Welcome from Angela Murrell, new LILi Chair

Happy Fall everyone!

It is now 'officially' Fall, school is back, the weather is… well not cooling off yet, and LILi is beginning another year.  I have been a member of LILi for only a few years, and a now find myself at the helm. Well it’s not really that big of a job; we are a group of wonderful and amazing professionals who all work together on shared passions and ideas. I just get to play Chair for a year!

I want to send a warm thank you to Tony Lin, the 2012-2013 Chair, and Carol Womack, the 2012-2013 Secretary, for their hard work and dedication, not only this past year, but for the many years they have helped shape LILi. Both served and continue to serve on committees and to contribute to workshops and discussions. This past year, Tony chaired a committee to revise our bylaws, helping to clarify membership, elections, and make the advisory board more dynamic.

I also want to welcome the new Vice-Chair/Chair Elect, Angela Boyd, from UC Santa Barbara; and a relative newcomer, Lisa Burgert, from University of San Diego, as Secretary. Both have jumped in head first with me and I think it’s going to be a fun year. Both Lisa and I work in San Diego, so I am hoping we can attract more participants from the ‘far south’.  But not to worry, Angela Boyd will keep us reaching north, and next year she will steer us her way (she might be looking for volunteers already!)

Looking ahead, we have our December meeting in the works (Dec. 13 at Loyola Marymount University), a new advisory board to elect, and goals to develop our web and social media footprint. The Curriculum Mapping project, spearheaded by Esther Grassian, is moving along wonderfully, and I sense new ideas and projects are in the works in light of the ACRL’s decision to “revise” the Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education.

So I hope to see many of you in December, and maybe work with some more of you on a project or committee.

Warm regards,

Angie Murrell

2013-2014 LILi Chair

--

Angela Murrell

Outreach & Instruction Librarian

Kresge Library, 400-S

The Scripps Research Institute

10550 North Torrey Pines Rd.

La Jolla, Ca 92037

858-784-8705

amurrell@scripps.edu

ALA Resolution on School Libraries & Librairans

ALA "Resolution that School Libraries and Librarians are Critical to Educational Success" passed by ALA Council, 24 Jun 2012 and now posted (Word doc attachment) to the LILi website: https://sites.google.com/site/lifelonginformationliteracy/

***Cross-posted to a number of lists. Please distribute widely. Apologies for duplication.***
 

Hi. Please help me prepare for my June 2012 keynote address at the LOEX of the West 2012 Conference by completing a short 12-question survey about librarians and "information literacy"* instruction at your institution or organization. It should take just 5 to 10 minutes to complete the survey. Survey results will be freely available following the Conference.

Survey url: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ZB3779G

PLEASE RESPOND BY APRIL 15TH, and feel free to contact me if you have any questions: esthergrassian@gmail.com.

Note: Keynote title: "Occupy Their Minds! The Politics of Information Literacy." The LOEX of the West Conference will be held at Woodbury University, Burbank, California, June 6-8, 2012. You can find more information about the Conference, including an abstract of my keynote here: http://woodbury.libguides.com/lotw2012

Thank you in advance for your help!

        Esther Grassian

*"Information literacy" is the ability to identify, locate, evaluate and use information effectively and ethically. (Adapted from ALA Presidential Committee on Information Literacy: Final Report. 1989. http://www.ala.org/acrl/publications/whitepapers/presidential) 

Call for Second Life Poster Sessions on Info Lit

Hello. I will be teaching “Information Literacy Instruction: Theory and Technique” (IS448) again in Spring Quarter to UCLA Information Studies Department graduate students.  This is a course that Joan Kaplowitz and I proposed in 1989 and have alternated teaching approximately every other year since then.  Each time I teach, I ask librarians from academic, school, public and special libraries to talk about information literacy instruction (ILI) at their libraries. It's always been of great interest to the students, and to me!

In 2009, the last time I taught this course, a number of librarians from various countries and types of libraries responded and created very interesting posters in the 3D virtual world of Second Life (SL). This year I’m asking again if any of you would like to volunteer to participate in an SL poster session by creating a poster that will describe ILI in your library/institution. (NOTE: I can help with uploading images/textures and setting up posters and notecards in SL see details below.) You would also need to staff your poster in SL as you would in RL (real life), during my class, to talk briefly about your ILI and answer questions from teams of my students, who will then do 5-minute oral reports on selected posters.

