I know from my blog stats that there are people reading the blog in different parts of the world – if that’s you, then I need your help please! The SCONUL IL Group is gathering information about the use of the 7 Pillars model in different countries. If you are aware of it being used in your country, or can spend a little time looking for examples for us then we’d be very grateful. It would also be helpful to know where it is not being used and if an alternative model is preferred. You can respond by adding a comment to this post, or emailing me directly: moira.bent@ncl.ac.uk

I’m looking forward to hearing from you.

Orchids

Only a week before the LILAC conference, which is being held in London this year. As usual, the programme looks really interesting and I’m looking forward to coming away with lots of new ideas, as well as networking and catching up with old friends. My colleague, Lucy Keating is giving a paper on her use of web 2.0 with researchers- she’s been using social software in a  variety of ways – and Ruth Stubbings and I will be launching the new SCONUL Seven Pillars model. We’ve spent some time developing a core model and research lens and I’m keen to see how folks respond to them. They will be available on the SCONUL website from next week and we’ll  have printed copies available at the conference. I’m also participating in a symposium organised by Geoff Walton and Drew Whitworth in which they will be challenging the use of IL models in learning. It promises to have some fascinating debate! Sheila Corrall and Stephane Goldstein are running a session baseed around the Researcher Development Framework and how IL maps into that, using our SCONUL research lens as an example.

Just wishing I was back in Meze!

I see that the HEA Academic Integrity Service have published a new report on university policies for managing plagiarism. It’s called Policy Works: Recommendations for reviewing policy to manage unacceptable academic practice in higher education. I haven’t read it yet but it’s written by Erica Morris and Jude Carroll so it’s bound to have some good advice!

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.

One of the outcomes of my NTF project was the concept of a personal Information Literacy Landscape through which each individual moves and which shapes how they respond to any IL interventions. I know it has since been used by a few different folks, so it seems sensible to make it more widely available. I have created a separate page on the blog (see above) which links directly to the IL Landscape map and a more detailed explanation. I welcome any comments and suggestions for improving it and if you find it helpful and make changes to it, I’d be delighted to know

On monday, I’m visiting Salford University to talk about international student support (again!). I’ll be mainly talking about the SCONUL Guidelines, but also a little bit about a new project I’m involved with. This new research, again with Karen Senior and Marie Scopes with whom I worked on the original report, will look at how we support students who are based overseas. Not the traditional distance leaner model, but more students based in overseas or satellite “campuses” of some kind. This is an area which is developing rapidly, but there doesn’t seem to have been a lot written about it so far from the library perspective. I hope our research will help plug the gap, so I’d be delighted to hear from folks who are involved in any overseas initiatives, as you may be able to contribute. For now, here is the small collection of information we have discovered so far and here are my Salford slides.

Hey, gimme some bamboo!

I’m looking forward to the inaugural meeting of the NE and Yorkshire Group on information and data handling tomorrow. I blogged about this earlier; it’s an attempt to create a group of folks who support researcher training in the areas of information and data handling and use, hopefully getting us working outside of our usual comfort groups. We have over 40 people registered, from a range of different backgrounds, which is a really great start. I’m doing a very short talk about the work we’ve been doing in SCONUL to redevelop the 7 pillars and there will also be talks from Vitae and RIN about the RDF and the links between the 2 models, but the majority of the time will be spent in developing the network and discussing how the group should work.

Pippin “helping”

Thanks to Adam for this link,  an interesting way to use and disseminate data . It’s an animation which shows the real-time behaviour of hire bikes in London on October 4th 2010, the day of a major tube strike, and the busiest day for the scheme to date.

Thought we’d have a different black and white animal for a change.