While I was away, I gave a talk in many of the libraries I visited. I called it “Coals from Newcastle: a Geordie view of information literacy” and told people about the Info Lit project we’ve been working on in Newcastle over the last year, as well as my plans for my own NTF research project. As I’ve already mentioned in the blog, I was made very welcome in every place I visited and have come home with a tremendous range of ideas, information and paperwork [the less said about the weight limit on the flights the better – I had to leave my posh case behind as it weighed too much empty and return with a more practical, but less smart holdall in which to carry all the material (and shopping) I’d gathered]. Over the next few weeks I shall be collating all this information into a more manageable form- probably a series of themed reports, plus a presentation for my Newcastle collegues, as well as some blog entries. I also persuaded people to participate in my research, so I have some data to analyse too.
The next step in my project is to start to work with local schools, running interviews, focus groups and surveys with staff, students and librarians. I am delighted that so far 7 schools have volunteered to participate, so I shall be contacting them and arranging initial meetings shortly.

It’s very nice to be home (still a little jet lagged, I think), but I shall continue to decorate the blog with photos from my trip for some time to come!

Here is a view of the Franz Josef Glacier in New Zealand – it is one of only a few glaciers which are moving so quickly that they actually penetrate down into the temperate rainforest near the coast. Amazing!