Please note that you will need to get a free Basic Second Life account and download SL software in order to participate. You can find system requirements here:

http://secondlife.com/support/system-requirements/?lang=en-US

The poster session and student oral reports are scheduled for Tuesday, May 1st, between 1:30 pm and 5 pm SLT/Pacific Time, and both will be open to anyone interested in attending, from anywhere in the world. It will all take place on Stanford University Library’s island in Second Life. (Many thanks to Deni Wicklund at Stanford for her generosity in offering this location!)

Please respond directly to me by Friday, February 10th if you are interested in doing an ILI poster in SL: estherg@ucla.edu  I’ll need your RL (Real Life) and SL names, your position, your library name and address, and a brief description of the types of ILI available at or through your library.

I CAN HELP YOU…

If you haven’t done a poster session in SL before, you’ll need to upload images for your poster, called “textures” in SL. I can provide funding for up to 15 textures per poster (L$150), and I can help with setting up posters, or teach you how to do it yourself. 

Poster session presenters will also have the option of creating free notecards with information about their ILI and links to sites they wish to highlight, in RL and/or SL. Again, I can help you do this or teach you how to do it.

If you have instructional materials that you would like to share with my students and other attendees, you may wish to upload them to InfoLit Global http://www.infolitglobal.info/directory/en/  or submit them to SOS for Information Literacy for possible inclusion http://www.informationliteracy.org/ Then you can include mention of those items on your notecard, along with links.

I would be happy to answer any questions you may have about this. I look forward to hearing from you by Friday, February 15th: estherg@ucla.edu

Thank you!

            Best,

                        Esther

Request for SoCal IL Observation Sites

            ***Cross-Posted to a number of lists. Apologies for duplication.***
 
Dear Southern California Librarians,
 
Please help… Once again, UCLA Department of Information Studies graduate students will be enrolling in IS 448, "Information Literacy Instruction: Theory and Technique," to be offered in Spring Quarter 2012, beginning April 3d.  The goal of this 10-week-long 4-unit course is:
 
         By the end of this course, students will be able to identify and analyze
         information literacy instructional needs, design, implement, and evaluate
         appropriate instructional responses, and make revisions as necessary.
 
Joan Kaplowitz and I proposed this course in 1989 and first taught it in 1990. It requires students to complete a number of different assignments that incorporate both practical and theoretical aspects of Information Literacy Instruction (ILI). One of these assignments is an "Instruction Report." Between April 3d (the first day of class) and May 8^th (due date for the assignment), students will need to interview a librarian and then observe and comment on her/his synchronous (live) group ILI session, online or in person. In addition, they will review and comment on an ILI web site.
 
My students will be using the database of Southern California librarians willing to have their instruction sessions observed by others, maintained by the ACRL California Chapter’s SCIL--Southern California Librarians group. Students need to fill out a form and SCIL will try to match their requests with librarians who have volunteered to be listed in this database. http://www.carl-acrl.org/ig/scil/
 
However, if you have not listed yourself in this database, please let me know if you would be willing to have students observe one of your synchronous group ILI sessions in April 2012. These could be any of the following:

·         standalone sessions offered independently by the Library
·         course-integrated one-shot sessions developed in conjunction with a teaching faculty member
·         one class meeting of a credit IL course taught by librarians
·         any other synchronous group information-literacy-related session involving at least one librarian.

I will instruct students to keep your names and your institutions completely confidential in their reports, though you may request a copy of the student's paper from the student, if you would like. 
 
Students will contact you directly to make appointments for a brief interview and to observe one of your sessions. During the interview they will ask you about your instructional experience as well as the context and expected learning outcomes for the session they will be observing.
 
If you would like to volunteer, please email me the following information:
            1. Your institution's name
            2. Your name or the name of the contact person who can make these arrangements
            3. Your email address & phone number, including area code (for appointments and
            other information)
            4. Type of instruction that may be observed
            5. Dates, times and places when your ILI sessions will be offered
            6. Any other pertinent information you would like to offer
 
Students may call or email you to set up an appointment any time beginning the first day of class, April 3, 2012. Their Instruction Report is due May 8, 2012, so I would be grateful for any and all responses.
 
Please share widely, and feel free to contact me if you have any questions: estherg@ucla.edu
 
Thank you in advance for your help!
            Best,
                        Esther
 
Esther Grassian
Adjunct Lecturer
UCLA Department of Information Studies

ILI Problems for Case Studies

***Cross-posted to a number of lists. Apologies for any duplication.***

 
I discovered a few years ago that the very act of describing a difficult information literacy instructional (ILI) problem in writing can help make it more manageable, as it causes you to think about its most important and vexing aspects. Once you have gone through this process, you may find it easier to come up with ideas for solving the problem. 

