forty-one homeless youth, ages 15 to 18 years participated in this qualitative study. Participants were identified by snowball sampling and data was collected by field observations, an adaptation of the critical incident technique and in-depth interviews. The results show that (1) information needs of the homeless youth in the study relate to basic needs following Maslow's hierarchy of needs; (2) their information sources are primarily interpersonal and comparatively limited in range; and (3) the most important information-seeking behavior is a community approach, characterized by free sharing of information among their social network of friends. The results further revealed that participants relied on their social network of friends to meet 8 of the 11 information needs identified in the study."
Photo by Sheila Webber: plums, Farmers Market, August 2015

There are presentations from the LILi (Lifelong Information Literacy) conference (that had the theme Collaboration for Lifelong Learning: Innovative and Effective Approaches to Information Literacy) that was held on 3 August 2015 in Los Angeles, USA. Presentations are entitled:
- Gaining Ground: Building Lifelong Information Literacy Skills
- Getting Students College-Career Ready
- "Lightning round" talks: Creating a Local Computer Skill Cooperative; Information Literacy for Educators; Long Night Against Procrastination: Connecting Stressed Out Students with Library and Writing Resources; Outreach to Your Child Development Center.
The presentations are at https://sites.google.com/site/lifelonginformationliteracy/annual-conference-1 and there is a Storify for the conference at https://storify.com/LILiCon2015/2nd-lili-conference (spot the Californian palm trees!)
Photo by Sheila Webber: autumn anemone, August 2015

For German speakers, a thoughtful blog post from Thomas Hapke which identifies recognition for information literacy, but also people proposing various alternatives. Inter alia, Hapke identifies the need for metacognition and the ability to engage critically with the knowledge worlds of different societies and disciplines.
Hapke, T. (2015, 21 July). Was unter Informationskompetenz verstanden wird, verändert sich [What we understand by information literacy is changing]. Hapke-blog. http://blog.hapke.de/information-literacy/was-unter-informationskompetenz-verstanden-wird-veraendert-sich/
Photo by Sheila Webber: autumn anemone, August 2015

This is the 2nd batch of links to papers due to be given at the World Library and Information (IFLA) Conference which takes places 15-21 August 2015 in Cape Town, South Africa. There are obviously lots more on other library topics in the IFLA Library as the majority of people do submit their papers in advance. As I said in my last post, if all goes well I will be liveblogging the conference.

COX, Kiersten and GREGORY, Vicki and FLESCHNER, Julius (2015) No One Left-Behind! Teaching Information Literacy in a Different Way to an Urban Population. Paper to be presented at: IFLA WLIC 2015 - Cape Town, South Africa in Session 140 - Metropolitan Libraries. http://library.ifla.org/id/eprint/1132
GAVIGAN, Karen W. and ALBRIGHT, Kendra S. (2015) A Culturally-Targeted HIV/AIDS Graphic Novel for Teen Well-Being. Paper to be presented at: IFLA WLIC 2015 - Cape Town, South Africa in Session 189 - School Libraries with Health and Biosciences. http://library.ifla.org/id/eprint/1148
SALVATORE, Cecilia L. (2015) Indigenous Literacy through Indigenous Cultural Heritage Materials and Resources. Paper to be presented at: IFLA WLIC 2015 - Cape Town, South Africa in Session 168 - Indigenous Matters SIG. http://library.ifla.org/id/eprint/1146
OJARANTA, Anu Helena (2015) A Phase between Two National Core Curricula in Finland – What Are the Implications to Information Literacy Instruction and Library Collaboration?. Paper to be presented at: IFLA WLIC 2015 - Cape Town, South Africa in Session 101 - School Libraries. http://library.ifla.org/id/eprint/1116
REARDON, Siobhan A. and MCCLINTOCK, Autumn and MORAN, Sara S. and NICHOLS, Joel A. (2015) Health Strategies for Public Libraries: How the Free Library of Philadelphia addresses health barriers to literacies. Paper to be presented at: IFLA WLIC 2015 - Cape Town, South Africa in Session 140 - Metropolitan Libraries. http://library.ifla.org/id/eprint/1131
PUN, Raymond (2015) Geospatial Literacy as Digital Literacy: Building GIS Program to Support and Engage with Interdisciplinary and Multidisciplinary Research Communities. Paper to be presented at: IFLA WLIC 2015 - Cape Town, South Africa in Session 140 - Metropolitan Libraries. http://library.ifla.org/id/eprint/1119
AHLQVIST, Elisabet (2015) Digital inclusion in Sweden done in the “Digidel way”. Paper to be presented at: IFLA WLIC 2015 - Cape Town, South Africa in Session 88 - Library Theory and Research with Statistics and Evaluation. http://library.ifla.org/id/eprint/1236
WEBB, Damien (2015) Curating with Community. Paper to be presented at: IFLA WLIC 2015 - Cape Town, South Africa in Session 168 - Indigenous Matters SIG. http://library.ifla.org/id/eprint/1143
Photo by Sheila Webber: honey bee, July 2015

The World Library and Information (IFLA) Conference takes places 15-21 August in Cape Town, South Africa. I will be attending and aim to liveblog, but you can get a good taste of the conference in advance, since speakers are required to provide full text papers, preferably in advance. The papers are stored on the IFLA Library database: I regularly recommend the IFLA conference papers as an excellent international resource and the most recent years are on this database. I have picked out some of those being presented next month (focusing on literacies), and split them into two posts, one today and one tomorrow.

