LILAC 2006

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LILAC 2006

• The place for
• weblogs and RSS newsfeeds
• in information skills instruction.
• Kara Jones
• Subject Librarian
• Mathematics, Computer Sciences,
• Biology Biochemistry
• University of Bath
• K.L.Jones_at_bath.ac.uk

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Overview
RSS Newsfeed features
Weblog features
Information Literacy Competencies
Building into IL Instruction
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Weblogs

• A blog is a website in which journal entries are
  posted on a regular basis and typically displayed
  in reverse chronological order. The term blog is
  a shortened form of weblog or web log.
  (Wikipedia 2006)

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Weblog features

• Reflective tools
• Highlighting a path of progression
• Strengthening evaluation skills
• Being prepared to respond
• Improving written communication skills
• Ease of acknowledging sources online
• Community building
• Maturing with incorporation into more scholarly
  platforms

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RSS newsfeed functions

• RSS newsfeeds push technology
• An alerting service that pushes information
  updates to you from websites youve selected to
  your desktop
• Feedreader / aggregator
• RSS
• Really Simple Syndication
• Rich Site Summary
• RDF Site Summary
• ATOM

XML file formats for syndicating web content.
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RSS Newsfeed features

• RSS newsfeeds on regularly updated websites
• Feedreaders manage and read feeds
• Tools for organising new information into
  manageable chunks
• Delivered to your desktop into folders
• Used for keeping up to date

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Information Literacy frameworks

• CILIP Information Literacy the skills
• http//www.cilip.org.uk/professionalguidance/infor
  mationliteracy/definition/skills.htm
• ACRL Information Literacy Standards for Science
  and Technology (draft)
• http//www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlstandards/infolits
  citech.htm
• CILIP Chartered Institute of Library and
  Information Professionals
• ACRL Association of College and Research
  Libraries ALA

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CILIP Information Literacy skills

• This definition implies several skills. We
  believe that the skills (or competencies) that
  are required to be information literate require
  an understanding of
• a need for information
• the resources available
• how to find information
• the need to evaluate results
• how to work with or exploit results
• ethics and responsibility of use
• how to communicate or share your findings
• how to manage your findings.

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CILIP Information Literacy skills

• This definition implies several skills. We
  believe that the skills (or competencies) that
  are required to be information literate require
  an understanding of
• a need for information
• the resources available
• how to find information
• the need to evaluate results
• how to work with or exploit results
• ethics and responsibility of use
• how to communicate or share your findings
• how to manage your findings.

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ACRL IL Standards for Science and Technology
(draft)

• Standard Three
• PI 6 Validates understanding and interpretation
  of the information through discourse with other
  individuals, small groups or teams, subject-area
  experts, and/or practitioners.
• Standard Five
• The information literate students recognises the
  need to keep current regarding new developments
  in his or her field.

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Building into IL instruction
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Building into IL instruction

• Features of weblogs and RSS newsfeeds
• Match to Information Literacy Competencies
• Delivery within Information Literacy instruction
• Specific classes on Keeping up to date
• Workshops on New scholarly communication trends
• Advanced general induction classes
• Placed within the Information Life Cycle

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Information Lifecycle
Used with permission Curtin University Library
and Information Service, 2005
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Info lifecycle stages

• 1 Ideas and research in progress
• Internet, newsgroups, blogs
• 2 Original publication 'primary sources'
• Conference papers, peer-reviewed journal
  articles
• 3 Later publication 'secondary sources'
• Review articles, scholarly books, popular
  literature
• 4 Summary publication reference works
• Dictionaries, encyclopedias
• 5 Guides to the literature and subject guides
  'tertiary sources'
• Library subject guides, bibliographies

Current info Difficult to locate
Older info Summarised and easier to locate
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Summary

• Weblogs and RSS newsfeeds are social/collaborative
  technologies that are maturing into scholarly
  research tools.
• They can be matched to Information Literacy
  competencies and as such might be included in
  information skills instruction.
• Identifying these tools within the Information
  Life Cycle is one method for locating them within
  Information Literacy instructional objectives.

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References

• ACRL (Association of College and Research
  Libraries). 2005. Information Literacy
  Standards for Science and Technology (DRAFT)
  online. Available from http//www.ala.org/ala/
  acrl/acrlstandards/infolitscitech.htm Accessed
  8 Jan 2006.
• CILIP. 2005. Information Literacy The Skills
  CILIP Information Literacy online. Available
  from http//www.cilip.org.uk/professionalguidance
  / informationliteracy/definition/skills.htm
  Accessed 10 Jan 2006.
• Mazar, R.A. 2005. Faculty blogs Good idea or
  Bad idea? Random Access Mazar weblog online.
  Available from http//mazar.ca/archives/2005/05/
  faculty_blogs_g.html Accessed 5 Mar 2006.
• McCracken, H. 2005. Its Yahoo mail! Its an
  RSS Reader!, PCWorld online. 29 November,
  2005. Available from http//blogs.pcworld.com/tec
  hlog/archives/001110.html Accessed 8 Jan 2006.
• OReilly, Tim. 2005. What Is Web 2.0 Design
  Patterns and Business Models for the Next
  Generation of Software. OReilly.com online.
  Available from http//www.oreillynet.com/pub/
  a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html?
  page2 Accessed 8 Jan 2006.
• Tomlin, Sarah. 2005. Science in the web age
  The expanding electronic universe Nature.com
  online. Available from http//www.nature.com
  /news/2005/051128/full/438547a.html Accessed 5
  Dec 2005.