Friday, January 30, 2015

Welsh Information Literacy Project Closing Conference

On 26 March 2015, Catrin Finch Centre, Glyndŵr University Wrexham, Wales, the Welsh Information Literacy Project Closing Conference will take place. Places free but limited; e-mail wilp@gllm.ac.uk by Monday 23rd February if you wish to attend. It starts at 10am with a keynote from Nancy Graham, Chair, CILIP Information Literacy Group; Andrew Eynon (WILP project manager) will give Background to the Project/Community of Practice; Anne Lewis talks about Entry Level Units in Information Literacy;
There will be case Studies, to include: Working with Jobseekers in Monmouthshire Public Libraries (Natasha Harron-Edwards), Working with Groups in the Community (Sharon Lyn Jones), Working with library volunteers at Cymmer Community Library, Neath Port Talbot (Sarah Deeley), Employability: working with employees in Gwynedd Council to deliver Entry Level Information Literacy (Aled Rees), Using Family History to teach Entry Level Information Literacy to Older People (Myfanwy Jones), Working with Young People in Information Literacy (Wendy Jefferson).
Photo by Sheila Webber: snow, Sheffield, January 2015.

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Free #lilac15 place (for those in NE of England)

ARLG ( North East) is sponsoring a free place at the LILAC Conference (to be held 8-10 April in Newcastle, England) for librarians living or working in the North East of England. It includes 3 days attendance at all LILAC sessions and social events, but not include accommodation and travel. To be eligible you must be a personal member of CILIP or ARLG, be currently living, working or studying in the North East of England (i.e. Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, County Durham and the Tees valley areas) in a Further or Higher Education, or in a research library, and be a first time delegate to an LILAC conference. To apply email Helen Ashton at helen.ashton@ncl-coll.ac.uk with approximately 200 words describing how your attendance at the conference will impact on your professional development and how you plan to share your conference experience with others, including the ARLG North East community. Also include your CILIP membership number, your job title and the name of your institution. The successful applicant will have to write a short report on the conference. Application deadline is noon 27 February 2015.
Photo by Sheila Webber: Durham, January 2015

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Academic integrity MOOC starting 2 February

The FutureLearn 4 week MOOC on Academic Integrity (from educators at the University of Aukland, New Zealand) is running again from next week: you can register (free) now. https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/academic-integrity
Photo by Sheila Webber: snowdrops! January 2015

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Webinar on radical information literacy

On 17 February 2915 4.30-6pm UK time, there will be an online seminar Anyone can cook: an online seminar to discuss the implications of Radical Information Literacy. It will be chaired by Stéphane Goldstein of the Research Information Network and co-ordinator of the InformAll initiative, and led by Andrew Whitworth (University of Manchester, UK). There is more information, including a link to readings from Whitworth's book, at http://www.researchinfonet.org/infolit/ridls/informall-webinars/
Photo by Sheila Webber: snow, Sheffield, January 2015

Monday, January 26, 2015

Article: Information Literacy in #MOOCs

This article gives a brief introduction to MOOCs, outlines what is meant by a connectivist MOOC, maps the ACRL information literacy standards against the learning activities in cMOOCs (which are namely: aggregate, remix, repurpose, feed forward) and briefly identifies IL elements in a few specific MOOCs.
Bond, P. (2015) Information Literacy in MOOCs. Current Issues in Emerging eLearning, 2 (1). http://scholarworks.umb.edu/ciee/vol2/iss1/6
Photo by Sheila Webber: baby parsnips, January 2015

Call for chapters: Library's Role in Supporting Financial Literacy for Patrons

There is a call for chapters proposed by "U.S. and Canadian practicing academic, public, school, special librarians, LIS faculty, and other professionals sharing practical know-how": Library's Role in Supporting Financial Literacy for Patrons. The book will be published by Rowman and Little and edited by Carol Smallwood. Possible topics are: Seeking and using collaborators in the financial industry; Job hunting help; Tax preparation programs; Recognizing fraud; Workshops for Senior Citizens; Case studies on what works and what doesn't in various types of libraries and patrons; other topics on financial literacy for library patrons you've had experience. They want "Concise, how-to chapters using bullets, headings, based on experience to help colleagues; creativity, innovation highly valued. No previously published, simultaneously submitted material; One, two, or three authors per chapter; each chapter by the same author(s). Compensation: one complimentary copy per 3,000-4,000 word chapter accepted no matter how many co-authors or if one or two chapters: author discount on more copies." "Please e-mail titles of 4 topics each described in a few sentences by February 5, 2015 with brief biography sketch on each author. Please place FIN, Your Name on subject line: smallwood@tm.net"
Photo by Sheila Webber: seasonal wreaths on doors in South London, December 2014

