Finland National Library

One of the first things we noticed about the National Library of Finland was how many people were using the microform readers - 7 folks busily working away. The Library building is beautiful, though very traditional, and I hope to add some of Ruth's photos to the blog soon.

I liked the way they display their journals (see left) and also that patrons should have "clean, dry hands"

Thoughts from Finland

After our second conference talk I enjoyed chatting to a couple of smaller groups of Finnish librarians. In the large conference they had been unwilling to ask many questions, but that wasn't the case in the smaller groups! We talked about how to engage researchers in developing their IL and I mentioned the self assessment tool I use at Newcastle. This just encourages folks to reflect on their own abilities and to identify areas they want to develop. A cut down version of it is going to be published soon as a Vitae booklet called the Informed Researcher.

Cafe in Finland provides blankets for customers brave enough to sit outside in November!

How we created the new Seven Pillars model

Our second talk in Helsinki was a very practical one about the process we went through to create the new 7Ps model and research lens. This was the first time Ruth and I have tried to describe the whole process and I think we both enjoyed the experience. We talked about the original model and how well it has been adopted around the world, using our own institutions as examples.
After more discussion about the strengths and weaknesses of the model, we went on to describe the (often painful!) process of creating the new version. There was a lot of interest in the Information Literacy Landscape (see link above) as well as positive reaction to the concept of moving away from skills to encompass attitudes and behaviours.
We used the "one thing" technique I've used before to gather feedback from the group and I'll summarise that on the blog once we've had time to analyse it.

Information Literacy models

Our first talk to the Finnish information literacy librarians network was entitled "Information Literacy models: learning from the past to inform the future". Our aim was to give a brief overview of some existing models as well as dipping into some teaching and learning theory to stimulate discussion on the use of models in IL. We looked at some of the issues and criticisms of models as well as discussing how they can help in IL. Ruth and I both believe models can be helpful and were keen to explain how we have built on existing theories and pedagogy in developing the revised SCONUL Seven Pillars model. You can find our slides here.

The Information Literacy Network of Finnish University Libraries

Ruth Stubbings and I are in Finland at the invitation of the Finnish IL network to talk about how we went about revising the SCONUL IL model. The Finns have their own model, called a recommendation which they want to revise. At present it is focused on undergraduates and they'd like to extend it to include researchers. From discussions we've had, it seems that facilitating research is just starting to become a big agenda item here ( so I've recommended they all buy my book on Developing library services for research!) There are around 120 librarians at the 2 day conference, which is held every year, and the plan is to get together in groups representing the different kinds of academic library and actually start to redesign their model.

(Pictures to follow)

Helsinki

Well, I've just arrived in Helsinki with Ruth Stubbings. We are going to meet lots of Finnish librarians on Monday and Tuesday; they have asked us to talk about how we devised the new seven pillars model and chat about the role of models in general. We are both sitting here in our room in the university guest house, typing away on our notebooks, how sad are we?

Hopefully we will manage some sightseeing tomorrow, the city looks spectacular ( from what I've seen in the dark) and we may even peek into a library or two along the way...

PS Here's Roo on the ferry to Suomenlinna sea fortress

Research Supervisors and Information Literacy

It's good to see the RIN report on the role of supervisors in developing information literacy has now been published.

"The key findings in the report include:

• Research supervisors’ practice, and research student satisfaction, varies enormously between different supervisors, research groups, departments and institutions. There is also great variation across different elements of information literacy.
• Research students are consistent in looking to their supervisor as a source of information and guidance.
• There is a minority of supervisors who are not engaged in developing their research students’ information literacy.
• Many supervisors have confidence in their ability to advise their research students on information literacy, though this does vary across the different elements.
• Developing their research students’ academic writing ability is a key activity that supervisors undertake.
• Supervisors are not always aware of departmental, school or institutional training and support available for their students, and sometimes find it difficult to identify what training and support is available.
• Supervisors are not necessarily completely up to date themselves with information literacy skills and knowledge.
• Training for supervisors is a polarising issue; many supervisors highlight overlong, overly generic or not useful training as a disincentive to attend further courses.
• differences in students’ perceptions of their supervisor(s) role and success in providing support across university mission groups, subjects and mode of study are relatively minor. Instead there are major differences at the individual, research group and departmental level.

