Category Archives: Travel

IRIS and STIL

Posted on by
Reply

UWA Library has a range of IL resources and approaches. They are working towards embedding IL into the curriculum and have some great examples in Medicine and Law. However, Like Murdoch, they are also providing some core first year on line units : IRIS, as well as a more generic InfoPathways, which you can see at the link above. IRIS is compulsory but not directly assessed; if students don’t complete it they will have a fail recorded on their academic record.
STIL gives access to skills for librarians who are teaching IL, similar to the LibLearn programme we ran at Newcastle and Durham a few years ago.

The new journals area at UWA

http://www.library.uwa.ed…ormation_skills

University of Western Australia Library

Posted on by
1

UWA Library must have one of the best locations an acadmic library can have! It is situated in the middle of a beautiful campus with the Swan river just over the road. These 2 pics were taken from the same spot, looking in opposite directions. The library is the red roof just visible in the middle of the picture.

I had a great time meeting staff here as they were so friendly and interested in my project and they have given me some fascinating feedback on my Wandering Minds sheets. This was also one of the best lunches (though they’ve all been good because of the company!). This is me and my dessert!

http://www.library.uwa.edu.au/

Murdoch University Library

Posted on by
Reply

I had a great time this afternoon at Murdoch University Library, where I met several staff, including the University Librarian Margaret Jones and the IL coordinator Merrilee Albatis. The photo shows Merilee by one of the art exhibits.

Murdoch is a small university, with about 9000 FTE students, but they are doing some very interesting work in IL. I particularly liked their LITE programme, which is a WebCT based programme followed by about 90% of their foundation students as a compulsory assessed unit. This is an excellent way of ensuring that students have basic library skills right from the start.
Jenny, the Science Liaison Librarian also explained to me how all liaison staff have a space in their respective schools and spend time there on a weekly basis, maintaining a high level of contact with staff. I’d like to explore how we could do more of this at Newcastle.
Last but not least, Murdoch has a lovely cafe, situated in a courtyard in the middle of the library (this is for Jill!)

The cafe

http://wwwlib.murdoch.edu.au/infoskills/

Judy Peacock and IL at QUT

Posted on by
Reply


Judy and the QUT “cat”alogue

Yesterday I spent a fascinating day with Judy Peacock, the IL Coordinator here at QUT. I’ll be adding a photo of her as soon as I can download the next bunch, so keep checking back on the blog. I’ll also be writing a more detailed report on our discussion for my colleagues at Newcastle as there are lots of ideas we can learn from.
The IL programme at QUT has 3 levels. Level 1 is a generic support level which students can access if they feel they need it, Level 2 involves cooperation between library and academic staff and Level 3 is embedded into the curriculum.
I was very interested in the work Judy and the Liaison Librarians are doing with Key Performance Indicators for IL as it involves a detailed analysis of the approach, intentions and content of individual units (modules), looking at opportunities for embedding IL into them.
The work on staff development for teaching is also something which I hope to follow up. Some of it is based on Edulib, so relates to the Liblearn work Christine Purcell and I did a few years ago, but there are other elements about peer learning and curriculum design which would be new for us.
Schools outreach is another area on which I have gathered useful info and which I hope will inform the outcomes of my project

http://www.library.qut.edu.au/infoliteracy/

Itinerary for Australia trip

Posted on by
Reply

Itinerary

This is my planned itinerary for my NTF trip to New Zealand and Australia:
18th Oct – leave UK
20th – 27th Oct University of Canterbury at Christchurch, NZ
3rd – 8th Nov Brisbane. Visiting QUT and UQ Libraries
9th-17th Nov Perth. Visiting UWA, Curtin and Murdoch Libraries

I will be running surveys with library and academic staff as well as discussing issues relating to information literacy, international students, research support and podcasting.