Friday, January 23, 2015

ECAR 2014: academic experience of technology

The latest ECAR results were published last year. This is an annual survey about academic experience of technology, carried out by the; US organisation, EDUCAUSE. In 2014 the data was collected from 17,451 academics, from 13 countries and in 151 institutions, and from 75,306 undergraduate students in 213 institutions: they were all asked about their technology experience. The survey included questions about use/value of MOOCs, learning analytics, Virtual Learning Environments and mobile technologies. One of the findings that they highlight at the start of the powerpoint summary of results is that technology acceptance is actually pretty much the same with students and academics, so I hope this will help dispel that "huge teacher/learner IT gulf" myth. The report in various forms is at http://www.educause.edu/library/resources/2014-student-and-faculty-technology-research-studies
Photo by Sheila Webber: seasonal wreaths on doors in South London, December 2014

Tendencias en Alfabetización Informacional

For Spanish speakers: a 25 minutes radio interview with Felicidad Campal, Biblioteca Pública de Salamanca, in which she talks about Tendencias en Alfabetización Informacional (trends in information literacy). I am afraid that my Spanish aural comprehension is too rudimentary to tell you much more than that.
http://www.universoabierto.com/17729/tendencias-en-alfabetizacion-informacional-planeta-biblioteca-20150121/

Thursday, January 22, 2015

#LILAC15 - information literacy awards and bursaries

There are several awards and bursaries on offer assocaited with the UK's information literacy conference, LILAC.
- Information Literacy Award. This recognises "an outstanding individual contribution to information literacy by a practitioner or researcher. The winner will receive £500 for personal use and £500 for their nominated charity." The criteria have changed a little from previous years, I think: they are now "Nominees must demonstrate impact, innovation, initiative and originality in one or more of the following areas: Raising the profile of information literacy within an organisation; Initiating or contributing to national, regional or local projects / initiatives which enhance information literacy skills for an identified client group(s); Undertaking original research in the field of information literacy and making a significant contribution to the literature." "Nominations will be judged upon evidence of impact within the past 3 years only." This is sponsored by the CILIP Information Literacy Group and Talis. Closing date: Friday February 27th 2015.
- Student Award. There are two sponsored places at LILAC (conference registration, travel and accommodation expenses), and students registered on a UK programme can apply. These are sponsored by the CILIP Information Literacy Group. Closing date: Friday February 13th 2015
- Credo Reference Digital Award for Information Literacy: This "rewards an innovative/high impact digital IL resource [launched in 2014] and developed by a UK-based individual or group. The winner will receive £500 for personal use and £500 for their nominated charity." This is sponsored by Credo Reference. Closing date: Friday 27th February 2015.
More info at http://www.lilacconference.com/WP/awards/

- There are also three free conference places (fees + up to £250 travel/accommodation) for librarians working in the following sectors in the UK: Schools/Further Education; Public libraries; Health (e.g. NHS). Deadline is 7 February 2015. More info at http://www.lilacconference.com/WP/bursaries/

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Call for posters: CCLI 2015: Teaching and Reaching Your Students in Environments of Rapid Change

There is a call for poster proposals for CCLI (California Conference on Library Instruction) 2015: Teaching and Reaching Your Students in Environments of Rapid Change, which will be held April 17 2015 in Sonoma State University, California, USA. The deadline for proposals is 27 February 2015.
The conference will "explore new and practical ways to craft innovative experiences for learners. Think about the buzz words of today: maker, hack, design, engage, community, framework, scalable, ethical, sustainable... We’re looking for your best instruction plans, how you're adapting to new modes of learning, creative ways you're reorganizing and assessing your work, your unconventional curriculum, your quirky exercises, your strategic advocacy tactics (for these programs on your campus), and what you have learned from your failures."
Go to http://www.cclibinstruction.org/2015-poster-sessions-call-for-submissions for more information.
Photo by Sheila Webber: russet apples, Blackheath market, January 2015

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Comparison study of specificity and sensitivity in three search tools for qualitative systematic reviews

