Information Literacy lens for the RDF

Vitae have now published the Information literacy lens for the Researcher Development Framework, along with the Informed Researcher booklet. I'm very pleased to have been involved with the creation of both these publications. This is what Vitae's website says:

"Being informed and informative are important aspects of being a researcher. In our increasingly information based society, information literacy is a vital ability that is required to be able to make effective and efficient decisions. It enables researchers to find, analyse and evaluate information and become independent lifelong learners. To highlight these important abilities, RIN, SCONUL and members of the Working Group on Information-Handling have created a mapping of information literacy onto the Vitae Researcher Development Framework, using the SCONUL Seven Pillars of Information Literacy. This information literacy lens can be used to identify how information literacy can contribute to researchers' professional development, as well as identify how the skills and attributes they have developed through research can contribute to, or underpin their development in information literacy.
To support the Information literacy lens The Informed Researcher booklet has been developed as a practical guide to being an information-literate researcher. The booklet is based on the Information Literacy lens and can be used to audit your skills and form an action plan for taking them forward."

International student support at Bangor

Library bag at Aber Falls, N. Wales

On Monday, I was invited to run a workshop on the SCONUL Guidelines on Library support for International Students at Bangor University. As usual, I really enjoyed the experience, as all the participants were so enthusiastic and came up with some great ideas towards their action plan. As Bangor is a bilingual university, they are well placed to empathise with students learning a second (or third) language. Staff also has some interesting suggestions such as establishing a "cultural hub" of information, rather than one just targetted at international students, celebrating Welsh events such as St David's day with relevant displays about Welsh culture and setting up a cross university working group.
The sun shone and I had a very pleasant day!

Rethinking Information Literacy: A practical framework for teaching

I was very flattered to be asked to contribute to this forthcoming book edited by Jane Secker and Emma Coonan as I'm in very august company with Geoff Walton, Susie Andretta, Libby Tilley and many more. My chapter, the draft of which I've just finished today (hurray!) focuses on academic literacy and describes some of the Information for Learning work we've been doing here at Newcastle. The book is due to be published by Facet in June and here is their publicity:

" A vision for the future of information literacy teaching. Based on groundbreaking research, undertaken by the authors as part of the prestigious Arcadia Programme at Cambridge University, this presents a new and dynamic information literacy curriculum developed for the 21st century information professional. The curriculum adopts a broad definition of information literacy that encompasses social as well as academic environments and situates information literacy as a fundamental attribute of the discerning scholar and the informed citizen. It seeks to address in a modular, flexible and holistic way the developing information needs of students entering higher education over the next five years. Interweaving the authors' research and the reflections of internationally-recognised experts from the library, education and information literacy sectors, it will illustrate how and why this new curriculum will work in practice"

The Informed Researcher

Over the last year, I've been working with colleagues in Vitae and RIN to put together a new booklet in the Vitae researcher series. The Informed Researcher is now available on the Vitae website and will be available in printed form from Vitae in the next few weeks. We were hoping to have it available for distrbution at LILAC, but sadly just missed getting it there in time.

The booklet aims to be a practical tips guide for researchers, linking together elements from the Researcher Development Framework with the SCONUL Seven Pillars model in an accessible way and I hope it will be a useful tool in researcher training programmes.