The updated presentation for a lecture I gave at the University of Sheffield, 28th February 2013

1. Information literacy, e-learning
and the changing role of the
librarian
DR JANE SECKER
LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND
POLITICAL SCIENCE
University of Sheffield, i School guest lecture
28th February 2013

2. Overview
 About me
 Information literacy and librarians
 Librarians and e-learning
 Future trends to watch
 Ways to keep up to date

3. My role
 Copyright and Digital Literacy Advisor at LSE
 Based in Centre for Learning Technology
 Work closely with colleagues in Library
 Advise staff about copyright and e-learning
 Run a programme of training for staff and PhD
students: digital literacy
 Involved in information literacy initiatives for
students: courses, online support

4. How did I get here?
 My background: librarian and e-learning
specialist, PhD in information science / history
 Worked in academic, government, museum
libraries for the past 12 years
 Involved in many research projects: JISC, HEA
 Publications and conferences
 Regularly use Twitter (@jsecker)
 Maintain a few blogs!

5. What else?
 Professional involvement: CILIP Information
Literacy Group, Editor of Journal of Information
Literacy, co-founder of LILAC Conference
 Member of UUK Copyright Working Group
 Former Chair of ALISS
 Completed LSE’s PGCert in Teaching in Higher
Education – HEA Fellow
 Now teach on LSE’s PGCert
 Arcadia Fellow at Wolfson College Cambridge, 2011

6. Information literacy and the librarian
 What does information literacy mean to you?
 Is an issue for all libraries or just academic libraries?
 How does it translate into what you might do as a
librarian?
 What about librarians as teachers?
 Is information a new role for something librarians
have always done?

7. What do we mean by
information literacy?
“Digital fluency”

8. “Information literacy empowers people in all walks of
life to seek, evaluate, use and create information
effectively to achieve their personal, social,
occupational and educational goals.
“It is a basic human right in a digital world and
promotes social inclusion in all nations.”
UNESCO (2005) Alexandria Proclamation

9. A New Curriculum for Information Literacy
 Undertook research on developing a curriculum for
information for undergraduates of the future –
expert consultation / lit review
 Different to SCONUL 7 pillars and ACRL Standards
– it’s a curriculum but also an approach to IL
 Designed to be flexible, adaptable, modular,
embedded into programmes of study
 Not aimed just a librarians but at all educators
 Find out more from
http://newcurriculum.wordpress.com

10. ANCIL definition of Information Literacy
Information literacy is a continuum of skills, behaviours,
approaches and values that is so deeply entwined with
the uses of information as to be a fundamental element
of learning, scholarship and research.
It is the defining characteristic of the discerning scholar,
the informed and judicious citizen, and the
autonomous learner.
 ANCIL definition of information literacy (2011)

12. ANCIL in practice
 The curriculum covers functional skills up to high-level
intellectual operations
 Information literacy sessions can incorporate multiple
strands but should be active, reflective, relevant to
student needs
 Many resources on ANCIL blog
 At LSE we used the curriculum to audit provision for
information literacy across the institution
 Undergraduate support at LSE: the ANCIL report
 Paper presented on LSE Teaching, Learning and
Assessment committee was endorsed on 13th Feb 2013

13. Information literacy at LSE
 A wide range of workshops provided by Academic
Support Librarians – standalone and embedded
 Also use the VLE to provide online support in
Library Companions
 Following ANCIL audit a new strategy is being
developed to embed support and provide greater
consistency across departments
 Work also to develop librarians as teachers: e.g.
PGCert or short educational development sessions

14. Digital Literacy in practice at LSE
 Digital literacy classes run by CLT and Library
 Open to all staff and PhD students
 Opt in programme but available each term
 Cover using new technologies to support teaching
and research
 social media (social networking, social bookmarking,
Twitter, blogging), advanced internet searching, keeping
up to date, developing your web presence
 Taught by CLT and Library staff but also will be
reviewed in light of ANCIL audit
 Further information on CLT website

15. Supporting PhD Students: the MY592 programme
 Information and digital literacy course comprising of six 2
hour workshops
 Aimed primarily at new PhD students
 Builds up skills over programme
 Specialist advice and support from liaison librarians
 Taught by CLT / Library staff
 Supported online in Moodle

16. Course contents
 Week 1: Starting a literature search
 Week 2: Going beyond Google
 Week 3: Locating research publications
 Week 4: Specialist materials: primary sources
 Week 5: Managing information: Endnote, Zotero,
Mendeley
 Week 6: Publication, ethical issues and keeping up to
date
 Overview on LSE Library website

17. Librarians as teachers
 Librarians can be highly innovative as teachers using
social media and other technologies
 Some of the subjects we have to teach are
challenging: plagiarism, referencing, copyright etc.
 Team teaching can be a great way to embed
information literacy in a discipline – it’s also great
for new teachers
 Getting a teaching qualification can really help
 Need to challenge traditional views about the role of
librarians – it’s all about books right?