For those of you interested in systematic review: a recent article:
Methley, A. et al. (2014) PICO, PICOS and SPIDER: a comparison study of specificity and sensitivity in three search tools for qualitative systematic reviews. BMC Health Services Research, 14:579. doi:10.1186/s12913-014-0579-0 There's an open access version at http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6963/14/579/abstract
Photo by Sheila Webber: baby carrots, Blackheath market, January 2015

Saturday, January 17, 2015

Games for Libraries workshop, Dublin

Andrew Walsh is running another Games for Libraries workshop, in Dublin, Ireland, 1 May 2015. There is information about past workshops at http://gamesforlibraries.blogspot.co.uk/.
It includes lunch and is a priced event with various options. You can book at https://games4libraries-dublin2015.eventbrite.co.uk
Photo by Sheila Webber: seasonal wreaths in South London, 1, December 2014

Friday, January 16, 2015

2015 Connecticut Information Literacy Conference: cfp

There is a call for session and poster proposals for the 2015 Connecticut Information Literacy Conference, which will be held on 29 May 2014 in Central Connecticut State University, USA. The theme is: Let’s Get Real: Practical Ideas for Teaching Info Lit Today. There is a call for breakout session (45-50 minutes long with a 10-15 minute Q & A session) and poster proposals, with a deadline of 20 February 2014. Topics include: Ways to reach distance learning students; New and multiple literacies (metaliteracy); Advocacy and outreach workshops; Classroom strategies for engagement; Transitioning from “sage on the stage” to “guide on the side”; How to teach effectively when you’re given only one shot; Innovative (as well as traditional) partnerships with new programs, the community, and others; Teaching to “today’s generation” of students; Best practices in assessing teaching, learning, and program effectiveness.
Submissions should be made at http://goo.gl/forms/xO4sR9yZXL and questions regarding proposals should be directed to wilsonj@easternct.edu
Photo by Sheila Webber: Lady Dinah's cat cafe (Mue), December 2014

i3 deadline extended

The deadline for the Call for Papers for the Information: Interactions and Impact (i³) International Conference, being held in Aberdeen, Scotland, 23-26 June 2015, has been extended until 28 January 2015. "i³ focuses on the quality and effectiveness of the interaction between people and information and how this interaction can bring about change. The conference will look beyond the issues of use and accessibility of technology to questions about the way people interact with the information and knowledge content of today's systems and services, and how this might ultimately affect the impact of that information on individuals, organisations and communities. For more information, go to http://www.rgu.ac.uk/i3conference2015

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Producing Effective Online Programs: Experiences and Lessons Learned: webinar

ASIS&T (Association for Information Science and Technology) is running a webinar Producing Effective Online Programs: Experiences and Lessons Learned on 21 January 2015 at 13.00 US Eastern time (which is 18.00 UK time). It is free for ASIS&T members and US $25 for non-members. "Jeremy L. McLaughlin and Marisa Martinez from SJSU ASIS&T will begin by sharing best practices for planning, hosting, and archiving online programs and webinars. Jeremy, the Chair and former Program Director, will focus on pre-event setup and promotion and ways that organizations can increase exposure and virtual attendance for their events. Marisa is currently Chapter Treasurer and has worked with the campus webinar platform as part of the iSchool Collaborate Project and as a technical moderator for Chapter events. She will review common technical issues faced by speakers and session attendees and offer solutions for working with or through technical difficulties during an event. Based on a recent archiving project, Jeremy will conclude with suggestions for extending the life of your webinars and maximizing post-event discoverability. Karen Miller will wrap up the presentation with a review of her experiences producing ASIS&T webinars for SIG ED. Building on Diane Rasmussen Pennington’s 2012 Webinar on Webinars, Karen will review the procedures for scheduling ASIS&T webinars. Drawn from her experiences during the production of seven ASIS&T webinars, Karen’s practical examples can “demystify” the process for organizations newly interested in producing webinars." You can register at https://www.asis.org/Conferences/webinars/Webinar-SIGED-1-26-2015-register.html
Photo by Sheila Webber: that is not a fig sitting in the fig tree.

