Lecture given at the iSchool on 13th March as part of the academic libraries module. Focusing on information literacy, digital literacy, ANCIL, e-learning and collaboration between librarians and learning technologists

1. DR JANE SECKER
L O N D O N S C H O O L O F E C O N O M I C S A N D
P O L I T I C A L S C I E N C E
Information literacy, e-learning
and the changing role of the
librarian
University of Sheffield, i School guest lecture
13th March 2014

2. My role
 Copyright and Digital Literacy Advisor at LSE
 Based in Centre for Learning Technology (part of
Information Management and Technology)
 Work closely with colleagues in LSE Library
 Advise staff about copyright and e-learning
 Run workshops for staff and PhD students: digital
literacy
 Involved in information literacy initiatives for
students: courses, online support, Student
Ambassador project

3. How did I get here?
 My background: librarian and e-learning
specialist, PhD in information science / history
 Worked in academic, government, museum
libraries for the past 13 years
 Involved in research projects: JISC, HEA
 Publications and conferences
 Regularly use Twitter (@jsecker)
 Maintain a few blogs!

4. What else?
 Professional involvement: CILIP Information
Literacy Group, Editor of Journal of Information
Literacy, co-founder of LILAC Conference
 Member of UUK Copyright Working
Group, Libraries and Archives Copyright Alliance
 Member of the Research Information and Digital
Literacy Coalition
 Completed LSE’s PGCert in Teaching in Higher
Education – HEA Fellow
 Arcadia Fellow at Wolfson College Cambridge, 2011

5. Information literacy and the librarian
 What does information literacy mean to you?
 Do you think it’s important for all libraries or just academic
libraries?
 What is information literacy in practice?
 Are librarians teachers / trainers?
 Is information literacy new or something librarians have
always done?

6. What do I mean by information
literacy?
“Digital fluency”

7. “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

8. A New Curriculum for Information Literacy
 Undertook research to develop a curriculum for
information for undergraduates of the future
 Methodology - expert consultation / literature review
 Different to SCONUL 7 pillars and ACRL Standards
– it’s a curriculum but also an approach to IL
 Designed to be
flexible, adaptable, modular, embedded into
programmes of study
 Not aimed just a librarians but at all educators
 Find out more from
http://newcurriculum.wordpress.com

9. ANCIL definition of Information Literacy
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)

11. ANCIL in practice
 The curriculum covers functional skills up to high-level
intellectual operations
 Information literacy sessions can incorporate multiple
strands but should be active, reflective, relevant to
student needs
 Many resources on ANCIL website
 At LSE we used the curriculum to audit provision for
information literacy across the institution
 Undergraduate support at LSE: the ANCIL report
 Paper presented at LSE Teaching, Learning and
Assessment committee that was endorsed in Feb 2013
 Pilots underway and interest from several LSE
departments in embedding IL in their programmes

12. Information literacy at LSE
 A wide range of workshops provided by Academic
Support Librarians – standalone and embedded
 Also use the VLE to provide online support in
Library Companions
 Following the review LSE developed a digital and
information literacy framework to provide guidance
for librarians and academics and greater consistency
across departments
 Work also to develop librarians as teachers: e.g.
PGCert or short educational development sessions

13. Digital Literacy in practice at LSE
 Digital literacy classes run by CLT and Library
 Open to all staff and PhD students
 Opt-in programme but available 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
 Taught by CLT and Library staff but now regularly
reviewed and supplemented with Researcher
Development Programme
 Further information on CLT website

14. Supporting PhD Students: the MY592 programme
 Information and digital literacy course comprising of six
2 hour workshops
 Week 1: Starting a literature search
 Week 2: Going beyond Google
 Week 3: Managing information: Endnote, Zotero, Mendeley
 Week 4: Locating research publications
 Week 5: Specialist materials: primary sources
 Week 6: Publication, ethical issues and keeping up to date
 Aimed primarily at new PhD students and builds up their
skills over 6 weeks
 Specialist advice and support from academic support
librarians but also taught by CLT
 Supported online in Moodle and overview on LSE Library
website

15. Digital and information literacy for
undergraduates
 LSE launched the SADL project in October 2013
funded by the Higher Education Academy
 Recruited 20 undergraduate students to act as digital
literacy ambassadors:
 Students from Statistics and Social Policy department
 Attend special workshops where they develop their skills
 Provide valuable feedback about what students really need in
terms of digital and information literacy support
 Act as peer mentors for fellow students
 Students encouraged to blog
 Find out more from our website

