Information literacy

1. IL in Higher
Education
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Ingrid Thomson, Chair Elect HELIG National
Date 31 August 2016
Event GN HELIG InfoLit Day

2. Outline
HE in SA - Postschooling, Challenges for students
IL in HE in SA - potted history and where we are
WC InfoLit Day
KZN InfoLit Day
So where to from here?
Almost Final Words (from Barbara Fister)
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3. Higher Education in South
Africa
• Post-Schooling
Public Universities and Universities of
Technology
Private Universities
Technical Vocational Education Training
Colleges (Public and Private)
Community Colleges
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4. HE in SA: Some
Issues/Challenges (1)
 .
4
Underpreparedness of students for a variety of
reasons including:-
 Nature and language of academic discourse
 Learning experiences
 Socio-economic and cultural background
 English not first language
Preparedness of (some) Academics and Lecturers

5. HE in SA: Some
Issues/Challenges (2)
 .
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Diverse subject/discipline fields
Different levels of study and experience
Getting students to attend IL sessions that are
not mandatory
Lack of facilities and resources such as pcs and
skilled instructors
No homegrown IL standards

6. IL Definitions
 .
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Term has been around since 1970s.
UNESCO
ACRL which was then updated in 2015
SCONUL
CILIP
All very similar - essentially the ability to know when
and why you need information, where to find it, how to
evaluate, use and communicate it in an ethical manner

7. Some Different Models
• ACRL Framework
• ACRL Information Literacy
Competency Standards
(now rescinded)
• CILIP Information Literacy
Model
• Sconul Seven Pillars of
Information Literacy
• ANCIL (developed by Emma
Coogan and Jane Secker)
• (ISP)
• Information Search Process
• Scottish National
Framework
• Welsh National Framework
• Big6
• Seven Faces of IL in HE
(Christine Bunce,
Australian)
• PLUS IL Model (James
Herring)
• Australian and New Zealand
IL Standards
• Swiss IL Standards
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8. Potted History of IL in HE in
SA
Was always part of teacher training - “Book education”
1996 CALICO Infolit Project
2001 – 2004 Karin de Jager + Mary Nassimbeni (UCT)
research at LIASA including Workshop at Conference
Cape Higher Education Consortium (CHEC) prototype IL
course developed by Project Team including Janine Lockhart
and Adriaan Coetzee. Bought by SEALS library consortium
and adapted for local conditions.
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9. Potted History of IL in SA
2006 CHELSA Sub-committee: IL Training survey of 23
universities
2007 CHELSA mandates creation of National Framework
leading to Draft IL Training Guidelines in 2009
2014 Final report: Transformation Charter recommends
that universities and colleges create an IL policy leading to
action plan which recognizes the institutions responsibility
for ensuring all grads enter the workplace with IL skills.
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10. Transformation Charter
Recommendations (Chapter
4)
A large part of the population feels excluded from fulfilling
their role as citizens. because of being illiterate and lacking
information literacy. Literacy and information literacy can
unlock the doors to a reading culture, social cohesion and
economic empowerment.
 All sub-sectors to collaborate on approaches for
progression.
Action plan: Design & market literacy & information
literacy campaigns & programmes in the LIS sector working
with teachers, trade unions, religious organisations.
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11. Western Cape InfoLit Day
9 presentations in all from all the CALICO institutions,
UNISA, then TVET and private colleges - College of Cape
Town, Tsiba, Helderberg College and George Whitefield
College.
 What was clear was that we were all using different
frameworks … Sconul, ACRL Framework, Australian and
New Zealand Standards
And some were further down the line than others especially
with online offerings.
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12. Discussion Points at WC IL
Day
First Year Experience and IL
Designing a one-shot lesson using the ACRL
Framework for Information Literacy for Higher
Education
Online IL Development
Starting the IL Conversation with your community
Assessment/Effectiveness: How do you know
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13. KZN InfoLit Day
ACRL IL Framework
Models for Teaching IL
Content Design – Flipping the Classroom for IL
teaching and learning
IL at UniZulu, MUT and UKZN shared their IL
stories
Discussion on the Way Forward
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14. Almost Final Word (Barbara
Fister)
https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/library-babel-fish/latest-docudrama
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There are loads of standards and frameworks out
there telling us what we should be doing. These are
the records of professional conversations and
negotiations about groups of people think matters
and what we should do about it. Those conversations
can be valuable, but the documents aren’t powerful
talismans. They aren’t rules or recipes. They’re a
record of how a profession thinks about something
at a given point in time. They aren’t what we do.

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Some of us are trying to help 40,000 students learn in giant,
confusing research libraries, and that’s really hard. Some of us
are the only librarian in a library with a shoestring budget
helping 1,000 students, a significant percentage of whom are
currently homeless or hungry, and that’s hard too.
The discussions we have about information literacy and the
documents that come out of those discussions can be helpful,
but they don’t do this hard work for us.
We each have to do that in the way that works best for our
students. Those wonderfully unique people who are trying to
learn under varying circumstances, helped by teachers facing
all kinds of obstacles.

16. What’s happening in
SA?(HELIG)
2012 WCHELIG Workshop Librarians as Teachers presented
by Jeff Jawitz
Webinar by Shehaamah Mohamed on ACRL Framework
Creation of a Google Group SAInformationliteracy on
Google Groups
Need to ascertain what is happening on the ground, hence
the call for InfoLit Days in the various branches. (Western
Cape, KZN and GN thus far)
Webinar by Janine Lockhart on CPUT IL Online experience
22nd September 2016
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17. The Way Forward
• Several papers at the LIASA Conference deal with InfoLit
• Round Table session on IL at Conference on Friday morning (last day of conference) 8.30 –
10 am. Planning is underway to identify the topic/discussion points and speakers to
share.
• Focus for the incoming HELIG team in 2016 – 2018. Intention is that one of the
Additional Members on the National HELIG team has this as his/her portfolio.
• Need for an SA IL Framework for Post-Schooling.
• In the new term of office, call will go out for applications to join a team to work on this.
(Thank you to the KZN members who have already volunteered their services under
Shirlene Neerpath!)
• Look at InfoLit education/training for librarians responsible for InfoLit. Work with RETIG
on this.
• Promotion of the informationliteracysa discussion list so it is better used for (informal)
sharing and discussion.
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18. HELIG Touchpoints
• Information Literacy Discussion Group (open to all)
informationliteracysa@googlegroups.com
• HELIG mailing list (HELIG members only)
heligliasa@googlegroups.com
• Facebook https://www.facebook.com/LiasaHelig
• Twitter @HELIGNews
• Slideshare HELIGLIASA
• Blog https://heligliasa.wordpress.com/
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19. Two Key Readings related
to SA IL
• Esterhuizen, E.m. and Kuhn, R (2010) CHELSA draft guidelines on
information literacy: paving the way to a South African National
Framework? Innovation: Journal of Appropriate Librarianship and
Information Work in Southern Africa. Vol 41: 83 – 106.
• Moyo, M and Mavodza, J. (2016) A comparative study of
information literacy provision at university libraries in South Africa
and the United Arab Emirates. Library Review, Vol 65 (1/2): 93 -107
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20. THANK YOU!
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