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

MOOCs, Information Literacy and the role of the librarian (slides)

On Monday I gave a talk on MOOCs, Information Literacy and the role of the librarian at Edinburgh university on. The abstract for this was "Sheila Webber will start by briefly outlining some general characteristics of MOOCs and her own experience with them. She will go on to identify types of MOOC and the implications for MOOC pedagogy. As part of this discussion she will note some findings from an investigation into the value of learning analytics for MOOC educators (undertaken by Naomi Colhoun at Sheffield University in summer 2014). In the final part of her presentation she will reflect on the various roles that have been, or could be, adopted by librarians."



I am repeating this talk tonight in the virtual world, Second Life.
When: 14 January 2015, at noon SL time (which is 8pm UK time, see http://tinyurl.com/mz32avg for times elsewhere)
Where: Infolit iSchool, in the virtual world, Second Life http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Infolit%20iSchool/72/40/22
You need a SL avatar and the SL browser installed on your computer.
The session will start with a presentation from Sheila Webber (Sheila Yoshikawa in SL) Information School, University of Sheffield MOOCs, information literacy and the role of the librarian
This will be followed by a discussion of the paper:
Eisengraber-Papst, D. et al (2014) The academic library: a hidden stakeholder in the age of MOOCs. Paper presented at the IFLA World Library and Information Conference, 16-22 August 2014, Lyon. http://library.ifla.org/905/

The presentation will be in voice and the discussion in text chat.

A Sheffield iSchool Centre for Information Literacy Research event.

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Information Literacy articles in Journal of Library and Information Services in Distance Learning

The Journal of Library and Information Services in Distance Learning is a priced journal (which I don't have access to) which often seems to include articles relevant to information literacy. Currently the latest issue is volume 8 (issues 3/4, http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/wlis20/8/3-4#.VLVrFnslSZM) which is part 1 of the Sixteenth Distance Library Services Conference Proceedings. Articles include:
- Designing LibGuides as Instructional Tools for Critical Thinking and Effective Online Learning by Ruth L. Baker
- Elevating Engagement and Community in Online Courses by William Cuthbertson and Andrea Falcone
- Faculty and Librarians Unite! How Two Librarians and One Faculty Member Developed an Information Literacy Strategy for Distance Education Students by Jennifer Easter, Sharon Bailey and Gregory Klages
- Teaching an Online Information Literacy Course: Is It Equivalent to Face-to-Face Instruction? by Catherine J. Gray and Molly Montgomery

The previous issue (http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/wlis20/8/1-2#.VLVrFXslSZM) included:
- Online Tutorials and Effective Information Literacy Instruction for Distance Learners by Brighid M. Gonzales
- Greeting You Online: Selecting Web-Based Conferencing Tools for Instruction in E-Learning Mode by Judy Li
- Students’ Preferences Regarding Four Characteristics of Information Literacy Screencasts by Ariana Baker
Photo by Sheila Webber: in Leighton House, December 2014

Readings for 2015! #ilread

The blog post infolit journal club is starting up again, and four of us have posted some planned readings for 2015 at http://infolitjournalclub.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/ilread-in-2015-have-your-say.html Do add your own suggested information literacy readings in the comments to that post!

Friday, January 09, 2015

MOOC Research about peer interaction #Futurelearn

Steve Draper presented a paper by him and Sarah Honeychurch, MOOC Research about peer interaction at the FLAN meeting in Edinburgh which I'm liveblogging (so, again, these are my imperfect notes on what was said). He reflected on Honeychurch's experience of a MOOC where various platforms were used for peer interaction, none of which were on the official platform. This has implications for research: just looking at learning analytics from a main MOOC platform would be poor at capturing all peer interaction.
Draper identified types of platform and issues/usage of each Twitter, Blogs, Facebook, and Google docs. They can be used for different things, have different privacy issues, and also might be used in sequence, migrating between types e.g. chat in Facebook, then someone might move this to a longer piece on a blog or Google docs. Draper identified that learning is already amiguous with relation to public or private - the amount of privacy needs to vary (e.g. what students keep private, show to peers, show to tutor, show to the public). In terms of siftware/apps issues of changing privacy do not seem to be managed very well.
One way of classifying peer interaction is about roles and types of interaction e.g. collaboration on a joint project, discussion which leads to "different personal gains in understanding" or peer review/support. "Confident (life-long) learners move fluidly and fluently" between these different modes, able to undertake the different roles and seeing the benefits of engaging in each.
Draper identified that you can also classify the communication by "content type" e.g. aiming to get information, around understanding things, to vent feelings, to socialise. Sometimes this might be aimed at no specific audience (but rather to feel better) or it could be aimed at different audiences (peers, tutors etc.)
Draper then discussed the Vygotskian approach of scaffolding learning through interaction with an expert, and also about (my labeling) learning to think and practice in a discipline. In a MOOC the interaction is more likely to happen with peers; since there is a wide range of expertise, there will also probably be people above the level of a learner who could interact with him/her to progress. However, this interaction has to be designed and scaffolded.
Summing up, there was interaction by platform, by task/goal interaction and by how peer interaction supports the neo-Vygotskian learning process, and each type has different research implications.
Photo: blurry impression of Draper anwering questions, as seen over my netbook.