18. E-learning and libraries
 E-learning support – librarians and learning
technologists working in partnership to offer advice
to staff and students
 Librarians can make use of e-learning for
information literacy and other teaching
opportunities
 E-learning offers some unique challenges in terms of
copyright and licensing issues that librarians are
often best placed to deal with

19. Does it work in practice?
 In most institutions e-learning staff and librarians
are rarely part of the same team
 Different cultures and different ways of working
 E-learning an emerging profession – no standard
route into working in the field
 Professional body – ALT who have special interest
groups, organise events and conferences and more
recently accredit courses
 Academic support role means they can be ideal
partners to help join up strategically and practically

20. What are the issues
 Librarians may not have access to the VLE
 Librarians will need help and advice designing online
courses
 E-learning staff may not understand copyright and
licensing issues
 Students may not need to visit the Library if they
have all their resources provided through a VLE
 Information literacy needs to be embedded in online
courses as well as face to face

21. Typical queries related to e-learning
 I want to include a video from YouTube in my online
course – can I do this legally?
 I have lots of images taken from the website – is it ok
to upload them to Moodle / Blackboard?
 Can I scan a chapter from a book and upload it to
Moodle for my students?
 I downloaded a PDF from a journal – is it ok to share
it with students using the VLE
 Who owns the materials I create when I use the
university VLE?

22. IPR and e-learning
 Increasingly universities are formalising their IPR
policies and setting out the ownership of teaching
materials
 In many cases there is no difference between paper
teaching materials and those added to the VLE
 Some academics will work in partnership with e-
learning colleagues to produce a resource, so
institutional ownership is far easier
 Some institutions are encouraging staff to share
teaching materials as open educational resources

23. Open education
 Related to open access but different…
 Open educational resources are freely available
teaching and learning resources often licensed under
Creative Commons
 Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) are not just
resources but courses
 MOOCs launched by several UK / US universities
often through platforms such as Coursera, Udacity
 Also a great way of librarians sharing and reusing
their information literacy teaching materials

24. Future trends
 How might the needs of students evolve over the
coming years and what impact will this have on
teaching?
 What impact will fewer students visiting libraries
and increased access to online readings be?
 How might VLEs evolve over the coming few years?
 What impact will MOOCs and open education have?
 What impact do other technologies such as social
media have on the tools we use in education?

25. Ways to keep up to date
 Conferences, events (LILAC, ARLG conference)
 JISC Regional Support Centres organise events for
Further Education librarians
 LibCamp and TeachMeets
 Professional social networking: on LinkedIn, Twitter
and by reading blogs
 Joining groups New Professionals Network, but also
CILIP groups, other library groups
 Use a reader to follow blogs - consider writing your
own to reflect on your work

26. Further readings
 Secker, Jane and Coonan, Emma. (2012) Rethinking Information
Literacy: a practical framework for supporting learning. Facet
Publishing: London
 Bell, M., Moon, D. and Secker J. (2012) Undergraduate support at
LSE: the ANCIL report. The London School of Economics and
Political Science, London, UK. Available at:
http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/48058/
 Secker, Jane. (2010) Copyright and E-learning: a guide for
practitioners. Facet Publishing: London
 New Curriculum Blog: http://newcurriculum.wordpress.com
 My blog: http://janesecker.wordpress.com
 LILAC Conference: http://www.lilacconference.com
 Follow me on Twitter @jsecker
 Join the CILIP CSG-Information Literacy Group
– its free for students!

27. Any questions?
Dr Jane Secker
Copyright and Digital Literacy Advisor
Centre for Learning Technology, Information
Management and Technology, LSE
Email j.secker@lse.ac.uk
 Find me on LinkedIn, Twitter etc.