Meet 'Keynote Insights' speakers, Margy MacMillan & Tanya Notley

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Information, disinformation, and misinformation spread on social media within hours, if not minutes. The first year of the pandemic amplified what was already there as the world intensified its digital life. In the process, questions about the way we engage with avalanches of information and online stories became more pressing than ever. The exposure of young people to the astonishing amount and range of information has become a priority issue.

LARK is delighted to provide an opportunity to discuss these pressing issues with two experts in the fields of information and media. Professor Emerita Margy MacMillan and Dr Tanya Notley bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to consider questions about information and media, and provide some answers. Both have conducted a series of research studies involving children, teenagers and university students, and provided resources to inform educational practice. Keynote Insights at LARK’s symposium will be an opportunity to hear about their insights and engage in a discussion about the issues.

LARK would also like to use the opportunity to congratulate Margy MacMillan and the team working on the Project Information Literacy on the most recent award. ACRL (Association of College and Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association) announced yesterday that the IS Ilene F. Rockman Instruction Publication of the Year Award was granted to ‘Alison J. Head, Barbara Fister, and Margy MacMillan for their report “Information Literacy in the Age of Algorithms: Student Experiences with News and Information, and the Need for Change,” published in 2020 by the Project Information Literacy Research Institute’. Congratulations on a well-deserved recognition! 

We can’t wait to hear about our presenters’ insights and comparisons of findings from two continents. 

News and the American college student: Translating research in news literacy into developing student agency

Professor Emerita Margy Macmillan 

Project Information Literacy (PIL) has studied the academic, professional, and personal information practices of American postsecondary students for over a decade. In 2017, we turned our attention to news literacy, surveying nearly 6,000 students from 11 U.S. colleges and universities. Challenging the myth of “apathetic youth”, the overwhelming majority engaged with multiple news sources daily to keep up with the world around them. For them, news was a form of social capital and being able to participate in peer discussions was worth the extra time and effort required to monitor, find, verify (sometimes), and share news with others. There was a marked contrast, however, between the high value students placed on news and the low status many professors accorded it. Students clearly used different sources of news for their academic and personal needs, and their comments revealed a range of news literacy strategies but very little formal instruction. While many faculty may be comfortable discussing the merits of peer-reviewed articles, we suspect fewer are familiar with the construction of news and its audiences.  Building on empirical results from our news study, we wrote up our recent study of COVID news coverage in the U.S. In turning news about the pandemic into a subject of study, we hoped to scaffold teaching a deeper engagement with news across disciplines. Building students’ agency in asking deeper questions about the news is critical to developing more discerning information habits they can apply across their academic and personal lives.

Margy Macmillan is a Professor Emerita at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Canada, and Senior Researcher for Project Information Literacy (PIL). She worked in academic libraries for thirty years, and conducted research in information literacy and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (IL) before joining PIL in 2017, where she has collaborated on three recent studies: ‘How Students Engage with News’ (2018), ‘Information Literacy in the Age of Algorithms’ (2020), and ‘Covid-19: The first 100 days of U.S. news coverage’(2020). Working at PIL with a phenomenal multidisciplinary team, has provided the opportunity to participate in projects that span institutions and explore beyond higher education into societal aspects of information literacy. Since 2009, PIL has conducted 12 major studies based on interview and survey data from more than 21,000 students at 93 U.S. colleges and universities. 

Young Australians’ socially-mediated news engagement: exploring the implications for civic engagement

Dr Tanya Notley 

In a series of research projects I have examined the news practices and experiences a young Australian’s aged 8-16 years as well as their aspirations for change. One of the key findings from this research is that young people’s news consumption has become far more socially-mediated – that is, it is obtained more often through someone they know, or through social media. In this talk I argue that young people’s socially-mediated news engagement has contributed to a more expansive understanding of what constitutes news when compared with previous generations, and this is likely to be altering young people’s expectations of news and their trust in news media, while also challenging the historic relationship that has existed between news consumption and civic engagement. I argue that we need to stop assuming that young people’s news practices will change when they become adults and rather than telling young people what news sources they should rely on, educators can focus on supporting young people to critically analyse and engage with whatever news they encounter, regardless of the context. By meeting young people where they are at, media and information literacy education can be used to expand the civic engagement benefits and opportunities that are provided by their socially-mediated news engagement.