- MORTENSEN, Helle (2015) Literacy Matters! The Literacy and Reading Needs of People with Special Needs. Paper to be presented at: IFLA WLIC 2015 - Cape Town, South Africa in Session 99 - Literacy and Reading. http://library.ifla.org/id/eprint/1231
- VAN DER WALT, Flippie (2015) The reference librarian’s new approach to coach information literacy skills for children: a new approach in reference and information services in the City of Cape Town. Paper to be presented at: IFLA WLIC 2015 - Cape Town, South Africa in Session 190 - Reference and Information Services Section. http://library.ifla.org/id/eprint/1081
- KATZ, Ari (2015) Libraries, literacy and technology: A new training module for public librarians in developing countries targeted at integrating libraries into literacy programs. Paper to be presented at: IFLA WLIC 2015 - Cape Town, South Africa in Session 118 - Literacy and Reading. http://library.ifla.org/id/eprint/1205
- BON, Ingrid (2015) Literacy Matters! An integrated approach to literacy, reading and libraries in the Netherlands. Paper to be presented at: IFLA WLIC 2015 - Cape Town, South Africa in Session 99 - Literacy and Reading. http://library.ifla.org/id/eprint/1178
- STOICA, Marius (2015) The App Library project: technology and media education for teens. Paper to be presented at: IFLA WLIC 2015 - Cape Town, South Africa in Session 102 - Information Technology Library and Research Services for Parliaments Public Libraries and Asia and Oceania. http://library.ifla.org/id/eprint/1245
Photo by Sheila Webber: daisy, July 2015

The latest issue of the Journal of academic librarianship (volume 41 no. 4; this is a priced publication) includes
- “It's in the Syllabus”: Identifying Information Literacy and Data Information Literacy Opportunities Using a Grounded Theory Approach by Clarence Maybee, Jake Carlson, Maribeth Slebodnik, Bert Chapman
- Beyond Embedded: Creating an Online-Learning Community Integrating Information Literacy and Composition Courses by Mary Beth Burgoyne, Kim Chuppa-Cornell
- Creation and Use of Intellectual Works in the Academic Environment: Students' Knowledge About Copyright and Copyleft by Enrique Muriel-Torrado, Juan-Carlos Fernández-Molina
- Student, Librarian, and Instructor Perceptions of Information Literacy Instruction and Skills in a First Year Experience Program: A Case Study by Sung Un Kim, David Shumaker
- Demographic Differences in International Students' Information Source Uses and Everyday Information Seeking Challenges by Sei-Ching Joanna Sin
- Establishing a Participatory Library Model: A Grounded Theory Study by Linh Cuong Nguyen
- Foregrounding the Research Log in Information Literacy Instruction by Louise R. Fluk
The issue page is at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00991333/41/4
Photo by Sheila Webber: bee, July 2015

The CILIP Information Literacy Group (ILG) is offering up to £20,000 per year to fund practitioners (who are ILG members) through an annual bursary scheme. Bids of up to a £10,000 maximum are invited. Half the funding would be presented at the beginning of a project and the other half upon successful completion of measurable objectives. The principal investigator should be a practitioner ILG member, but the guidelines also suggest including an "experienced research" in the team (if the PI her/hiself is not already an experienced researcher.
Research should be (by implication) into information literacy and proposals are particularly welcomed which:
- demonstrate collaboration between sectors
- have tangible, practical benefits (i.e. produce a new process or product with potential application beyond education)
- address current issues affecting areas outside of librarianship
- show potential for further large-scale study, dissemination and exploitation
Projects can use any appropriate methodological approach.
There are more details of the bursaries at http://www.cilip.org.uk/information-literacy-group/sponsorship-and-bursaries
Deadline for the first round of bids is 1st December 2015. By the way, you don't have to be a member of CILIP (the UK's national library association) to be a member of ILG, separate membership is available.
Photo by Sheila Webber: pink rose, July 2015

