Lecture given at the Department of Information Studies, Aberystwyth University on 25th November 2013 to the postgraduate students.

1. Researching information literacy:
from theory to practice
Dr Jane Secker
LSE Centre for Learning Technology
Department of Information Studies, Aberystwyth University
25th November 2013

2. Overview
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Introduction and my background
Definitions of information and digital literacy
and useful models
Researching information literacy: developing a
new curriculum (ANCIL)
Information & digital literacy in practice
Researching information literacy: open
educational resources
Tips for success as a research practitioner

3. The practitioners perspective
 Copyright and Digital Literacy Advisor at LSE
 Primarily supporting staff in their use of technologies
for teaching
 Also teach on PG Cert (HE teaching qualification +
research skills for PhD students)
 How can librarians and other academic support
staff best help students, research students,
academic staff and other staff in higher
education?
 Why research in information literacy is important

4. More about me
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My background: librarian and e-learning
specialist, PhD in information science / history
Publications and web presence
Find me on LinkedIn,
twitter, keen blogger
Editor: Journal of
Information Literacy
Module tutor in DIS

5. Definitions of information literacy
…Information literacy is knowing when and why you need
information, where to find it, and how to evaluate, use and
communicate it in an ethical manner.
CILIP (2004) Information literacy definition
 Information literacy empowers people in all walks of life to seek,
evaluate, use and create information effectively to achieve their
personal, social, occupational and educational goals. It is a basic
human right in a digital world and promotes social inclusion in all
nations.
UNESCO (2005) Alexandria Proclamation

6. "the ‘savvyness’ that allows young people to
participate meaningfully and safely as digital
technology becomes ever more pervasive in
society."
FutureLab 2010 Digital Literacy Across the Curriculum

7. What are the issues?
 Jones et al (2010) highlights the generational
debate ‘ Google generation’
 If you were born after 1982 = Generation Y
 In pairs - reflect on:
 What is digital and information literacy to you?
 How did you become information literate as a students
in school and in university?
 What skills do you need to succeed in higher
education?

8. What is the role for librarians in
teaching in higher education?

9. The ‘Literacies’ Landscape
Digital fluency

10. Information literacy is a continuum of skills,
behaviours, approaches and values that is so
deeply entwined with the uses of information
as to be a fundamental element of learning,
scholarship and research.
It is the defining characteristic of the
discerning scholar, the informed and judicious
citizen, and the autonomous learner.
ANCIL definition of information literacy (2011)
Coonan and Secker (2011)

11. A New Curriculum for
Information Literacy (ANCIL)
 Research based approach
 Arcadia Fellowship with Emma Coonan at Cambridge
from May to July 2011
 Academic advisor: Prof. John Naughton
 Research remit: Develop a new, revolutionary
curriculum for information literacy in a digital age
 Understand the needs of undergraduates entering
higher education over the coming 5 years
 Map the current landscape of information literacy
 Develop a practical curriculum and supporting
resources

13. The expert consultation
 Consulted librarians, researchers, educators,
trainee teachers, school librarians
 How you teach at least as important as what you
teach
 Must be embedded into the academic curriculum
and disciplines will vary
 Must be based on real needs: students are not
homogeneous
 Must be opportunities for reflection

14. Curriculum strands
1. Transition from school to higher education
2. Becoming an independent learner
3. Developing academic literacies
4. Mapping and evaluating the information landscape
5. Resource discovery in your discipline
6. Managing information
7. Ethical dimension of information
8. Presenting and communicating knowledge
9. Synthesising information and creating new knowledge
10. Social dimension of information literacy

16. Implementing ANCIL – Webster &
Wrathall’s work
Lessons
Learnt

17. ANCIL at LSE
 Reviewed current practice at LSE
 To inform Library / CLT teaching provision
 To highlight good practice and any gaps in
provision
 Put information literacy on the agenda at LSE
 Produced a report presented at the February
2013 Teaching, Learning and Assessment
Committee

18. Results of the audit
 IL not embedded
 Belief that IL is important: find,
evaluate and manage
 Some good practice but
inconsistent
 Time main barrier
 Students ‘should’ have IL skills
 Information use largely driven
by reading lists and resources in
Moodle
Photo by starmanseries licensed under Creative Commons

19. Careers
Language Centre
Teaching & Learning Centre
Language Centre
LSE100
Departments
Library
Teaching & Learning
Centre
Departments
Language Centre
Library
Departments
LSE100
Language Centre
Teaching & Learning Centre
Careers
Departments
LSE100
Teaching & Learning Centre
Departments
Language Centre
Library
Centre for Learning
Technology
Library
Library
Library

20. Developing an LSE Framework
 Covers digital and
information literacy
 Based on ANCIL and other
frameworks
 Purpose to inform
academics and provide
examples
 Enable mapping of existing
provision
 Tool can be used by
teaching librarians and
learning technologists
Image cc from http://www.flickr.com/photos/markhillary/302630220/in/set-72157594327649691 /

21. Embedding Digital and
information literacy
 Running pilots with two
academic departments to
embed in UG courses
 Working in partnership with
academic staff and academic
support colleagues
 Scheduling additional face to
face sessions
 Embedding support in the
virtual learning environment

