Community of Practice meeting 14.5.14 – a few points

Just a few key points below from the CofP meeting on the 14^th May. Proper minutes to follow.

Discussion about encouraging participation in blogging. We need to focus discussion more and perhaps blog around themes, such as articles posted for comment. Also more use of Twitter

Kirsten Urquhart from Young Scot gave a presentation about the work of Young Scot and its services including the National Entitlement Card which as 543,000 holders. Impact and engagement and collaborative working with other organisation were key themes and the use of social media and digital participation.  The presentation generated plenty of discussion

A good deal of the meeting was taken up with discussing the recently published ‘Spreading the benefits of digital participation report, available to download at http://www.royalsoced.org.uk/1136_FinalReport.html. The report was warmly welcomed by everybody containing as it does numerous references to the role of the LIS sector. Information literacy is explained and mechanisms for the development of IL skills are recommended to the Scottish Government. It is a powerful advocacy tool and can be used by many sectors with the LIS world. It even has a section on workplace information literacy and recommends IL skills training for school teachers which goes beyond what I had expected.  After discussion it was decided that the best way forward would be a conference which would include speakers from outside the LIS sector

Representation on Holyrood Cross Party Groups was discussed and members were encouraged to become members of relevant groups to promote the IL agenda. The Cross Party Group on Digital Participation is the obvious one but the Adult Education Group also presents opportunities.

Meeting timings- it was felt that 1.30-3.30 approximately would be more appropriate. The provisional date of the next meeting is Wednesday 12^th November

John Crawford

Digital Participation Framework

Further to John's blog,,

 I recently (Wednesday 7th May) sent the e-mail below to the central enquiries unit of the Scottish Government http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Contacts

Can I please encourage others to place similar enquiries: I am most concerned that the success we have achieved by getting Information Literacy in the RSE report will not translate into Government action or policy unless we continue pressing for it to happen

thank you

Ian

"Dear Sir/Madam

I have been reading the above Framework http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2014/04/6821/downloads with interest and am pleased to see that it incorporates some of the recommendations from the interim Royal Society of Edinburgh report “Spreading the benefits of digital participation” .

I recently attended the launch in Edinburgh of the final report of the RSE, which has some important new sections added since the interim report was published.

I am keen to know therefore whether the final report will form the basis, either for an amendment to the national framework; or if not, how the important conclusions from the final report will be taken forward by the Scottish Government and would very much appreciate your assistance with this key question

Thank you

Yours faithfully

Ian McCracken

Govan High School

12 Ardnish St

Glasgow G51 4NB

IMcCracken@govanhigh.glasgow.sch.uk

0141-582-0090

Digital Participation Framework

The Scottish Government has just launched a new strategy outlining how digital technology can be used to tackle inequalities and benefit communities across the country

The National Digital Participation Framework for Local Action maps out how helping people to get online and become confident users of the internet can open up new possibilities in healthcare, education and economic development. It also details how anyone can access support and training on digital skills at home, at work and in communities.

The press release very much focuses on the voluntary sector although there seems to be a role for libraries here.

The press release can be found at http://news.scotland.gov.uk/News/Strategy-maps-out-net-gains-bc8.aspx

The National Digital Participation Framework for Local Action can be found at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2014/04/6821

The executive summary says:

The National Framework for Local Action sets out how Scottish Government is working in partnership with public, private and third sector organisations to ensure that all sections of Scottish society are able to make confident use of digital technologies and the internet. The document makes it clear that digital technology cannot be allowed to reinforce social and economic inequalities. Actions will remove barriers to digital participation, tackle inequalities, help people to engage with online public services and provide opportunities to develop skills required for active digital citizens. The approach is based on a national collaborative movement with those organisations and agencies closest to the people who need help to get online.

Libraries are only briefly mentioned and the RSE’s recently published study is referred to and there are rather a lot of case studies. It will be interesting to see where this goes

There is a parallel UK document and the Society of Chief Librarians appears as a partner so presumably they are on the case.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-digital-inclusion-strategy/uk-digital-inclusion-charter

John Crawford

SMIRK a new information literacy resource for use with mobile devices

SMIRK is now live at http://www.gcu.ac.uk/library/SMILE/SMIRK/Start.html

SMIRK stands for small mobile information literacy realworld knowledge. It is an information literacy and communication skills resource developed especially for use with tablets and smartphones. It is developed from SMILE, but has simplified content and structure. SMIRK is completely free for everyone to use and has no login.

Please have a go! I would really appreciate your feedback (contact m.kelt@gcu.ac.uk) on the content and usability of our new resource!

Enjoy!

Marion Kelt

LILAC 2014 key note - Alison Head / Project Information Literacy

Alison J. Head, Ph.D. is a Research Scientist in the University of Washington’s Information School and a Faculty Associate at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. She is the founder and director of Project Information Literacy (PIL), an ongoing research study in the US that has investigated how college students conceptualize and operationalize research tasks for course work and “everyday life” use. Since 2008, Alison and her team of PIL researchers have interviewed and surveyed over 13,000 undergraduates at 57 US four-year public and private universities and colleges and two-year community colleges. In 2013, Library Journal named PIL one of the “Big Four Research Studies” about library users. PIL is available at: http://projectinfolit.org/

Alison is a good speaker and many of her findings resonated with my findings from 2005. 

Her presentation Truth Be Told: How Today’s Students Conduct Research is now available along with the other LILAC 2014 presentation