A final report about the i3 conference held 23-26 June 2015 at Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland. I will say a few words about the plenary discussion sessions, and finish with some links.
One of the nice features of the i3 conference is plenary discussion programmed into the conference. As usual, session chairs were asked to identify important research themes from their sessions, and there was a plenary session earlier in the conference where (in groups) we identified some of the important themes and questions that had emerged so far. The final plenary session brought this previous work together and bringing together key themes, goals and questions to take from the conference. Unfortunately I had to leave before the end of the session, but, from early discussions, there was one strand emerging to do with research methods, one to do with topics or research questions, and one to do with communicating research and creating impact.
There was a very wide range of research approaches and methods used in different presentations at i3, from highly quantitative analysis of “big data” through experimental studies, mixed methods such as case study, to a whole variety of qualitative approaches (e.g. practice theory, phenomenography, ethnography). This generally was seen as a positive feature (both of the conference and the field!)

There was more debate about the output of research: Ross Todd had said at last year’s European Conference on Information Literacy that there were too many models, and we should concentrate on consolidating and testing the research models we already had. Whilst agreeing that large scale studies and metanalysis are valuable, I am one of the people who don’t see why producing new models should be a bad thing in itself. Information Literacy and Information Behvaiour are complex fields, and one of the major research themes emerging through the past decade has been the importance of examining IL and IB in context. This seems rather the opposite of trying to develop a grand theory of everything (though what Ross was saying was not quite that ;-)

In terms of research topics, it was agreed that the growing body of research from contexts outside the developed North/West was important and should be given attention. More generally, looking at research problems in different socio/culturalcontexts was still important. Talking with delegates afterwards, key points from the talks by Olof Sundin and Dorothy Williams resonated (e.g. thinking about how/whether we were addressing the “big questions”; being bold!)

I realise that one of the presentations I haven’t blogged in my own! It was on “Self-reported information behaviour in a MOOC”. I am giving another presentation on MOOCs in a few days time, which will be longer than my i3 talk, so I may just put that one on Slideshare, as I don’t think it’s very useful to have several presentation on Slideshare with only marginal differences.
Therefore I will also (rather belatedly) wrap up my i3 reporting at this point, with my usual links to other sources of information about the conference.

- Conference website http://www.rgu.ac.uk/research/conferences/i-2015
- My i3 blog posts: http://information-literacy.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/i3rgu
- Twitter stream: https://twitter.com/hashtag/i3rgu?src=hash - I'll particularly mention Hazel Hall's tweets, find them here https://twitter.com/search?q=%40hazelh%20%23i3rgu&src=typd&lang=en
- Blog post from Frances Ryan: http://www.justaphd.com/2015/06/presenting-a-paper-assessing-the-available-and-accessible-evidence/ and her powerpoint http://www.slideshare.net/justfrances/ryan-presentationi3online
- Hazel Hall provided links to six papers presented by Napier University students and staff: http://hazelhall.org/2015/05/11/six-papers-at-information-interactions-and-impact-i3-2015-and-a-preview-of-idocq-2015/ and a conference report at http://hazelhall.org/2015/07/20/a-week-in-aberdeen-at-idocq-and-i3-2015-idocq2015-i3rgu/
- A tweet showing me feeding back in one of the discussion sessions! https://twitter.com/IMRGU/status/614424588836052992
- Ethnographically-inspired usability testing Leah Rosenblum Emary http://www.slideshare.net/leahemary/ethnographicallyinspired-usability-testing
The first photo is by Peter Reid, showing the plenary session. The second shows me and the PhD students who presented at the conference: l to r, Joseph Essel, me, Syeda Shahid and Kondwani Wella.

The Guidelines on Information Literacy for Lifelong Learning by by Jesús Lau (compiled for the Information Literacy Section of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) have now been translated into Italian. The publication was already available in English, German, Russian, Spanish, Catalan, Greek, Polish, Portuguese, Korean, Malay and Romanian. All versions available from: http://www.ifla.org/publications/guidelines-on-information-literacy-for-lifelong-learning?og=81

UNESCO would like young people between the age of 14 and 25 to fill a series of questionnaires on media and information literacy. It is aimed at people who are not talking the MIL MOOC offered by Athabasca University. "Your participation is crucial and will help to inform UNESCO’s design and expansion of its media and information literacy programme globally". The three questionnaires are meant to be taken on three successive days.
Day 1: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Youth_Questionnaire_DAY1_media_information_literacy
Day 2: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Youth_Questionnaire_DAY2_media_information_literacy
Day 3: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Youth_Questionnaire_DAY3_media_information_literacy
"There will be a draw for two prizes in the form of a two-week fellowship to visit a university in Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe or other region of the world to be announced. The prize will be offered, by the Autonomous University of Barcelona, to two young persons who fully complete all three parts of the questionnaire."
Photo by Sheila Webber: Sweet William, July 2015