The report sets out four broad recommendations:

• Making it easy for supervisors to keep up to date on what training, support and resources are available for both themselves and research students; for this purpose, providing supervisors with clear information, specific to their needs, on the range of appropriate offerings and development.
• Improving development opportunities for supervisors, in particular by encouraging peer support between supervisors, notably through seminars and mentoring
• Encouraging supervisors to support and discuss their research students’ skills assessments, for instance through mechanisms, jointly considered by supervisors and students, that could be used as a basis of planning development opportunities.
• Finally, the evidence and findings lead to questions about the usefulness of the term ‘information literacy’ for supervisors, and how it is conceived within researcher development. In light of the understanding of the supervisors’ role and their attitudes offered by this report, institutional stakeholders can review their approach and ensure that a clear institutional position on the use of the term and concept is agreed." (RIN website)

Library Guides at Newcastle

We've been having fun at Newcastle over the last few months, creating a series of subject guides on our web pages. We've subscribed to the LibGuides software from Springshare (and I have to say they were very good about allowing us a lengthy trial period and being patient while we sorted out the paperwork). It's not very expensive and enables the creation of a pretty flexible set of web pages, very quickly. We're still developing them and have yet to discuss how consistent we want them to be, but we are delighted with their impact so far. They're an excellent way of drawing together a few key resources at subject level. Mine are still fairly basic (here's my Agriculture Guide), but my colleague Lucy is adding a lot of interesting content (here's her Arts Guide)

The lonliness of the long distance researcher

Just thought I'd mention a new article. This article by Pat Gannon-Leary, Elsa Fonthaina and myself was published last month in Library Hi Tech, v29(3):

"Prior research has highlighted the isolation felt by some researchers engaged in academic writing. This article aims to examine whether such isolation might be partially overcome by membership of an online community of writers (CoW), hosted by higher education library services. A review of the literature was followed by action research based around the authors' own long distance collaborative writing task in order to explore the issues at first-hand. Case studies of existing online writing communities known to the authors but not currently hosted by libraries were also undertaken. Themes emerging include the importance of finding a medium for a CoW that is familiar and comfortable. Motivators to join a CoW include demands that academics be research active. Demotivators may include lack of trust and reluctance to share." (Emerald/Library Hi Tech abstract)

Too much teaching!

Can we ever have too much information literacy related teaching? A few years ago I'd have found this difficult to believe, but now I'm feeling more than a little overwhelmed by the hours which I could devote to it. I haven't managed to write my blog for quite a while because I have been teaching around 25 hours a week for the last few weeks. then there's preparation...
I try to work with academic staff to integrate IL into the curriculum, so I know my workload would be even higher if they weren't doing some too. What's the solution? I'm giving more "lectures" to large groups of 100+  backed up with optional workshops, less than ideal. We're also making more of the skills element avaialble as online tutorials, but I feel uneasy about doing this without some subjective context around it.
I wonder if the increase in demand is because at last there's a wider understanding of the importance of IL or just that we simply have more students. Is this happening elsewhere too? I'd be interested to hear

A Guide to teaching information literacy: 101 tips

 "A Guide to teaching information literacy: 101 tips" has been written by Helen Blanchett, who works with me at Newcastle, Jo Webb, with whom I co-authored the research support book a few years ago and her husband, Chris Powis, published by Facet, 2011. They're all experienced teachers and excellent writers, so I've no doubt it will be well worth reading:

"This book is a much-needed sourcebook to support library staff in the delivery of information literacy teaching, by providing practical guidance on tried and tested ideas and techniques for sessions. Full of hints and tips grounded in learning theory, it is a practical reference tool designed to be dipped into as needed when planning teaching and training. Where applicable the activities are mapped to models of information literacy, with guidance on adapting ideas for different levels and contexts. Advice is given on activities in the following areas such as: designing sessions; preparing sessions; delivering sessions; different types of sessions; teaching by topic; creating teaching / support materials; assessing learning; evaluating teaching sessions; and, e-learning. This easy-to-use book is an invaluable source of inspiration for any librarian involved in teaching information literacy, whether they are new to teaching or experienced but in search of fresh ideas. "

Another IL landscape

Carrying on from my previous post about the New Curriculum for Information Literacy, Jane and Emma have also devised an IL landscape. This landscape is looking at concepts and terminologies relating to IL and demonstrates how IL is an overarching concept which links together digital, media and academic literacies. It's a neat way to present the links which I'm sure will be helpful when discussing the concepts, for example, with academic staff.

A new curriculum for information literacy

I've just been reading the excellent output from Jane Secker and Emma Coonan's Arcadia Project. It's good to see that many of their findings accord with my own views of IL and how it should be developed in HE. Jane and Emma identify 3 key attributes of IL, that it is transitional, transferable and transformational. Transitional in a practical way, learners moving into HE and also a personal learning approach from dependent to independent learning. Transeferable, in that IL needs to be viewed as part of education and not training (I've said that a lot over the years!) and transformational, back the Ida of threshold concepts in how learners change their attitudes and behaviours as they become more information literate.