Tanya Notley is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Humanities and Communication Arts and a member of the Institute for Culture and Society at Western Sydney University. Tanya is currently a researcher on a number of media literacy and digital inclusion projects and she has published widely on these topics. In 2017-2020 she led the Advancing the News Media Literacy of Young Australians project. She also has extensive industry experience working in the areas of media literacy, human rights and social justice and she continues to collaborate with organisations working to address these needs. Tanya is the Deputy Chair of the Australian Media Literacy Alliance (AMLA).

Dr Suzana Sukovic for the Organising Committee

LARK Symposium 2021

LARK is delighted to announce the online symposium Information for Learning. Most of the program was prepared last year, just before lockdown. But, as it turned out, it is even more relevant now when information, misinformation and learning in all its forms are ongoing foci of attention. With the program encompassing different approaches to the topic, we believe there is something for everyone interested in developments on the intersection between information and learning.

See details on our Symposium page.

 

LARK 2020 Symposium CfP

22 April 2020 - Presbyterian Ladies College, Sydney (Australia)

CfP EXTENDED TILL FRIDAY 28 FEBRUARY

We live in times of transformation in knowledge-related fields, as well as increasing interest in lifelong learning in its many forms. Many changes are ignited by the proliferation of information and new ways in which we interact with information. The existence of scholarly and professional groups such as ASIS&T’s InfoLearn, situated at the intersection between information and learning sciences, points to a growing need to revise disciplinary boundaries and consider new areas of investigation. In practice, librarians enable and support new forms of learning every day, and often gather evidence of emerging trends. 

LARK wishes to explore research and practice in learning and information. We invite submissions of paper proposals to be presented at the symposium 'Information for learning'. We welcome submissions from researchers in the field of library and information studies, education, IT and other allied disciplines. 

The proposed papers need to be based on research in practice, or academic research with clear implications for practice. Potential topics include:

• Information behaviour during formal and informal learning
• Learning and information design for particular outcomes
• Development and assessment of information skills
• Design of information systems to support learning
• Organisational challenges involving learning and information in the workplace.

We invite written proposals for: 

• Short papers (10 minutes) - typically, presentations on work in progress and small practice-based research projects
• Long papers (20 minutes) - papers presenting results of finished projects.

INSTRUCTIONS
Proposal length - around 300 words excluding references
Indication whether it is for a short or long paper
Please send your proposals to lark.kollektive@gmail.com by 21 February 2020. 

Proposals will be reviewed by the Organising Committee and successful applicants will be notified by 2 March. Presenters are required to register for the event.

REGISTRATION
The symposium will be a whole day event held at the Presbyterian Ladies College, Croydon Sydney. Registrations will be open early in March. Presenters are required to register for the event.

Expected registration cost
ALIA members $100
Non-members $130

REGISTRATION GRANTS
We wish to encourage attendance by library and information students, and colleagues outside Sydney. We will offer several grants to cover the registration cost. Once the registration is open, we will invite grant submissions. The priority will be given to: 

Professionals from rural and remote areas
Full-time library and information students
Indigenous library and information workers and students

We will ask for 

• Proof of regional or remote address and/or current full-time student status
• Letter of recommendation: 

• STUDENTS - from an academic staff who taught the applicant during their current course of library and information studies

• EMPLOYED APPLICANTS - from the current supervisor

• INDEPENDENT PROFESSIONALS - from an academic staff or former work supervisor.