UCLA Department of Information Studies graduate students taking "Information Literacy Instruction" (IS 448) in Spring Quarter 2012 (beginning April 2012) will need to do a project focused on an ILI case study, preferably, representing a real-life problem. The project will be in the form of a mock grant proposal to address and help solve this problem. (See example below.) I need your help in developing up to date, real life case studies, so I'm asking readers of this post to send me some of your difficult or challenging ILI problems. 

Teams of students will select from among a number of case studies for their projects, and some of their ideas may help you. While there is no guarantee that they will select your case study, if they do, with their permission, I will send you a copy of their grant proposal ideas regarding your instructional problem. 

If you would like to submit a case study, I would really appreciate it if you would do so by following the format and categories utilized in the sample case study below. Please include your name, address, phone number and email if you would like a copy of their proposed solutions, and indicate whether or not students may contact you if they have questions about your case study.  

Please send case studies directly to me, rather than responding to the list: estherg@ucla.edu  

Thanks in advance for your help!                                   

                                      Esther

Esther Grassian
Adjunct Lecturer
UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies,
Department of Information Studies
Email: estherg@ucla.edu

------------------------------------------------------------------

SAMPLE ILI CASE STUDY

"Blended" Information Literacy Instruction (ILI) Credit Course for Undergrads

Institutional context:

One of nine campuses in a large public research university system, offering Bachelors, Masters, Doctoral and Post-Doctoral programs.  

User Population:

32,000 students total; 24,000 undergraduates (top 12% of high school senior class); 8% of undergraduates are underrepresented minorities; 4% of all students are international students; 8,000 graduate students (graduate Teaching Assistants teach a number of undergraduate courses); 2,800 faculty members; members of the general community, including "advanced placement" high school students, college students from surrounding areas, teachers, visiting scholars and researchers. 

Library context:

Third largest academic library in the country; 8 million volumes; 91,000 periodical subscriptions (print and online); 12 libraries on campus, one off-campus library; online catalog with automated circulation; 110 librarians; 300 support staff; Undergraduate Library has 175,000 volumes, subscribes to 250 periodicals, and provides access to all of the electronic resources available to other campus libraries through local and statewide licensing, with the exception of databases restricted to Law School and Management students and faculty. 

Instructional Problem & Existing IL Programs:

You are one of five reference/instruction librarians in the undergraduate library. Librarians all participate in an extremely heavy instructional program, including customized one-shot course-integrated sessions for 30-40 classes/10-week Quarter, as well as individual research appointments, paper point-of-use guides, various instructional Web pages, and online information literacy tutorials. Librarians also spend about 10 hours/week at the Reference Desk or on digital reference. 

Your library has been a leader in reaching out to faculty and TAs on campus regarding basic ILI for undergraduates, and in developing new and innovative forms of ILI. One librarian in your library has developed an interactive tutorial focused on plagiarism and documentation. You have been the primary developer of another general interactive IL tutorial that includes Camtasia Studio videos output as Flash movies. You have also developed and taught one-unit ILI courses for undergrads, one for upper-division students, and the other for freshmen.  With the support of the Head of your library, you have been trying to encourage other librarians to teach these and other one-unit IL courses, and you think that a "blended" course (part in-person/part online) would entice more of them to give it a try. The Head of your library is very supportive of this innovative approach and wants you to work with other librarians, faculty, grad students, and IT staff to develop a grant proposal to support it. 

 All of the librarians in the Undergraduate Library are available to assist with instruction, though at different levels and with different skills, and other partners may assist as well.

-- 
Esther Grassian
Distinguished Librarian
Adjunct Lecturer
UCLA Information Studies Dept.
 &
Information Literacy Librarian, Retired
(Formerly, UCLA College Library)
estherg@ucla.edu
Twitter: estherg
SL: Alexandria Knight
https://sites.google.com/site/esthergrassian/
https://sites.google.com/site/teachinfolit/

"K12 Digital Citizenship Wiki"

Just added to the LILi website in Grades K-5 Directories & Megasites and in Grades 6-12 Directories & Megasites, Lesley Farmer's K12 Digital Citizenship Wiki. From the Wiki site: "This site provides k12 curriculum on digital citizenship and professional development for adults working with K12 students on digital citizenship."http://k12digitalcitizenship.wikispaces.com/

"Information Literacy - Library Qualities Matrix"

Newly added category to LILi website, "Grades 6-12" page: "Rubrics": a new category to the Grades
https://sites.google.com/site/lifelonginformationliteracy/grades-6-12.