22. Student ambassadors for digital
literacy
 Used in several JISC Digital
Literacy projects
 Will be piloting this as part
of 1 year SADL project
 Recruiting 20
undergraduates from
Statistics and Social Policy
 Planning workshops,
reflection, peer support
and more…
Photo by Flickingerbrad licensed under Creative Commons
http://lsesadl.wordpress.com

23. Further reading and resources
LSE Digital and Information Literacy
Framework (2013) Available at:
http://bit.ly/1gq63IO
Bell, Maria and Moon, Darren and Secker,
Jane (2012) Undergraduate support at LSE:
the ANCIL report. The London School of
Economics and Political Science, London,
UK. Available at:
http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/48058/
Secker, Jane and Coonan, Emma. (2012)
Rethinking Information Literacy: a practical
framework for support learning. Facet
Publishing: London
Wrathall, Katy (2012) Strategies for
Implementing ANCIL in Non-Cambridge HEIs
http://bit.ly/16kKb8b

24. Digital Literacy in practice at LSE
 Digital literacy classes
 Run each term
 Cover using new
technologies to support
teaching and research
 social media (social
networking, social
bookmarking, Twitter,
blogging), advanced internet
searching, keeping up to date,
developing your web presence
 Further information on
CLT website

25. Supporting PhD Students:
The MY592 programme
 Information and digital literacy course
comprising of six 2 hour workshops
 Aimed primarily at new PhD students
 Builds up skills over programme
 Specialist advice and support from
academic support librarians
 Taught by CLT / Library staff
 Supported online in Moodle
 Overview on LSE Library website

26. IL research: the benefits of
sharing teaching materials
 In 2010/11 managed a 12 month JISC / HEA
project in open educational resources programme
 DELILA: Developing Educator Learning and
Information Literacies for Accreditation
 Converted LSE and Birmingham’s IL resources into
Open Educational Resources (OERs) to share
 Made the resources available in Jorum: UK
teaching and learning respository
 Several follow up projects since DELILA in this
field to encourage librarians to share resources

27. From DELILA to CoPILOT
 Following DELILA undertook a survey about OERs
and information literacy launched at LILAC 2012
 Additional funding obtained in October 2012 to
explore benefits of sharing resources
internationally
 Created a UK ‘Community of Practice’ to share
teaching materials as OERs
 Also created an international platform for sharing
teaching materials
 Ongoing work with UNESCO and IFLA Information
Literacy section

28. Benefits of sharing?
 As someone who might have to teach
information literacy for the first time, do
you create materials from scratch or find
existing resources?
 Would you re-use materials from a colleague
at your institution?
 Would you re-use materials from a colleague
elsewhere?
 Would you know where to find materials?

29. Why share IL materials?
Image licensed under Creative commons from:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ben_grey/4582294721/

30. Useful starting places
 Information Literacy website:
http://www.informationliteracy.org.uk/
 Jorum Information Literacy collection:
http://find.jorum.ac.uk/
 Cardiff University IL resource bank:
https://ilrb.cf.ac.uk/
 UNESCO Worldwide Information Literacy
resources: http://bit.ly/Z3UquA
 JISCmail lists - LIS-Infoliteracy and IL-OERS

31. Challenges of being a
researcher / practitioner
 Finding time - the day job
gets in the way of research
and writing!
 Credibility as a researcher
 Confidence - but practice
makes perfect!
 Where to publish - the
librarian’s echo chamber

32. Tips for success
 Apply for external or internal
project funds to facilitate research
 Can give you time and project staff
 Build reflection and feedback into
your regular processes - e.g. annual
surveys
 Get published - even if just
internally
 Network, network, network conferences are great for this!
 Find a like-minded colleague!

33. Contact details
 Email j.secker@lse.ac.uk
 Twitter @jsecker
 Personal Blog
http://janesecker.wordpress.com
Secker, J. and Coonan, E. (2012) Rethinking
information literacy: a practical
framework for teaching. Facet
Publishing: London

34. Useful references
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Jones, C, Ramanau, R, Cross, S and Healing, G (2010) ‘Net generation or Digital
Natives: Is there a distinct new generation entering university?’, Computers &
Education, 54, (3), 722-732.
Margaryan, A and Littlejohn, A. (2009). Are digital natives a myth or reality?
Students use of technologies for learning. Available at:
http://www.academy.gcal.ac.uk/anoush/documents/DigitalNativesMythOrRealit
y-MargaryanAndLittlejohn-draft-111208.pdf (Accessed 2nd June 2010)
Rowlands, I. et al ‘The Google generation: the information behaviour of the
researcher of the future’, Aslib Proceedings New Information Perspectives, 60, (4)
290-310.
SADL Project website (2013) http://lsesadl.wordpress.com
SCONUL (2011) The SCONUL 7 Pillars Core model. Available at:
http://www.sconul.ac.uk/groups/information_literacy/seven_pillars.html
Secker, Jane and Macrae-Gibson, Rowena. (2011) Evaluating MI512: an
information literacy course for PhD students. Library Review, 60 (2). pp. 96-107.
ISSN 0024-2535. Available at: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/32975/
Secker, Jane and Coonan, Emma (2011). A New Curriculum for Information
Literacy. Available at: http://newcurriculum.wordpress.com