Presented at LILAC 2024.

1. Welcome
1
Tell one person about one of the following:
Your LILAC experience Your institution Our host city Leeds
“New York City Public Library front” by
melanzane1013 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
Image taken from
https://www.lilacconference.com/
“Coat of arms of Leeds" by Rcsprinter123 is
licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

2. The University
Library
The information literacy behind
information literacy: a (wild!)
discussion.
How do we communicate for
maximum impact?
Amy C Haworth
Georgie Broad
Helen McNaughton
LILAC 2024

3. The University
Library
Session outline
● Background
● Current research
● Related literature
● Discussion activity
● Debate activity
● Feedback and
reflection
3

4. A historic university with a forward
facing vision
An original Russell
Group university
30,000 students from
150 different countries
300,000 alumni
across the globe
6 Nobel prize winners Ranked 104th in the
world
QS World University
Rankings 2024
4

5. World-leading research with world-
changing impact
Europe’s largest
research-led
manufacturing
cluster
92% of our submitted research is
rated as world-leading or
internationally excellent
(REF 2021)
3,000 members of
research staff
£200m in new research
awards received in 2021
Top 10 for research grant
funding in the UK
5

6. Information and Digital Literacy (IDL)
6
Framework developed in
2016
Six literacies
Student feedback on
language
Discovering
Understanding
Questioning
Referencing
Creating
Disseminating
The University of Sheffield Information and Digital
Literacy Framework

7. Research skills and critical thinking
7
The University of Sheffield Graduate Attributes
Sheffield Graduate
Attributes updated in
2020
Aligned our language
Increase in engagement

8. Current research project
We are working with a
Computer Science PhD
student to analyse
language used by
students in relation to
Library skills support.
5,000 +
Student
enquiries tagged
as ‘skills’:
student
language data
87
Online resources
and workshops
text: librarian
language data
?
??
Project
outcomes
8

9. Thoughts from the literature
Schaub (2017):
● Library instruction doesn’t have an impact on understanding
● More conceptual terms are more challenging for students to
understand
Orgeron (2018):
● Confusion caused by multiple (non-Library) meanings
● Technical terms can afford more precise meanings
O’Neill (2021):
● Preference for natural language over jargon, but…
9

10. Thoughts from the literature
Secker (2023)
“…in many institutions… [information literacy] remains ‘invisible’ as a concept,
or wrapped up in other more pressing concerns about developing digital skills or
graduate attributes. What I have learnt is that IL is all these things and much
more, but I think that’s what at times makes it so nebulous as a concept”.
Webber and Johnston (2017)
“It is also problematic if, as is the case currently, people in the IL community are
too reticent and accommodating even to use the name of the discipline, worrying
that it needs to be translated into someone else’s jargon. Names do matter. If
what we are advocating could be called anything, then (people might well rightly
conclude) perhaps it isn’t a thing at all.” (p.169)
10

11. Discussion: the language of IL in your institution
Circle of voices activity:
● Two minutes to think and jot down ideas on your postcard
● Form groups of 3-4
● First round: each person speaks for up to one minute without
interruption
● Second round: anyone may speak, but you must talk about
something
another person has shared or ask them to elaborate on their
contribution
11

12. Discussion: the language of IL in your institution
● What is your information literacy offer called and why?
○ e.g is it based on a framework? which one?
● What kind of language do you use to communicate this
offer?
● Does the audience make a difference to the language
used?
○ e.g. teachers, nurses, students, general public, lecturers
12

13. Debate: language use for maximum engagement
“In order to grasp the complexity that accompanies what it means to
be information or research literate, we must recognize that any
simplification or generalization of library terms is a threat to the
benefits associated with a holistic approach”. (Orgeron, 2018)
Statement to debate:
The use of information literacy language alienates library users
and is a barrier to engagement.
13

14. Debate: language use for maximum engagement
The use of information literacy language alienates library users
and is a barrier to engagement.
● Allocated ‘for’ or ‘against’
● 10 mins in groups to form your argument
● 15 mins structured debate with another group
● Debate structure handouts can be found on your tables, presented as a
flow chart to follow
Remember: critique the idea not the person
14

15. Summary and reflection
Personal Reflection
● What has stood out for you from the
discussions today?
● Have your thoughts changed based
on this session? If so, how?
● Is there anything you would like to
do differently after this session?
15

16. References part 1
16
LILAC (2024) LILAC: the information literacy conference. Available at https://www.lilacconference.com/
(Accessed: 05/03/2024)
Melanzane1013 (2007) New York City Public Library front [Photograph]. Available at
https://www.flickr.com/photos/25847577@N00/424710073 (Accessed: 05/03/2024)
O’Neill, B. (2021) ‘Do they know it when they see it?: Natural language preferences of undergraduate
students for library resources’, College & Undergraduate Libraries, 28(2), pp. 219-242. doi:
https://doi.org/10.1080/10691316.2021.1920535
Orgeron, J-P. (2018) ‘Understanding the Language of Information Literacy’, The Journal of Academic
Librarianship, 44(1), pp 81-87. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2017.10.004.
Rcsprinter123 (2021) Coat of arms of Leeds [Image]. Available at
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=100092661 (Accessed 02/03/2024)

17. References part 2
17
Schaub, G. et al. (2017) ‘The Language of Information Literacy: Do Students Understand?’, College &
Research Libraries, 78(3), pp. 283-296. doi: https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.78.3.283.
Secker, J. (2023) ‘Information Literacy at 50’, Information Literacy Group blog, 25th October 2023.
Available at: https://infolit.org.uk/information-literacy-at-50/
The University of Sheffield (2024) Information and Digital Literacy Framework. Available at:
https://sites.google.com/sheffield.ac.uk/idl-framework/home
University of Sheffield (2024) The Sheffield Graduate Attributes. Available at:
https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/skills/sga
Webber, S. and Johnston, B. (2017) ‘Information literacy: conceptions, context and the formation of a
discipline’, Journal of Information Literacy, 11(1), pp.156-183. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.11645/11.1.2205

18. Amy C Haworth
Learning Development Librarian
and Acting Head of Library
Learning and Teaching Services
University of Sheffield
Email:
a.c.haworth@sheffield.ac.uk
Helen McNaughton
Information Skills Specialist
University of Sheffield
Email:
h.mcnaughton@sheffield.ac.uk
Georgie Broad
Library Digital Communications
and Information Advisory Officer
University of Sheffield
Email:
g.broad@sheffield.ac.uk