KEY DATES
21 February - paper submission closed
2 March - authors of successful paper submissions notified
Early March - registrations and grant submissions open

ORGANISING COMMITTEE
Dr Suzana Sukovic - Director of Research and Library Services, PLC Sydney
Ms Janet Chelliah - Scholarly Information Manager, UTS Library
Dr Mary Anne Kennan - Associate Professor, Charles Sturt University
Mr Edward Luca - Manager Academic Services (Medicine and Health), The University of Sydney Library

Information Awareness Month

May is Information Awareness Month, an annual event highlighting the importance of information and its place in all aspects of daily life. The Data and Information Management Services Unit, the City of Sydney, is hosting a networking and morning tea event to mark Information Awareness Month on the 13^th May. The event will feature displays and presentations on innovation with information through technology, design, open access and governance.

The City of Sydney invites you to come along and hear from the guest speaker, Mel Flanagan from Nook. Mel has a background as a creative storyteller and has worked across government agencies to innovate information access, developing participatory design, her work includes global open government and data sharing.  You can register for this event at Eventbrite.

LARK at ALIA Information Online Conference

Calling all LARKs attending the ALIA Information Online Conference, come along to the meet-up (Thu 14 Feb, 12:15 – 1:30). Bring your lunch and meet members new and old and get involved while we discuss what 2019 has in store for the Library Applied Research Kollektive (LARK).

Details

When: Thursday 14 February 2019, 12:15 -1:30

Where: Meet at the conference information desk, level 2

Who: All who are interested in research in practice and attending ALIA information Online

Do I bring anything? Interest, ideas and your lunch!

Come along to this informal catch up to share your ideas of what you’d like to see and contribute, and become part of the group.

See you there LARKs!

LARK meetup

By Suzana Sukovic

LARK is getting ready for its last event this year. We invite librarians, colleagues who work in information roles, educators, students, and anyone else interested in practice-based research to join the meetup.

It will be an informal meeting to network and talk about our research in practice. We have three speakers to kick-start our conversation. We’ll start with discussions about two projects. Edward Luca, librarian at the University of Sydney, will talk about his experience with developing a service charter for systematic review support, and Paul Jewel, librarian at the University of Western Sydney will discuss an information literacy research project. Jamaica Eisner, Research Officer at HETI (Health Education and Training Insitute) will share her experience as a practice-based researcher.
After the meeting, we’ll continue conversations over dinner. 

We hope you can join us.

When: Monday 29 October, 6-7.30 pm
Where: Sydney University, Fisher Library, Seminar Room 218

Register your interest on Eventbrite

Librarians as researchers: capacity building @Deakin University Library

By Rickie Morey

Deakin University Library’s liaison librarian capacity building program began in 2014 as the Training and Development Program. The program is developed and coordinated by the Library’s Research Services team and Learning and Teaching team. Each round is structured to meet the specific professional development needs of Deakin’s liaison librarians and scaffolds their skills and knowledge development. At the beginning of 2018, the program evolved to become the Liaison Librarian Learning and Research Forum.

Each year features eight sessions run every month from April to November. Each session focuses on a specific learning or research related topic. All of the training topics were designed around an annual training needs analysis. The program is evaluated and reviewed annually to meet liaison librarians’ changing professional development needs.

This infographic shows the range of topics covered from April 2014 to June 2018:

If you would like to read more in-depth about this program, please follow up the papers written by the Manager of the Library’s Research Services team, Sabina Robertson:

• ‘Developing leaders for the digital age: capacity building for liaison librarians @Deakin University’ was presented at the 2016 ALIA National Conference:
• A more recent paper was published in the Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management titled ‘Exploring the efficacy of training and development for liaison librarians at Deakin University, Australia’. 

The focus of the presentation we delivered for the LARK webinar was around the learning circles program conducted as part of the Liaison Librarian Training and Development program in 2016. In 2016, one of the priorities of the program was identified as developing liaison librarians’ knowledge and capacity in conducting original research. The learning objectives included the following: 

• Understanding the principles and process of managing research ethics 
• Designing research projects 
• Collecting and reviewing data
• Communicating research through internal reporting or external publishing. 

The learning circles model was selected to facilitate this particular learning experience. 

Characteristics of the model

Organic and open 

• A group of people come together with a shared interest and a shared project/task to achieve.