Researchers summer school

Hello to all the researchers I met at the NE Universities researcher summer school at Beamish Hall yesterday.

Pippin helping with paperwork

 We talked about profile raising, esteem and impact. One resource I forgot to mention is MyRI, a useful open access online resource which helps you to learn more about bibliometrics - ways to track and measure your research output.

Now you know the name of my cat and you have boosted my blog stats too!

Flavorsme

I'm finding it difficult to keep up with all the different social media applications which are around these days. This week, thanks to Jenny, I've discovered flavorsme, a neat way to keep basic info and links about yourself all in one place.

Information for Learning workshop for academic staff

I'm looking forward to a workshop my colleague Julia and I are facilitating next week. It's called Information for Learning and is based in part on some work I did in Cardiff last year and with some visiting Nigerian lecturers here in Newcastle earlier this year. The idea behind it is to encourage academic staff to think about how and where IL fits into their teaching. Julia, another colleague, Jenny, and I are working on a small project to create an online resource for our staff and students based in Singapore, so the workshop will enable us to test what we've already created and draw on the experiences of teaching staff who are already working with international partners. The workshop is just for staff here at Newcastle, but I thought readers of the blog might be interested in what we're doing, so details are below. If there is anyone else who is doing something similar, we'd be delighted to swap experiences with you.

"Information for Learning – international perspectives

v  What information skills do our students need to help them to function in the modern world?

v  Are our perceptions of ‘good academic conduct’ in information literacy transferable to different countries and cultures? What adaptations might we need to make?

v  How can we work together to embed good academic practice in the use and handling of information into our teaching?

Nigerian visitors

This workshop helps you answer these questions, by introducing a collaborative, internationalised approach to embedding information literacy, which also supports parity of teaching and learning experiences in overseas partnerships. We will demonstrate an existing online module for developing the information literacy skills of students, explain the concepts behind the Information for Learning resources currently on offer for staff and introduce you to the new SCONUL Seven Pillars of Information Literacy model. All of these materials will be used to create a new online framework, initially for the staff and students in Newcastle University in Singapore (NUIS) in the School of Marine Science and Technology – though its future application could be much broader."

E-learning IL resources

Mark Hepworth asked recently on the IL mailing list for examples of IL e-resources. For folks who didn't see Ruth's reply, there are some e-learning resources on the Information literacy wesbite  and  here too. 

Ruth's keen to have more examples, so if your materials are not already linked to on the IL website, send  the details to r.e.stubbings@lboro.ac.uk and Kanwal.Virdee@uwl.ac.uk.

The Cambridge Curriculum for Information Literacy

Heron near Falkirk Wheel (thanks Kathy)

Last week I was interviewed by Jane Secker and Emme Coonan as part of their research for their Arcadia Fellowship. It was nice to be called an "expert witness" - not sure I agree with that description, I'm more just an enthusiastic amateur! The project is fascinating. Jane and Emma are aiming to understand the information needs of future undergraduate students on entering UK higher education and so develop a revolutionary curriculum for information literacy that can be used with them. The curriculum aims to be flexible so that it can be can be used and adapted in a variety of settings and will support face to face, blended and online learning provision. I really enjoyed our chat. Having the opportunity to reflect back on my own NTF research was useful too.One of the useful outcomes from my NTF work was encouraging me to think about how the way in which teachers perceive IL affects how they integrate it into their teaching - if they think of it as skills, or even just using the library, then they may not address the underlying attitudes, understandings and behaviours which need to be taught alongside the skills

E-Books and E-Content

Falkirk wheel again (courtesy of Kathy)

I was disappointed to miss the e-books and e-content event last month due to illness, so I'm pleased to see all the presentations are now available. Over the last couple of years I have been using some of my NTF fund to buy a range of different e-book readers. In my little collection I have: a bebook, a cybook, a sony touch, sony pocket and sony prs505, an iriver story, a kindle, an archos and an ipad. So far not one of them is an outright winner for me in terms of academic library use (well, maybe the ipad...). I feel the Sonys should be, as at least it's possible to add non DRM controlled EPUB documents onto them, so a few subscribed titles maybe. Certainly they seem to be the best bet for using with public library ebooks. I do like the Newcastle City Library pages, and the Overdrive summary page of different devices. Sony's are not so easy to read PDFs on though. We loan a few sony readers out to our users and they are very popular, but it's frustrating that they don't work with all our ebook content. I must say I like the option via Amazon to email a PDF to your kindle and have it reformatted - that's much better for EJ articles, but really only works for a personal reader, not loanable equipment. I know other folks are experimenting a lot with readers now - I'll be interested to know your experience if you'd like to leave me a comment.