That category links to a new page labeled Rubrics, with one pdf attachment in it for now: Lydia Smith-Davis' "Information Literacy - Library Qualities Matrix":
https://sites.google.com/site/lifelonginformationliteracy/grades-6-12/rubrics

The rubric is freely available for viewing or downloading, with a Creative Commons license: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike.

Just posted to the LILi website, Grades K-5 and Grades 6-12: FREE NEA publication, "8 Classroom Disruptors: Getting Them Back on Track."

Publication opportunity...

From the ILI Listserv...

Dear colleagues,

I am writing to solicit reviewers and website suggestions for the Internet Resources Column of Public Services Quarterly. PSQ is a peer-reviewed journal covering a wide variety of public services issues in academic libraries and the Internet Resources Column features reviews of resources that would be useful to public services librarians.

The theme for the upcoming column is online learning and instruction. We want to focus on free sites that assist librarians with providing online or distance reference and instructional services, as well as sites that feature best practices or tips for librarians.

If you would like to review for the next issue, please respond to me at melissa.mallon@wichita.edu by Wednesday, September 21 with a short note about your interest and any relevant experience. If you don't have time to review for the next issue, but would be interested in being added to the pool of reviewers, please let me know. I also welcome suggestions for websites and/or column themes for future issues.

Sincerely, Melissa
--
Melissa Mallon, MLIS
Assistant Professor Research & Information Services Librarian
Liaison to English, MCLL, Philosophy, Religion,
Elliot School of Communication, and Barton School of Business (Accountancy, Management, Marketing, & FREDS) Wichita State University Libraries 1845 Fairmount Wichita, KS 67260-0068 (316) 978-5077 melissa.mallon@wichita.edu

"What teachers really want to tell parents" CNN Article

Ron Clark's September 6th CNN article provides the teacher's point of view regarding grading, student behavior, and helicopter parents.

11th Annual "Brick & Click" Conference

***Register by October 14th***

We invite you to attend the 11th Annual "Brick and Click Libraries” Symposium
November 4, 2011, Northwest Missouri State University, Maryville, MO
brickandclick.org

Why attend?
1. Stay on top of technology applications
2. Learn about best academic library practices
3. Meet other professionals
4. Get practical information to take home

Questions?
Go to http://bit.ly/contactBC
or call (660) 562-1846.

Hope to see you at Brick & Click!
Kathy Hart and Carolyn Johnson

Coordinators, Brick & Click Libraries
brickandclick.org
Northwest Missouri State University
B.D. Owens Library
800 University Drive
Maryville, MO 64468

Digital Divide

From a tweet...

The digital divide is still with us, according to a Seattle librarian.

Redesign: "Teach IL..." & LILi websites

I mentioned in a previous post that I had moved all of the content from the LILi (Lifelong Information Literacy group) LibGuide and my “Teach Information Literacy & Critical Thinking!” LibGuide to Google Sites websites when I retired from the UCLA Library at the end of June. But I’m still learning how to use Google Sites, and have finally figured out how to create navigation tabs at the top of each page, similar to the tabs utilized in LibGuides, rather than having user-unfriendly very long and skinny navigation sidebars. I hope this will make these sites easier to use and more helpful, though you still need to scroll down to the bottom of each page to see links to subpages.

As a reminder, on the "Teach Information Literacy..." site, I’ve mounted many of my materials (slide shows, handouts, etc.) in the “For Librarians” page, all freely available for downloading and adaptation, under a Creative Commons license: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike.

The LILi Google Site includes downloadable minutes, as well as information and materials from LILi projects and research.

I hope this is helpful and would appreciate any suggestions for improvement (see contact information below). Thank you!

Best,
Esther
--
Esther Grassian
Information Literacy Librarian, Retired
UCLA College Library
estherg@ucla.edu
SL: Alexandria Knight
Twitter: estherg
Skype: egrassian
https://sites.google.com/site/esthergrassian/

RSVP for This Saturday: AAUW workshops in Second Life

From... S. Collingwood collingwood.7@osu.edu

The American Association of University Women's lecture series in Second Life will be starting up again this week with a series of workshops on conducting group meetings in virtual worlds. If you have been thinking of starting a group, establishing meetings or seminars or teaching in virtual worlds, these free workshops should be useful to you. The workshops will be held at Minerva, the research and study space for the Department of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Ohio State University.