More-than-human analytics #Futurelearn #Moocs

Jeremy Knox (shown in a shadowy way in the picture) looked at More-than-human analytics (meaning not just looking at analytics related to students) in the FLA meeting in Edinburgh. I'm liveblogging so not capturing everything. His contention was that both the quantitative and qualitative research has been dominated by investigating the student experience and activity: profiling, grouping, mapping etc. At this point he introduced an interesting discussion about lurkers (which since I paused to listen I haven't time to reproduce here ;-)
He picked out one problem with mapping data, in that these maps (of where students come from) are based on IP data and of course don't therefore accurately reproduce where students are based. This brought in the non-human factor of national data networks (accuracy, equality, reliability etc.). Therefore "practices of categorising and locating students are already more than human". They are produced both by the students and by the technologies they use, as well as the methods of research which are used. He felt that this meant would could encourage "bigger thinking", which for Knox meant engaging with the research field of the internet of things. He gave an example of something he had devised, which sent a tweet whenever a book was put on a bookstand, which signalled the possible involvement of tangible things being involved in MOOCs. He felt it was important to breach the online/offline boundary to “give voice to the more than human complexity”.

Learning analytics and #MOOCs #Futurelearn

Dragan Gašević talked about Learning analytics and MOOCs: what we have learned so far as the next talk at the Futurelearn Academic Network meeting in Edinburgh livestreaming at http://t.co/1lkBk6SUh4. There was a lot in his talk, and this is just what I captured liveblogging.
He identified the challenge of giving personalised feedback to students and academics in massive courses. He noted that learners are not just using the main MOOC platform but their own environments (search, blogs etc.) and it is desirable to "harness the digital footprint when they are using these digital technologies". He felt that so far learning analytics (LA) has been focused on issues of attrition and performance.
He cited an article which had analysed mentions of MOOCs in the news (using the Factiva database) and identified that overall the trend is downwards, but some specific MOOC topics have grown. He also mentioned the recent article analysing various aspects of bids for MOOC research (e.g. topic, research approach) (the article is in this issue http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/viewFile/2040/3120) and went on to discuss further the types of research going on. He felt that a good deal was possibly superficial, looking at hits, page views etc. which are not cntextualised. I got quite overexcited when he cited Tom Wilson's article on information behaviour models. So I think he said that the IB field emphasised that you needed to look at context (and in my excitement stopped listening properly), and then went on to recommend using a model of self-regulated learning (and cited this article http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11528-014-0822-x) which meant using "products of learning" (e.g. critical reflections in blogs and comments). He felt we also needed to understand how students where judging their own learning, what standards they used.
Research needed to be carried out into the process nature or learning e.g. looking at sequences of actions, and also to attend to life-long and ubiquitous learner profiles. He felt that "visualizations of learner data can be harmful" to students e.g. if the students are looking at their position within the class (they may be misleading, demotivating etc.).
He stressed that "learning activities do not happen on a single platform", so there is a challenge collecting and aggregating data from various platforms. There are privacy and ethical issues, and the practical issues of accessing the data. He felt that there needed to be "more robust methods and data sharing approaches" and that many institutions did not have policies for sharing MOOC data (unless you do, obviously you can't really track learners through life).

