Information Literacy Group and CILIP join forces to launch Media and Information Literacy Alliance

The Information Literacy Group and CILIP have announced a joint initiative to launch a new cross-sector Media and Information Literacy Alliance (http://www.mila.org.uk), with the aim of “helping people be happier, healthier, safer and better-informed in their online lives”.

Chair of the Information Literacy Group Dr Jane Secker said, “’Media and Information Literacy’ (MIL) refers to the knowledge, skills and behaviours that people need in order to make informed judgements as users of information and media, as well as to become skilful creators and producers of information and media messages in their own right.

In a world in which we are all constantly bombarded with messages across a variety of digital platforms, we need to be ready to equip our users to make informed choices about the media they consumer and share. This new Alliance will enable us to connect with partners across industry, Government, education and the media and to develop a joined-up response to the challenges of fake news and misinformation.”

The Alliance has set out 5 areas of activity for its initial work:

• Advocacy
• Capacity-building
• Research
• Programme delivery
• Cross-sector networking & collaboration

The Alliance will also work in affiliation with the Information literacy Community of Practice in Scotland and will invite a representative to meetings.

They are also actively soliciting expressions of interest from organisations, individuals and networks who share a common interest in the promotion of Media and Information Literacy. To register your interest, please visit http://www.mila.org.uk and complete your details via the web form.

Report on Disinformation in Scotland

Glasgow South MP, Stewart McDonald, has published a report entitled ‘Disinformation in Scottish Public Life’. The report, the first of its kind in Scotland, is Mr McDonald’s assessment of disinformation activity in Scotland over recent years, including with regards to the COVID-19 pandemic and political campaigns.

Mr McDonald assesses the actions of hostile states and other actors, outlining some examples of the different ways in which they seek to interact with people in Scotland on a range of issues and via different platforms and means.

The report also outlines 9 recommendations that he believes will help make Scotland more information resilient:

1. The Scottish Government should appoint a commissioner for countering disinformation.

2. The Scottish Government should create and fund a Youth Information Initiative

3. Scottish media organisations should hold annual open days and/or media surgeries

4. The Scottish Government should commission an independent audit of the Scottish information ecosystem

5. The UK and Scottish Governments should introduce targeted literacy programmes for parliamentarians, civil servants and journalists

6. Political parties and faith groups should host disinformation workshops for their members

7. Scotland should host an annual Clean Information Summit

8. Scottish public bodies should host a series of co-ordinated anti-disinformation events and competitions

9. The UK Government should provide Parliament with an annual update of the threat assessment

FestivIL by LILAC on 6 to 8 July 2021 Bookings open soon!

https://infolit.org.uk/introducing-festivil-by-lilac/

FestivIL by LILAC is an online event designed to share knowledge & experiences and to bring the information literacy community together.

FestivIL events will feature;

• Masterclasses: 30 minute showcases of best practice in IL teaching
• Lightning talks: short, 5 minute sessions delivered to small groups followed by a group discussion
• IL talks: like a TED talk, these will be pre-recorded and made available ahead of the event (our version of TED Talks), followed by a live seminar discussion
• Posters: digital posters will be shared ahead of the event, followed by a live session during the FestivIL programme
• Panel discussions: facilitated discussions hosted by a small group of experts with different perspectives on a range of IL issues
• Skills/resource exchange: a reciprocal exchange session, in a similar format to speed networking, designed for experience sharing but also for building networks with IL professionals from around the world 
• Community of practice: as part of the daily FestivIL activities ,we will be setting up small communities of practice for you to share thoughts and experiences throughout the event

In addition to all of the above, we are delighted to announce our three mainstage speakers who will be joining us: Emily Drabinski (CUNY), Barbara Fister (Project Information Literacy) and Alison Hicks & some of her LIS students from UCL.

 When is the event happening?

FestivIL will run across 3 half days; 

• Tuesday 6th July (afternoon session, GMT, exact times TBC)
• Wednesday 7th July (morning session, GMT, exact times TBC)
• Thursday 8th July (afternoon session, GMT, exact times TBC) 

We see FestivIL as an opportunity to support the IL community and we hope delegates will participate — be that sharing your experiences, posting a comment or just having a chat. Whatever stage you’re at in your career, whether that’s in libraries, learning technology, educational development, research or information management, we think you’ll get something out of attending FestivIL by LILAC.