Collaborative and participatory 

• In a learning circle, group members take on the collective responsibility to complete the shared task/project. 
• Based on their individual interests and skills, each group member takes on a distributed leadership role, which contributes to the collective completion of the task. 
• Participants as leaders, leaders as participants.

Reflective and reciprocal

• Group members work as equal partners to share, discuss and reflect on ideas based on mutual respect.

Also presented during the LARK webinar was a case study of Deakin liaison librarians using the learning circle model to conduct original research. This is a brief timeline of events of how the learning circle group I was involved with went about conducting their research. 

Timeline

April to July 2016

• Learning circle groups were formed and our group immediately started brainstorming a topic of interest to all of us and outlining what we needed to do to draft a research proposal. 
• Two of the liaison librarians in the group worked with creative arts academics and had an interest in designing a study that included a visual arts methodology. 
• We decided to target academic staff so as to focus the study on one particular group. 
• We formed the idea to collect data about what academics thought of liaison librarians. This was joined with the initial idea of a visual arts methodology and the proposal developed that we collect data from artefacts created by participants. 
• After doing a literature review we established that this would be a unique way to collect data and would produce more original responses from academics, as opposed to what we could have collected using a method like surveys or face to face interviews. 
• Ultimately we decided to invite academic staff to attend a focus group where they would create an artefact, then talk through their creation. That would be our research data.

During the first few months of the project, tasks were divided up among the team of six, which included drafting how to recruit participants, designing the focus group activities, completing the project ethics application, completing the research proposal, conducting a thorough literature review and proof-reading everything. 

We had the opportunity to consult with academic staff from the School of Education about how the design of the study was progressing and received valuable guidance from them about the direction the study and how to work with participants to gather the data we needed.

August to October 2016

We spent this time planning the focus groups, thinking about how the creative activity will be managed, and how to go about interpreting the data. We decided to analyse themes that emerged in the artefacts and participant discussion and to use NVivo to manage the analysis.

November 2016

In November we conducted two pilot focus groups with colleagues where much was learned, including asking participants to jot down some keywords before they start producing their artefact, to get the creative juices flowing; have some peaceful music playing; and have refreshments available for participants. Then over a two week period the focus groups were conducted with academic staff.

With the end of year upheaval, other commitments happening, and staff leave, our project was temporarily set aside until everyone was back at work during late January 2017.

January 2017

Towards the end of January our data analysis began. We had recorded the focus group responses with a digital audio-recorder. These files were exported to NVivo and we used the transcription function of NVivo to manually transcribe each focus group. We then interrogated the transcripts to identify themes and used NVivo’s features to map those themes. Themes were brought together from across the different focus groups, and organised into sections when drafting the report on the study. 

By July our report was completed and submitted to the Managers of the Client Services division at Deakin University Library. The group then took a well-earned break from the project!

November 2017

In November three team members showcased the project at the annual CRIG Seminar in Melbourne, which was quite special because it was the first chance we had to talk about the project with other library and information professionals outside Deakin.

One of our group members is a photographer when she isn’t a liaison librarian and was able to take magnificent photos of the artefacts. With these fascinating visual works, we also did some visual analysis of a selection of the artefacts. The main analysis was looking at the comments made by each participant when they were talking about their artefact, but the visual analysis was us interrogating an artefact for particular elements (for example, how the space of the A3 piece of paper was used by the participant, what materials they selected, what colours, and generally how they used the materials available to them to create a representation).

January to May 2018

I began drafting a journal article based on our report. Our photographer took more stylistic photographs of the artefacts to use for publishing. We spent a few months drafting our journal article and finally began our submission process in May. Now we are in the ‘watch-this-space’ phase while we await publication.

Lastly, in August I will be speaking about the outcomes of this study in a lightning talk at the Asia-Pacific Library and Information Conference on Tuesday 31st. Please come and say hello if you are attending the conference!

Rickie Morey, Research Librarian, Deakin University Library

Co-presented the webinar with Linlin Zhao, Research Librarian, Deakin University Library