Good MOOC Bad MOOC #futurelearn

Continuing liveblogging from the Edinburgh FLAN meeting, Andy Wright (University of Birminham) was talking about Good MOOC Bad MOOC 2. He started by giving a report from a conference he attended in Asia and how the discussion matched the MOOC success factors he had mentioned his previous talk to FLAN (see http://information-literacy.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/good-mooc-bad-mooc-report-1-flansoton.html). He added “Reuse” to his list of factors that could be used to judge MOOC success. He talked about these factors in relation to his own institution. As regards Recruitment as well as straightforward student recruitment there are also “try before you buy”, “recommended reading” and “prerequisite” aspects (you could charge e.g. if you were requiring a certificate for the last option). In terms of Reuse he mentioned the Good Brain/Bad Brain MOOCs, where the MOOC content can be used to enhance on campus experience, to save academics’ time, develop academic skillsets etc. Also the MOOCs are being translated into Portuguese and republished by the Brazilian MOOC platform Veduca. He also gave an example at Sheffield Hallam University where MOOCs have been integrated into a holistic healthcare CPD offering. In terms of Revenue, he mentioned small private online courses (SPOCs) and CLOCs (closed online courses). Obviously these have to differentiate themselves from the free project, and revenue could come from project funding or per student/group and obviously closed online courses are not new (i.e. the existing online degree courses).
In terms of Research, he mentioned a patient outreach research paper on liver disease treatment he was coauthoring and the subject he was researching for his Masters dissertation, analysing the impact of diversity of MOOC learner communities on the achievement of learner goals.

Might #MOOCs still be disruptive #Futurelearn

Today I am liveblogging some sessions at the Futurelearn Academic Network (FLAN) meeting in Edinburgh (the research network to do with Futurelearn, the MOOC platform). It is livestreaming at http://t.co/1lkBk6SUh4
The day started withg a a talk Might MOOCs still be disruptive given by Jeff Haywood. He noted that we have “mentally domesticated” MOOCs and they are in fact no longer seen as risky. For example, they are talked about as channels for paid student recruitment. Haywood looked at why MOOCs were thought of as disruptive, based on the idea of “disruptive innovation”, as conceptualised by Clayton Christensen (with businesses/products moving from a low to a prominent position, upsetting the market structure). Haywood transferred this concept to the higher education sector. He felt that because the “disruptive” word is being used (my word here) indiscriminately (even when things were not actually that disruptive) actual disruption might be masked. In terms of WHAT could be disrupted it includes types of recruitment (undergrad etc.) online/distance, short courses, pricing, “bundling”. In terms of WHEN he thought about sequencing e.g. postgrad might be more disrupted than undergrad education. In terms of by WHOM – this includes universities who rethink their strategies.
Haywood felt that there were interlocking features which led to stability (or sluggishness, to see it negatively) e.g. interlocked curricula, physical estate, durability of existing pedagogies, that risk of action by an individual university is high. He referenced Robert Zemsky’s Checklist for change who identified academics who think they will “sit it out” rather than opting for risking change. He also cited William Bowen complaining that technology hasn’t been used to improve productivity in higher education, but rather “gilding the lily” (improvinhg oputput).
Haywood identified that “MOOC” is used in different ways e.g. a concept (for online learning; for open learning); a political instrument; a specific educational process. Referring to the report by Bayne and Ross which did identify some disruptive features, for example “teacher as code” (i.e. things happening online without teacher presence).
Originally MOOCs were very North American, but now 45% of Coursera partners are non-US, Futurelearn (now a year old) has 18% non UK and 82% UK, China is investing in MOOCs (Chinese language) etc. so there is significant imapct worldwide.
Looking at higher education trends, Haywood noted the increasing number of part time undergraduates in the UK (23%), although there are not figures for the % distance learners. In the USA there is a larger % (sorry, didn’t catch the details) and potential changes in legislation which could make less traditional forms of education easier to credit. In the USA and UK there is a lot of discussion and some action around competence based education, so more focus on skills (including higher order ones) and on more flexibility in the time, pace and place of learning and assessment.
Haywood moved on to discuss the quest for “globally recognised metrics of graduate learning” and its political interest. He concluded by summarising key points which my fingers weren't quick enough to capture – they are listed on the slide at the start of this blog entry (click it to see a bigger size).

