This post is nothing to do with information literacy but I thought might still interest people. I was lucky to be able to attend the RSA President’s lecture on Thursday evening. It was given by Sir David Attenborough and chaired by Prince Philip, so I felt very privileged to be in the audience.

Sir David put forward his view that there is no major problem (climate change, natural disasters) facing our planet that would not be easier to solve if there were fewer people, so the most important issue we have to tackle is population control. He feels that this is still a taboo subject with governments and charities alike and that it is really everyone’s responsibility to make it a more acceptable topic. He argued that the key is education, that people need to understand why it’s important and how to achieve it. If you’re interested in learning more you can listen to his lecture at the link above and see some of the photos here
One member of the audience drew our attention to Kiva , an organisation that enables individuals to loan small amounts to individuals or small groups of people in developing countries to help them get an enterprise started. The loans are repaid in full and can then be loaned again or reclaimed. It seemed to me like a good way to make a difference.

Hawk in Kathy’s garden, WA.

I’ve just been reading the useful little booklet from RIN called “Social Media: a guide for researchers” It’s an attractive little booklet which explains why researchers need to engage with social media and how they can use the different tools in their research life. It gives a nice summary of the different kinds of tools available and makes a handy reference guide for developing a training session. You can download the PDF or order free print copies of the whole booklet. I particularly like the one page of “links and resources” which makes a great handout for workshops.