Information Literacy meets Library 2.0

Dr Jane SeckerLSE Centre for Learning Technology

Overview of talk

• What is web 2.0 ?• How are libraries using new

technologies?• How are libraries using web 2.0

technologies in information literacy teaching?

• Discussion

A vision of students todayFrom Michael Wesch, Cultural Anthropologist at Kansas State

University

Some thoughts before we start…

• What implications does web 2.0 have on student’s information literacy skills? Are they digital natives?

• How can librarians and teachers use web 2.0 tools creatively and appropriately?

• What staff development issues does web 2.0 present librarians?

The LASSIE Project

• Libraries and social software in education

• Nine month project funded by University of London’s Centre for Distance Education

• Several project partners• Literature review to provide a

snapshot of activity• Five case studies to explore

different technologies• More details on project website:

http://clt.lse.ac.uk/Projects/LASSIE.p

hp

Lassie filming on location in Florida. Photo courtesy State Archive of Florida

What is web 1.0?

• Web 1.0 - the user as a consumer

• Web editors created content

• Limited interactivity• Communication via e-

mail• Dial-up connections• Software on PC

What is Web 2.0

• Using web as a platform for – Communication– Interactivity– Sharing– Storing information

• User generated content- blogs, wikis, social networks

• Always connected

Some features of web 2.0

• Services rather than software• Hosted remotely / not locally• Social interaction• Inclusion of ‘user generated content’• Tagging• Syndication / feed enabled• Easy to use….

What is Library 2.0?

From Michael Habib’s Flickr site (Licensed under Creative Commons): http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=222296001&size=o

How are librarians responding?

• With enthusiasm and experimentation!• Lots of examples of practical applications• UK still someway behind the US• Staff development an issue• Some librarians have seen it as a threat,

bandwagon, something to be ignored• JISC currently exploring this area with the

TILE project

RSS / news feeds

• Phil Bradley argues RSS underlies web 2.0

• A new way of reading the web• Content brought to you via a reader or

aggregator• Great for keeping up to date• Content can be re-used elsewhere• The BBC have an excellent overview of

what RSS is and how it works

LSE’s training portal

RSS from a blog

RSS from a database

Web 2.0 library catalogues

• Features include:– User reviews and ratings– Tagging of items– Using loan data to make recommendations– RSS capability for example to generate new

book lists

• All linked to overall trend to make library catalogues meet user’s expectations (largely based their use of Amazon)

Hennepin County Library

University of Huddersfield

Aquabrowser

Vu Find

Libraries and blogging

• Libraries and librarians are starting to embrace blogging

• Increasingly blogs used for Library news – can target specific audiences

• Blogs invaluable for reflection, comments, news, sharing resources

• Requires a more informal written approach?

Madison-Jefferson County Public library

blog

Worcester: ILS Matters

Libraries and social bookmarking

• Sites like del.icious allow users to share / access their bookmarks

• Excellent for resource sharing• Several libraries have developed their

own social bookmarking tools• Several libraries using del.icio.us to

maintain lists of internet resources• Flexible, portable, customisable• Studied use of delicious in case studies

LSE’s delicious pages

Using delicious in training

Libraries and social networking

• OCLC report suggested libraries didn’t have a role to play in social networking

• Despite this relatively high usage of sites such as Facebook by librarians

• Groups used for professional networking• Pages can be created by organisations• Many library related applications in

Facebook• The jury is still out but read more in

LASSIE’s case study on Facebook.

Library pages in Facebook

Reading lists and social software: a LASSIE case

study• Used social software to present reading lists

to students as an alternative to paper lists and commercial reading list systems

• A reading list for LSE external programme students was selected for inclusion

• Tested out CiteULike, H20 Playlists, Bibsonomy and LibraryThing

• Piloted with distance learners and feedback gathered

• Students liked online reading lists with book jackets!

CiteULike

LibraryThing.com

Podcasting and information literacy

• Literature review revealed information literacy is a key challenge for distance learning librarians.

• Podcasting offers a new way of developing training materials

• Created an online ‘screencast’ including powerpoint and audio on citing and referencing

• Feedback from students gathered through a survey

• Attracted considerable interest from other libraries

The screencast

Other useful web 2.0 tools

• SlideShare – share your powerpoints• Flickr –find images you can use

under a creative commons licence• You Tube – liven up teaching

sessions! • Google Reader or another feed

reader to keep up to date with blogs and other sites with RSS

What are our students doing?

• Knowledge of web 2.0 as a concept is pretty much non-existent

• Some are using RSS feeds, but in my experience not many

• They are using Facebook, You Tube, photo sharing websites etc.

• But are they being discerning about the web?

Web 2.0 and Information Literacy

Many of the tools we have seen assist:– Reflection– Visual approaches– Sharing– Convenience– Content creation– Critical thinking

Edited by Peter Godwin and Jo Parker.Facet, 2008

To return to my initial thoughts…

• What implications does web 2.0 have on student’s information literacy skills? Are they digital natives?

• How can librarians and teachers use web 2.0 tools creatively and appropriately?

• Which tools should we use?• What staff development issues does

Web 2.0 present librarians?

Thanks for listening! Jane Secker j.secker@lse.ac.uk

Further readingGodwin, P and Parker, J. (2008) Information Literacy Meets Library 2.0. Facet

Publishing. LASSIE blog: http://elearning.lse.ac.uk/blogs/socialsoftware/

LASSIE Bookmarks: http://delicious.com/lse_lassie/

LILAC 2009: Cardiff University 30th March – 1st AprilCall for papers now open!