16. Librarians as teachers
 There is a need to challenge traditional views about the
role of librarians – it’s all about books right?
 Librarians can be highly innovative as teachers using
social media and other technologies
 Some of the subjects we have to teach are challenging:
plagiarism, referencing, copyright etc.
 Team teaching can be a great way to embed information
literacy in a discipline
 Librarians increasingly can share their activities and
lesson plans – good practice
 Getting a teaching qualification can really help

17. Librarians and other professionals
 Librarians can work in partnership with other
professionals to offer advice to staff and students
 Learning technologists
 Educational developers
 Learning developers
 Librarians can make use of new technologies and new
pedagogies for their own teaching
 Technology enhanced learning offers some unique
challenges in terms of copyright and licensing issues that
librarians are often best placed to deal with
 Librarians can work with other professionals on
developing digital literacies

18. Librarians and Learning Technologists as
partners
 In most institutions e-learning staff and librarians
are rarely part of the same team
 Different cultures and different ways of working
 Learning Technology an emerging profession – no
standard route into working in the field
 Professional body – ALT who have special interest
groups, organise events and conferences and more
recently accredit courses
 Academic support role means they can be ideal
partners to help join up strategically and practically

19. What are the issues
 Librarians may not have access to the VLE
 Librarians will need help and advice designing online
courses
 E-learning staff may not understand copyright and
licensing issues
 Students may not need to visit the Library if they
have all their resources provided through a VLE
 Information literacy needs to be embedded in online
courses as well as face to face

20. Typical queries related to e-learning
 I want to include a video from YouTube in my online
course – can I do this legally?
 I have lots of images taken from the website – is it ok to
upload them to Moodle / Blackboard?
 Can I scan a chapter from a book and upload it to Moodle
for my students?
 I downloaded a PDF from a journal – is it ok to share it
with students using the VLE?
 Who owns the materials I create when I use the
university VLE?
 Can I use copyright material if my lecture is being
recorded?

21. IPR and e-learning
 Increasingly universities are formalising their IPR
policies - who owns teaching materials?
 Technology can cause more complex IPR issues –
e.g. recording lectures
 Some academics will work in partnership with e-
learning colleagues to produce a resource, so
institutional ownership is far easier
 Some institutions are encouraging staff to share
teaching materials as open educational resources

22. Open education
 Related to open access but different…
 Open educational resources are freely available teaching
and learning resources often licensed under Creative
Commons
 Also a great way of librarians sharing and reusing their
information literacy teaching materials – find out more
about the CoPILOT initiative
 Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) are not just
resources but free courses
 MOOCs launched by several UK / US universities often
through platforms such as Coursera, Udacity and Future
Learn

23. Future trends
 We need to continue to understand the needs and
expectations of student - this will impact on libraries,
teaching and support
 Read the CLT Trends in Educational Technologies
report published last week
 How might VLEs and new technologies evolve over
the coming few years?
 What impact will MOOCs and open education have?
 How might learning support services be structured
in the future?

24. Ways to keep up to date
 Conferences, events (LILAC, ARLG conference)
 JISC Regional Support Centres organise events for
Further Education librarians
 LibCamp and TeachMeets
 Professional social networking: on LinkedIn, Twitter and
by reading blogs
 Joining groups New Professionals Network (e.g.
Manchester NLPN), but also CILIP groups, other library
groups
 Use a tool to follow blogs - consider writing your own to
reflect on your work

25. Further readings
 Secker, Jane and Coonan, Emma. (2012) Rethinking Information
Literacy: a practical framework for supporting learning. Facet
Publishing: London
 Bell, M., Moon, D. and Secker J. (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. (2010) Copyright and E-learning: a guide for
practitioners. Facet Publishing: London
 New Curriculum Blog: http://newcurriculum.wordpress.com
 My blog: http://janesecker.wordpress.com
 LILAC Conference: http://www.lilacconference.com
 Follow me on Twitter @jsecker
 Join the CILIP CSG-Information Literacy Group
– its free for students!

26. Any questions?
Dr Jane Secker
Copyright and Digital Literacy Advisor
Centre for Learning Technology, Information
Management and Technology, LSE
Email j.secker@lse.ac.uk
 Find me on LinkedIn, Twitter etc.