A Spanish-language article from Felicidad Campal ("It's information, stupid": moulded after the saying "It's the economy, stupid") talks about different kinds of literacies (digital literacy, information literacy etc.) and identifies the need for learners to be able to engage critically with the web. It was just published on the internet project site, SCOPEO.
Campal, F. (2015). Es la información estúpido. Boletín SCOPEO, (104). http://scopeo.usal.es/es-la-informacion-estupido/
Photo by Sheila Webber: pink rose, July 2015

The presentations from the LIRG (Library and Information Research Group) AGM and Members Day, held July 1st 2015, have been put online. They were:
- Teaching or training? Academic librarians’ conceptions of their IL activities by Emily Wheeler
- An exploration of the information literacy experiences of home educating families by Jess Elmore
- Developing a research culture in the workplace: top down and bottom up approaches by Miggie Pickton
Go to: https://sites.google.com/site/lirgweb/home/events/agm-2015
Photo by Sheila Webber: cape daisies, July 2015

Issue 45 (2015) of Comunicar focuses on Communicating in an Ageing World. It includes (in Spanish and English language)
- Use, Consumption and Knowledge of New Technologies by Elderly People in France, United Kingdom and Spain by Cristina González, Carlos Fanjul, Francisco Cabezuel
- Internet and the Elderly: Enhancing Active Ageing by Carmen Llorente, Mónica Viñarás, María Sánchez
- Active Ageing and Access to Technology: An Evolving Empirical Study by Raquel Casado Fernando Lezcano, María José Rodríguez
- From Digital Divide to Psycho-digital Divide: Elders and Online Social Networks by Begoña Peral, Jorge Arenas, Ángel Francisco Villarejo
- A Mobile Augmented Reality Assistive Technology for the Elderly by Rafael Saracchini, Carlos Catalina, Luca Bordoni
- Using Technology to Connect Generations: Some Considerations of Form and Function by Mariano Sánchez, Matthew Kaplan, Leah Bradley
and a number of others all at http://www.revistacomunicar.com/index.php?contenido=revista&numero=45
There are also some articles outside the main theme, notably:
Álvarez, J.F. and Cervera, M.G. (2015). Information Literacy Grade of Secondary School Teachers in Spain: Beliefs and Self-Perceptions. Comunicar, 23 (24), 187-194. http://dx.doi.org/10.3916/C45-2015-20 The abstract reads "Information Literacy is one of the dimensions of digital competence and, in today’s information and media-based society, it should be a skill that everyone develops, especially secondary school teachers due to their influence on this crucial stage of student development. In this investigation we aim to determine the current level of information literacy of secondary school teachers in Spain. For this purpose we have designed a questionnaire (n=2,656) which is divided into two parts: the first asks questions related to belief and self-perception of information literacy indicators, and the second presents practical cases in which the teachers have to demonstrate their skills in information literacy. The results confirm that secondary school teachers’ beliefs show rather high values but that, even if the level of information literacy that the teachers have is acceptable, there are certain aspects of the indicators related to assessment, management and transformation of information in which the teachers display serious shortcomings. This highlights the need to establish a training plan for information literacy for secondary school teachers in Spain."
Photo by Sheila Webber: pink dahlia, July 2015

A few unconnected catchup links for Friday:
- An interview with Troy Swanson conducted by Brian Mathews: Practicing Critical Information Literacy. (published June 10 2015) http://chronicle.com/blognetwork/theubiquitouslibrarian/2015/06/10/practicing-critical-information-literacy-interview-with-troy-swanson/
- Avery, S., and Hinchliffe, L. (2014). Hopes, impressions, and reality: Is a Discovery Layer the answer? Presentation presented at the annual LOEX meeting, Grand Rapids. http://www.loexconference.org/2014/presentations/'LOEX2014_'Hopes%20Impressions%20and%20Reality-AveryHinchliffe.pdf
- The Digilit Leicester project (in the UK) is spending £30,00 on a project to develop schoolchildren's ability to evaluate information as part of a "games based approach to information literacy". There is a local news report on it here: the deadline to apply for the tender to do the work is just past so the information seems to have disappeared off the Digilit site, but it is reproduced here.
Photo by Sheila Webber: celebration, July 2015

Volume 3 issue 3 of Reference Services Review (priced publication) includes:
- FYI for FYE: 20-minute Instruction for Library Orientation by Paul R Hottinger , Natalie M Zagami-Lopez , Alexandra S Bryndzia
- Q/A on Teaching Credit Classes for Entrepreneurship Research by Sarah Barbara Watstein
- Are you reaching your audience? The intersection between LibGuide authors and LibGuide users by Wendy Sue Wilcox , Gabriela Castro Gessner , Adam Chandler
Most of the issue focuses on libraries/information centres and entrepreneurship
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/toc/rsr/43/3
Photo by Sheila Webber: Brachyglottis, July 2015