Thursday, January 08, 2015

Debate on teaching role of librarians

There is a debate This House believes that the role of librarian should be that of teacher being held at the Library of Birmingham, UK, 10 February 2015 at 2pm. It is free and organised by the CILIP Information Literacy Group. It is chaired by Jane Secker, and the debaters are Darren Smart, Geoff Walton and Emma Coonan. Booking at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cilip-debate-the-role-of-the-librarian-should-be-that-of-teacher-tickets-15048997958
Photo by Sheila Webber: Leighton House, December 2014

Wednesday, January 07, 2015

Booking open for the #LILAC15 conference

Booking is open for the UK's information literacy conference, LILAC. This is being held in Newcastle University, 8-10 April 2015. Go to http://www.lilacconference.com/WP/register/
Photo by Sheila Webber: sofa fabric, Leighton House, December 2014

Association of College and Research Libraries, New England Chapter awards

If you are a member of the (US) Association of College and Research Libraries, New England Chapter you can apply for various awards, including the Christine Drew Scholarship (ACRL Immersion) (the immersion develops skills in teaching information literacy): if you are a member who plans to attend a track of ACRL Immersion this year or attended ACRL Immersion in the past year, you can apply. "This scholarship has been increased this year and includes up to $2000 registration/travel stipend to attend the ACRL Immersion program and complimentary registration/travel stipend to attend the ACRL/NEC Annual Conference held the year the recipient was awarded the Christine Drew Scholarship." Deadline is 31 January 2015. More information at http://www.acrlnec.org/content/scholarships-awards
Photo by Sheila Webber: spot the peacock, tower, Holland park, London, December 2014

Tuesday, January 06, 2015

New issue: IFLA Journal: infolit in Zanzibar; Information evaluation

The latest issue of the open access journal IFLA Journal (volume 40 issue 4, 2014) has been published. Articles include:
- Information literacy in Zanzibar universities: Current situation and the way forward by Abbas Mohamed Omar, Haji Ali Haji and Khamis Hamad Mwitumbe
- Information evaluation and the individual’s cognitive state: Some insights from a study of British teenaged users by Andrew K. Shenton, Alison J. Pickard and Andrew Johnson
http://www.ifla.org/node/9290
Photo by Sheila Webber: Lizzie in Lady Dinah's Cat Emporium, December 2014



Monday, January 05, 2015

New issue: Communications in Information Literacy

Volume 8, issue 2 (2014) of the open-access journal Communications in Information Literacy has been published. Articles include:
Teaching Matters: The Information Literacy Implications of the Bohannon Sting by Rudy Leon (the Bohannon Sting was a bogus article being accepted by a large number of journals).
- Engaging Beyond the First College Year: Exploring the Needs of Second-year Students by Elizabeth L. Black
- Peer Review of Teaching: Best Practices for a Non-Programmatic Approach by Jaena Alabi, William H. Weare, Jr.
- Pedagogies of Possibility Within the Disciplines: Critical Information Literacy and Literatures in English by Heidi L.M. Jacobs
- How We Got Here: A Historical Look at the Academic Teaching Library and the Role of the Teaching Librarian by Susan Andriette Ariew
- Information Literacy and the Flipped Classroom: Examining the Impact of a One-Shot Flipped Class on Student Learning and Perceptions by Andrea Wilcox Brooks
Go to: http://www.comminfolit.org/index.php?journal=cil&page=issue&op=view&path[]=16
Photo by Sheila Webber: 'Annunciation' by Andrew Burton, Holland park, December 2014

Friday, January 02, 2015

MOOCs, information literacy and the role of the librarian

I am giving a talk MOOCs, information literacy and the role of the librarian at Edinburgh University, Scotland on 12 January 2014, 13:30-14:30. I will start by briefly outlining some general characteristics of MOOCs and my own experience with them. I will go on to identify types of MOOC (network-based, task-based and content-based) and the implications for MOOC pedagogy. As part of this discussion I will note some findings from an investigation into the value of learning analytics for MOOC educators (undertaken by Naomi Colhoun at Sheffield University in summer 2014). In the final part of her presentation I will reflect on the various roles that have been, or could be, adopted by librarians, and the implications for librarian education and development. You can book at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/sheila-webber-moocs-information-literacy-and-the-role-of-the-librarian-tickets-14905382400
Photo by Sheila Webber: Romeo, Lady Dinah's cat emporium, December 2014

Thursday, January 01, 2015

Conspiring to Educate: Working together for transitioning students

An article giving examples of collaboration on information between sectors to help students transition.
Peet, L. (2014, 3 December) Conspiring to Educate: Working together for transitioning students. Library Journal. http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2014/12/library-services/conspiring-to-educate-working-together-for-transitioning-students/#_
And - Happy 2015!
Photo by Sheila Webber: All Saints Church, Sherbourne December 2014