Social media: re-conceptualising information literacy?

The Falkirk Wheel (courtesy of Kathy) - lots more Scottish photos to come!

Helen Partridge from QUT is giving a talk today in Manchester  about her research on the issues, challenges and opportunities social media brings to the information world. It promises to be a thought provoking discussion. She gave the same talk last month and there were some very interesting blog posts about it - see Neil's Random Letters and Emma Wood's Librarian Identity. There'sa  twitter tag for today's talk too: #infolit

23 things for professional development

I've just registered with the 23 Things for Professional Development programme which starts on 20th June. It looks like an excellent idea - it's a free online programme open to information professionals at all stages of their career, in all types of role, and anywhere across the world. The text below is copied from Katie Birkwood's publicity:

"Inspired by the 23 Things programmes for social media, this new programme will consist of a mixture of social media "Things" and "Things" to do with professional development. The programme starts on 20 June and will run until early October 2011. Each week the CPD23 blog  will be updated with details of the next thing to be explored.  Catch up weeks and reflection weeks are built into the programme, so it's not a problem if you’re going to be away for a week or two!"

Online resources survey

I thought maybe readers of this blog would like to respond to a survey on use of online resources in teaching from a fellow NTF:

DO YOU USE ONLINE RESOURCES IN TEACHING AND LEARNING?
ORIOLE (Open Resources: Influence on Learners and Educators) would like to hear from educators that do. They have launched an online survey (access from website) and would appreciate your responses. The average time to complete the survey is 20 minutes and there is a charitable twist. Respondants are asked to select charities from a list with the most popular three each receiving £100. So please try the survey and, if you are interested in open content and open educational resources, watch that site and spread the word. The survey ends on 26 May results of the survey will be disseminated from July.

This week £4m for a Phase 3 JISC/HEA open education resource (OER) programme was announced  (see http://www.jisc.ac.uk/oer for information appearing soon), so this work is particularly timely.

ORIOLE is funded from a HEA National Teaching Fellowship (Chris Pegler - c.a.pegler@open.ac.uk), and Chris would like to hear from other educators who are working in the area of use/reuse of online and open resources. The 'Shop' area of the ORIOLE site contains her reusable card game which you are welcome to download and repurpose.

Science and Technology Librarians meeting

I'm looking forward the next UK Universities Science and Technology Librarians Group (USTLG) meeting tomorrow. We usually meet twice a year to discuss topics of interest to group members and contributions are generally from within the group, so very practical and useful sharing of experience sessions. I've chaired the group for a long time and really enjoy the informal networking aspects of the day. Tomorrow, the meeting is focused around information literacy and, as it's at Sheffield, we're delighted to have Sheila Webber with us. She's be talking about IL and supervisors. I'm going to do a repeat of the LILAC presentation (sorry if you already came to that) and then we have 4 different talks from group members about work they are undertaking at present in different aspects of IL. I'll put my slides here now and then next week will try to blog about the other sessions too.

An online IL assesment tool (LILAC 2011)

Me amongst the orchids in Durham

I liked the idea underlying this tool presented by Sue David and Judith Scammell of St George's University, London. They were looking for a way to improve IL skills of second year medical students and decided to use an online self assessment tool. followed up with optional tutorials. The tool creates a medical scenario; students have to navigate a critical path through it by answering questions relating to various types of information needed. Because it relates to a real world situation, it's very relevant and gives students formative feedback to help them learn. This works very well for a subject like medicine, in which students can perceive a need for finding this kind of information after they graduate too. If they identify a specific need, they can sign up for more in depth workshops relating to information skills. The takeup has been disappointingly small so far, as with any task which doesn't carry marks and as the participants have been anonymous, it's not been possible to track the impact of the exercise, which might have helped with selling it. However, there are plans to change this in future. You can view the tutorial here

IPR and Copyright

Add caption

The other day I attended a digital copyright workshop run by Naomi Korn. She made us aware of the web2rights website, which contains some useful diagnostic tools and flowcharts to help people work their way through the legal issues relating to IPR. Their website addresses questions such as:

• "Do rights exist in a virtual world and, if so, who owns them?
• Who owns the rights in works that are a result of collective collaboration?
• What happens if you can’t find the rights holders?
• What are the legal risks associated with Web 2.0 engagement?
• How can risks associated with content reuse be sensibly managed?

 I particularly like the flowcharts as they're quick and easy to use.