I wasn’t really looking forward to the weekend which has just passed – two full days of watching people I have never heard of cycling in circles in Manchester! My friend Liz advised me to focus on the bulging lycra-clad thighs – good advice, but I still took along some background IL reading just in case (that’s the only reference to IL in this post!).
I have to admit I was very pleasantly surprised, because I really did enjoy the weekend! Why? Well, first of all, I could see everything – the Velodrome is not huge and wherever you are you have a good view of the action, even if you’re a shortie like me. Next, this is the first sporting venue I’ve been to where the PA system worked effectively, so I could hear too. Hearing was important – music seems to be an integral part of cycling and the choice of tracks added an extra dimension to the experience [Mission Impossible theme for the guy trying to beat Chris Hoy, Ninja’s for the Japanese Kierin race, Sweet Caroline when the girl was disqualified for leaning on an opponent – sing it to yourself!]
The cycling itself was also much more exciting than I had expected, especially as GB kept winning gold medals and the women’s team even managed to create a new world record. I have learned a new vocabulary of madisons, kierins, derneys, team pursuits, sling shots, repechage and more and I have to say that the bulging lycra was also worth it. However, I’m sharing bulging muscle with you instead – this is Sir Chris Hoy preparing for one of his events.

Much more fun than reading about information literacy all weekend! You might see a few more cycling photos adorning the blog over the next few weeks.

http://www.trackworldcup.co.uk/

I haven’t had much time to blog recently because it’s such a busy time of year and I’m spending most of my time involved with information literacy sessions with students, which is what it’s all about really. I’m finding that this year I’m spending more time talking to the students about what it means to be information literate and actually engaging them in discussion about how thinking about this is going to help them. I’m quite surprised by how positive the response has been!

Grand Canyon, Aug 2007

One thing I am very interested in is how we can measure the difference that information activities make. I have looked at quite a few diagnostic tests, and while they are good for ascertaining levels of understanding and skills attainment,they are quite specifically about IL and probably predispose the particpant to select the correct answers. Whether the IL activities have really made a difference to learning attitudes and habits is more difficult to measure. I have read a few papers about this recently and particularly like the ideas in “Direct assessment of IL using writing portfolios” by Scharf in the Journal of Academic Librarianship 2007 33(4) 462-78.
I am hoping to use this technique in a project I’m working on with Dr Bleasdale, a chemistry lecturer here at Newcastle. Basically, I will look at one of the first pieces of chemistry coursework and assess IL levels evidenced in them. A variety of IL activities will take place over the year and then I will examine a further set of chemistry coursework at the end to see of there is evidence of better IL understanding.
If there is anyone reading this who has other suggestions for measuring impact, I’d be very pleased to hear from you – email me and I’ll add your comments to the blog.

Spring in Durham (no rain!)

” I can only see from where I’m standing the cause and effect on the people around me”. This quote from “Just my thoughts”, by Ed Loft reminded me of my Wandering Minds exercise in which I’m trying to capture some of the impact my NTF is having on the people I meet. It’s providing me with some fascinating insights into what people take away from our encounters, often totally unrelated to the main subject of the meeting. I’d be delighted to hear from you if you’ve read anything on this blog which you’ve found interesting, as this will add to my pool of information.
Anyway, back to Ed, who as well as being the author of the above mentioned little poetry book, is also the owner of the Cold Cotes B&B (and events centre) near Harrogate in Yorkshire. Having just spent a very comfortable night there, I can thoroughly recommend it! We were greeted with a tray of tea and home made cakes and things just improved from there!

Cold Cotes Garden

http://www.coldcotes.com/