Visit the FestivIL by LILAC website for more information. Bookings open soon!

Claire Packham – LILAC Chair

The latest issue of the Journal of Information Literacy includes 7 papers which were to be this year’s LILAC presentations. 

https://ojs.lboro.ac.uk/JIL/issue/view/223

CILIPS Conference - book your place for 7 - 8 June 2021

Good morning

Places at the CILIPS Conference 2021 are filling up fast, if you haven't yet booked a place yet and would like to attend the event on Zoom on June 7-8th you can book your place here with places starting at only £60 for both days - https://cilips.formstack.com/forms/cilipsconference2021 

The programme is one of our best ever, featuring:

• Digital disinformation and politics – Peter Geoghegan, broadcaster and investigations editor at the award-winning news website openDemocracy and author of Democracy for Sale: Dark Money and Politics
• An overview of the new National Strategy for Public Libraries, being released in 2021, with Jeanette Castle, Scottish Public Libraries Strategy Chair, UWS University Librarian and former CILIPS President
• ‘Archives and Activism: Access to and preservation of records and archives surrounding the Mother and Baby Homes network in Ireland’ with Dr Barry Houlihan, University of Ireland Galway 
• ‘The importance of literacy and access to information in engaging people around environmental issues’ with Bridget McKenzie, Founding Director of the Climate Museum UK
• Reflections from Dr John Scally, the National Librarian and Chief Executive of the National Library of Scotland, in advance of his retirement in October 2021
• Award-winning author Kerry Hudson on ‘The Value of Libraries and Librarians’
• United and strong – key priorities for the library and information profession – Nick Poole, CILIP CEO
• Marie Østergaard, Library Director of Aarhus Public Libraries, Denmark
• Liberating Structures, a session with NHS Education for Scotland Knowledge Manager Katie Edwards
• ‘Liberate our Library’ – Decolonising collections at Goldsmiths University
• ‘Creating a Rocking Online Presence – a guide for new professionals’ – Jade Koekoe, Online Presence Specialist, Australia
• ‘Living Through a Global Pandemic: what can we take forward in our libraries and as librarians?’ with Senior School Librarian Duncan Wright
• National Library of Scotland Hidden Collections with Carol Campbell, Head of Metadata at NLS
• ‘Situating the new normal: preliminary findings from the AHRC project exploring public library digital service use during COVID’ with the Department of Computer and Information Studies, University of Strathclyde
• Systemic barriers and inclusivity in literature programming – Jeda Pearl, Scottish Bame Writers Network
• The role of librarians in the Research Excellence Framework (REF)
• Revealing Hidden Herstories: The Lesbian Archive at Glasgow Women’s Library
• Health Librarians Add Value
• ‘School Libraries and Role-Playing Games’ with Kathleen O’Neill, School Librarian, Glasgow Libraries
• How The RIVAL project (https://lisrival.com) aimed to build a ‘collaborative network of Scotland-based Library and Information Science (LIS) researchers and practising library and information professionals interested in maximising the impact and value of library and information science research.’

 We hope you can join us there!

Sean McNamara  |  

Head of CILIP in Scotland

Twitter @CILIPScotland | Web: www.cilips.org.uk

#LetDianeStay - Diane Pennington update

Hi everyone, 

I think you are all aware of Diane Pennington’s ongoing situation and we wanted to let you know if you would like to help, that there is a letter addressed to the Home Office regarding her case. The deadline for signing is Thursday 15 April. The letter has already been signed by 166 students, academics and university staff:

#LetDianeStay: Support a Migrant Academic's Fight Against the Hostile Environment Policy (google.com) 

For those of you who would like to consider making a donation (neither she nor her husband are allowed to work so are currently left without any income), a GoFundMe page was set up here:

Fundraiser by Unis Resist Border Controls : Support Diane's Fight to Remain in the UK (gofundme.com) 

It is very upsetting to see Diane not be able to teach her students, carry out her research, continue contributing to the LIS field and losing her livelihood. She is invaluable to the information profession in the UK and it’s terrible she has to go through this. Any help would be greatly appreciated,

 Thank you very much,

 The Members of the Information Literacy Community of Practice for Scotland