LARK Show&Tell online--How to join

When:

Thursday, 23 June 2016 at 8:00 PM AUS Eastern Standard Time.

How to join:

go to https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/553545621

Use your microphone and speakers (VoIP) - a headset is recommended.  Or, call in using your telephone.

Dial +61 2 8355 1034

Access Code: 553-545-621

Audio PIN: Shown after joining the meeting

Meeting ID: 553-545-621

Not at your computer? Click the link to join this meeting from your iPhone®, iPad®, Android® or Windows Phone® device via the GoToMeeting app.

A group of LARKs tested the system. Nice and easy.

LARK Show & Tell online

By Suzana Sukovic

The next LARK meeting is going be online. 
Time: 23 June 2016, 8 pm AEST (Sydney-Melbourne-Canberra time)

It is finally an opportunity for geographically dispersed people to hear from each other.

We would like to have a series of 10 minute presentations in which practice-based researchers will present their current or recent project. We are particularly interested in finding out what helped you to include research in your daily work.

Applied research in the library and information sector, GLAM and education, and academic projects closely related to or with strong implications for the LIS practice are all of interest.

Please complete this form if you wish to tell us about your project.

DUE: 16 June 2016, 9 am AEST

Design thinking #EBLIPRG

#EBLIPRG (Evidence Based Library and Information Practice Reading Group) had a meeting yesterday when we discussed an article on design thinking. Our facilitator, Kristy Newton, saved the chat in Storify.

For anyone interested in the #EBLIPRG discussion from yesterday: https://t.co/CWFoQSURgF (ping @zaana @katiedavis)

— Kristy Newton (@librariano) May 27, 2016

Library stories that influence – taking advocacy from the LIS classroom to professional practice

Fiona Salisbury looks at two research papers which show that, when it comes to defending their work, LIS professionals can successfully use the accessible technique of storytelling to get their message across. And when storytelling is combined with evidence, advocacy can be even more successful.


Successful advocacy requires effective storytelling to influence outcomes. This is the underlying premise of Judi Moreillon and Ruth Nicole Hall’s 2015 investigation into LIS graduate student candidates’
use of digital tools to develop and disseminate advocacy stories. They analysed students’ assignments in the subject ‘The Art of Storytelling’ in the School of Library and Information Studies at Texas Woman’s
University. This subject builds student competency in storytelling as a foundational skill for successful advocacy. It provides a framework for developing the story, creating the story using digital channels, seeking feedback, revising the story and reflecting on the story. Their case study highlights the importance for librarians of developing storytelling skills. Storytelling provides an accessible approach to advocacy, whether the purpose is strategic campaigning or everyday influencing. 

Moreillon and Hall’s (2015)  findings suggest that the storytelling assignment strengthened students’ library values and increased their ability to advocate for those values and use social media tools to do so. All but one of the 21 students involved responded to the post-assignment survey, and detailed content analysis of three assignments was undertaken. The authors conclude that it may not be possible to generalise the results because of the small number of assignments analysed. However, they indicate that the students became better prepared to tell effective advocacy stories. As passionate storytellers, they were able to demonstrate the value of library services and programs. For current practitioners the value of this study is its emphasis on storytelling as a way for all library staff to become effective advocates. It was also a reminder that continual reflection throughout the advocacy process is vital. 

Advocacy stories need to be backed up by evidence. Debra Kachel (2015) explores this by taking a very practical approach to using data as a critical component of successful advocacy. Her ‘talking points’ are stories that focus on what is meaningful for different stakeholders. Her five steps to turn research results into talking points, which are similar to Moreillon and Hall’s conclusions, included identifying the position, knowing the audience, being concise and compelling, putting the student first, and following up. 

To demonstrate how this works Kachel (2015) provides an example that takes state-based research data, matches it with what library communities care about at the local level, and translates it into a compelling story. While the example is specifically aimed at school libraries, the method is easily transferable to any library environment and could be used as a starting point by all librarians who are interested in a simple method for integrating data into advocacy work. 

Both these articles cited a focus on the importance of advocacy skills as an essential part of professional practice and that good advocacy is about stories and evidence. Most importantly, it is about telling stories about what libraries do well to set the scene for future successes.

From ALIA collection:
Kachel, D. (2015). ‘Using research in talking points and elevator speeches’. Teacher Librarian, 43(1), 36–40.
Moreillon, J., & Hall, R. N. (2014). ‘Digital advocacy stories: A pedagogical tool for communicating and strengthening library values’. Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, 55(2), 100-111.

Image https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Advocacy_Logo.png 

This article was first published in Incite (March-April 2016)

Fiona Salisbury, AALIA
Member of the ALIA Research Advisory Committee
Deputy Director, Learning and Teaching, Library, La Trobe University
f.salisbury@latrobe.edu.au

#EBLIPRG 26 May

Design thinking is the topic of the next Evidence Based Library and Information Practice Reading Group meeting on Twitter. Kristy Newton, facilitator of this meeting, forwarded the following details.