The workshops are at the beginner level; you may wish to take only one, or you may attend all three. If you feel insecure about your avatar skills you can attend an informal orientation session in the hour preceding the workshop. During the workshops you will be given a set of free and customizable tools; you will be shown how to use these tools (written instructions are also included in your toolkit) and you will have the time to practice with them.


Checklist for joining a workshop:

(1) Check to be sure your system can run Second Life (most can).
http://secondlife.com/support/system-requirements/

(2) Join Second Life: https://join.secondlife.com/?lang=en-US
A premium (paid) account is unnecessary. We will not be using the Second Life viewer in our workshops.

(3) Download the Phoenix Firestorm viewer: http://www.phoenixviewer.com/
We will be using the Firestorm viewer because it has a simpler interface. There are other viewers; if you prefer to use another viewer, please be sure you are familiar with it.

(4) Unsure of your avatar skills? If you would like to practice before the workshops begin, you are welcome to use Minerva Island, it's a very quiet place to work or study, and it is open to the public:
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Minerva/46/225/28

(5) E-mail Sharon Collingwood (collingwood.7@osu.edu) to reserve a space in the workshops. Please include your name and avatar name.


Workshop 1: BUILDING COMMUNITY

Saturday, August 13 at 4pm Eastern Time (1pm Pacific)
There will be an informal orientation session in the hour preceding the workshop.

To attend:
1. click this link http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Minerva/46/225/28

2. open the link using the Phoenix Firestorm viewer
(see instructions on our events page http://bit.ly/1tnCb1)

In this first workshop we'll cover basic avatar skills (moving around, looking around, communication), then discuss how communities grow in virtual worlds. We'll practice setting up a group and discuss how to use groups in networking, then look at some of the tools for membership management. We'll conclude with a tour of the Garden for Change, which replicates an award-winning garden built by volunteers from homeless shelters for the Chelsea flower show in 2010.


Workshop 2: USING SIMPLE TOOLS

Saturday, August 20 at 4pm Eastern Time (1pm Pacific)
There will be an informal orientation session in the hour preceding the workshop.

To attend:
1. click this link http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Minerva/46/225/28

2. open the link using the Phoenix Firestorm viewer
(see instructions on our events page http://bit.ly/1tnCb1)

We'll review what was done in the first workshop, then you will be given some simple tools to facilitate a group discussion. We'll practice with these, then conclude with a tour of the Path of Support on Health Info Island, which features over 100 of the many active health peer support groups in Second Life.


Workshop 3: SIMPLE BUILDING FOR EVENTS

Saturday, August 27 at 4pm Eastern Time (1pm Pacific)
There will be an informal orientation session in the hour preceding the workshop.

To attend:
1. click this link http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Minerva/46/225/28

2. open the link using the Phoenix Firestorm viewer
(see instructions on our events page http://bit.ly/1tnCb1)

In this final workshop we'll practice what we have learned, then go over some simple techniques for creating objects to facilitate gatherings. You will be given a collection of open source seating arrangements for large and small gatherings, and instructed on how to manage them. We will conclude with a tour of the Plush Nonprofit Commons, an archipelago of islands in Second Life housing social benefit organizations from around the globe.

Updated LILi Google Sites website

The new LILi website has been updated with links and comments by Kitty Lucero regarding information literacy assessment instruments.

New LILi Google Sites Website

The LILi (Lifelong Information Literacy) group has a new website.

Please send questions or comments to: estherg@ucla.edu

New Google Sites Website: "Teach IL & Critical Thinking!"

Esther Grassian has retired from the UCLA Library (as of June 30, 2011), and has moved all content from the "Teach Information Literacy & Critical Thinking!" LibGuide to a new FREE Google Sites website with the same title.

Check the Sitemap or the left column of that website for links to content, especially under "S. For Librarians."

Please send questions or comments to estherg@ucla.edu

Thank you!

An open letter to LAUSD

An open letter to LAUSD from Ned Fielden, California Academic and Research Libraries Association (CARL) President, and the CARL Executive Board.

LAUSD Lawyers Grill Teacher-Librarians

In a lengthy and very moving blog post, Mizz Murphy describes how LAUSD lawyers are grilling laid-off Teacher-Librarians protesting the ruling that does not allow them to return to classroom teaching. This is a must-read! Scroll down to read scenarios.