WHEN? 

Thursday, 26 May 4pm AEST (Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne). Use hashtag #EBLIPRG

ARTICLE 

Howard, Zaana & Davis, Kate (2011) From solving puzzles to designing solutions : integrating design thinking into evidence based practice. Evidence Based Library and Information Practice, 6(4), pp. 15-21.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. How does integrating design thinking with EBLIP have the potential to help libraries solve ‘wicked problems”?

2. What are some of the ‘wicked problems’ that you have experienced professionally that would benefit from this approach?

3. Have you used design thinking, and if so, how successful was it in a library context?

4. Do the two methods complement each other, or are literature-focused and human-focused approaches at odds with each other?

5. In the final paragraph, the authors invite organisations to test their hybrid model in practice. How do you see it working in your particular professional context?

Everyone is welcome to join @librariano and #EBLIPRG

 

Information literacy #EBLIPRG

By Suzana Sukovic
 
Evidence Based Library and Information Reading Group on Twitter (#EBLIPRG) had two great rounds of discussion about information literacy. If you would like to see what people said and follow some excellent links, see a Storify version of our discussions.

Yesterday's discussion was about the new ACRL Information Literacy Framework. The facilitator, Karen Miller, provided links and discussion starters in the previous post on this blog. Fiona Jones has prepared Storify

As promised my #Storify story "#EBLIPRG Tweet chat ACRL info lit framework" https://t.co/uv05FhSJDS

— Fiona Jones (@FionaJ_Lib) April 28, 2016

Our March discussion focused on issues of information proficiency - see details shared before the meeting and Storify below.

You've been quoted in my #Storify story "#EBLIPRG 31 Mar 2016 8pm AEDT #LARK" https://t.co/7DLNUmSyr2

— Suzana Sukovic (@suzanasukovic) March 31, 2016

Thanks to everyone who contributed! It was informative and good fun.

Now we need a volunteer to facilitate the next meeting on 26 May. Let us know via #EBLIPRG on Twitter or the LARK contact form (left hand side of the screen) if you want to give it a go. 

#EBLIPRG 28 April

#EBLIPRG (Evidence Based Library and Information Practice Reading Group) is meeting again on Twitter.

WHEN? Thursday 28 April at 4 pm AEST (Sydney-Canberra-Melbourne).

HOW TO JOIN? Use #EBLIPRG on Twitter and start chatting. Also check the LARK Diigo group (link on the left-hand side menu) for some useful tools and suggestions how to discuss on Twitter (tag "Twitter").

 Topic: The ACRL Information Literacy Framework

Today’s higher education environment has seen rapid changes in the information ecosystem, resulting in new roles and responsibilities for students, faculty and librarians. Are traditional information literacy frameworks still relevant or useful in this environment?

The new ACRL Information literacy framework, which was formalised earlier in 2016, is a set of six core concepts or frames that offers a different way of approaching the design and implementation of information literacy programs.

Authority Is Constructed and Contextual

Information Creation as a Process

Information Has Value

Research as Inquiry

Scholarship as Conversation

Searching as Strategic Exploration

See the link above to read the Framework, which consists of a description of each concept and two additional elements provided for each concept - ‘knowledge practices’ and ‘dispositions’.

 If you would like to read some commentary on the Framework, I recommend this article:

Ian Beilin, (2015) Beyond the Threshold: Conformity, Resistance, and the ACRL Information Literacy Framework for Higher Education. In the Library with the Lead Pipe.

 

Abstract

The recently adopted ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education has generated much critique and discussion, including many important reflections on the nature of information literacy and librarianship itself. This article provides a brief consideration of some of these responses and as well a critique of the Framework from the perspective of critical information literacy. It argues that although the Framework demonstrably opens up possibilities for an information literacy instruction that encourages students to question the power structures and relations that shape information production and consumption, it nonetheless rests on a theoretical foundation at odds with that goal. It urges librarians to embrace the Framework yet also resist it, in the tradition of critical librarians who have practiced resistance to the instrumentalization of the library for neoliberal ends.

 

Questions for the Tweet Chat

• Is there a need for a rethink of ‘traditional’ information literacy frameworks?


• What is your response to the ACRL framework?


• How does the ACRL framework extend the boundaries of what and how librarians teach?


• How can the framework guide the redesign of information literacy programs?


• What are the pros and cons of the ACRL framework?


• What particular concerns or issues raised in the article stand out for you?


• What are the research opportunities for practitioner-research around this topic?

See you on Twitter!

Karen Miller

@infoliterati