#LIBRARIES ARE ESSENTIAL CAMPAIGN

Hello,

We on the MDGS Committee have been asked to share details of the campaign that CILIPS are running in advance of the Scottish Parliament elections in May with our members and followers. This is about combatting misinformation, which is at the heart of discovery, so it seems appropriate that we share! 

We know that like us you believe #LibrariesAreEssential and that's why we are getting in touch to share details of the campaign that we are running in advance of the Scottish Parliament elections in May. Libraries and Information: Essential for a Brighter Future - https://www.cilips.org.uk/advocacy-campaigns/librariesareessential/ - will be asking candidates and political parties to back the key campaign 'asks' that include supporting libraries and combating misinformation. We will also be using the campaign as an opportunity to highlight to various decision makers the value of all libraries, and their essential role as Scotland moves towards a brighter future post-pandemic.

Other activities will include gathering evidence, case studies, blogs and other online content to create a rich bank of resources. 

How you can help!

Provide case studies - No matter what sector of the library and information world you work for or with, we would love to hear about any practice that shows why libraries and information are essential. Submit your case studies here and enrich our evidence bank with your professional experience -  https://cilips.formstack.com/forms/libraryandinfocasestudies 

Share the campaign far and wide - please share the link to the campaign in any social media you have if this would be appropriate, where possible using the hashtag #LibrariesAreEssential - I also attach an image if you would like to add it to your email signature. Also, please share with staff and partner organisations where relevant.

Supportive Quotes - We are looking for supportive quotes from organisations, authors or any others who might like to give us a quote backing libraries and/or the campaign, so if you have any contacts who may be able to help with this then please pass on this link - https://cilips.formstack.com/forms/campaign__supportive_quotes 

If you have any questions or suggestions for the campaign, please don't hesitate to get in touch. Thank you! 

 Kind regards, Kirsten

 Kirsten.macquarrie@cilips.org.uk

WHY GET INVOLVED IN HEALTH INFORMATION WEEK 2021?

Health Information Week (5th-11th July 2021) is a multi-sector, week-long, health information campaign: it’s about raising the profile of health literacy; offering a platform for collaborative working between different partners; and reminding us all what good, reliable, health information looks like. 2020’s Health Information Week was not without its challenges (notably, a pandemic), but past participants have given us six good reasons why to get involved in Health Information Week 2021:

• A chance to support your community, and fly the flag for factual, useful health information from credible resources. Help educate people to understand the difference between good and bad health information, and why this is so important. This is perhaps the key reason to be involved in Health Information Week, this year more than ever.
• Be part of a local event that is being echoed all over the country. Retweeting support for others and being able to exchange and swap ideas while our focus is all on the same thing is very effective. It’s great to learn from others, share experiences, and feel that everyone is working towards the same goal.
• Use Health Information Week as a focal point to develop new partnerships. Hospital libraries, public libraries, school libraries, community groups, local charities, local authorities. These all have something to offer, and something to gain, from working with each other and being part of a nation-wide campaign
• Use Health Information Week to raise your profile within your organisation. Health Information Week can be a great opportunity to link up with other departments or staff groups in your organisation. For example, if you work in a hospital library, perhaps you can work with your PALS team, patient experience team, or comms? If you work in a public library, can you reach out to other services in your local authority – schools, older people outreach teams? Perhaps you’ll be able to continue the relationship after Health Information Week, and find new ways of working together.
• Promote your resources to a new audience. Health Information Week is a brilliant way to showcase your resources – be they your physical space, graphic novels, websites, leaflets, databases, book groups, even your helpful and knowledgeable staff – to a range of people. Increase your footfall and boost your visitor statistics too!
• A chance to be creative. Social media, using the #HIW2021 hashtag, is a simple, free, way to make your Health Information Week campaign fun and interesting. In the past, yoga groups, mindfulness sessions, fruit and veg giveaways, pop-up information stalls, human libraries and children’s storytelling events have all been creative ways to engage an audience.

Taking part in Health Information Week doesn’t have to be expensive or time-consuming: have a look at the Health Information Week website for ideas to take part, which range from Twitter discussions, health information poster displays and blogging, to big multi-partner, cross-city events.  You’ll also find links to trusted sources of information, our blog, marketing materials, and contact details for the Health Information Week team. If it helps, each day of Health Information Week has a theme: you can use these to build your events, or you can choose a couple, or none at all – it’s up to you!

---

Find out more about Health Information Week 2021

Follow the Health Information Week campaign on Twitter – @Healthinfoweek

Digital Proxies Workshops - Centre for Social Informatics - Napier University

Registrations are now open for workshops on how information workers act as ‘digital proxies’. Digital proxies, for this research, are those who access online systems on behalf of others to help their clients – with their permission, possibly informally. For example, a staff member may help someone log into a benefits-claim system and enter data to make a claim.

 We invite staff from local government, libraries, civil society and third sector organisations who act as digital proxies – and staff who shape such work – to join us at one of 3 workshops. (Click the links to register on Eventbrite.)

• 2 February 2021, 1pm to 4:30 pm
• 10 February 2021, 9:30am to 1pm
• 18 February 2021, 9:30am to 1pm

 If you would like to take part but can’t make any of these, please email b.ryan@napier.ac.uk.

 The workshops are part of a project being undertaken at the Centre for Social Informatics at Edinburgh Napier University by Dr Gemma Webster, Dr David Brazier, Peter Cruickshank and Dr Bruce Ryan.

Through this work, we are investigating information practices associated with digital identity – such as the sharing of log-in details and other personal data to engage with online systems – and developing the concept of ‘digital proxies’.

In the workshops, we will work to understand the issues information workers face when supporting (potentially vulnerable) citizens to use digital systems that are increasingly integral to their every-day lives, and the backgrounds to these issues. We will do this using a set of pre-defined scenarios, based around access to services provided by (for example)  governments, utility companies and financial institutions.

When:

• 2 February 2021, 1pm to 4:30 pm;
• 10 February 2021, 9:30am to 1pm;
• 18 February 2021, 9:30am to 1pm.

 We will open the workshops about 15 minutes before the ‘official’ start time, so people can make sure they have connected before we get going. If you have any problems connecting, please email b.ryan@napier.ac.uk.

 Where: Microsoft Teams.

• You can use Teams in a web-browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari etc).
• Or you can use the Teams app (available from Microsoft’s website).

This guide may be helpful for both: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/join-a-teams-meeting-078e9868-f1aa-4414-8bb9-ee88e9236ee4.

 Who:

• staff from local government, libraries, civil society and third sector organisations who act as digital proxies
• staff who shape such work (e.g. developing systems and processes, relevant managers and organisation-leaders).

1. Background information

Over the last decade, most levels of government and many other organisations have been implementing a policy (often called ‘digital by default’ or ‘digital-first’) in the name of efficiency and cost savings to prioritise online services such as Universal Credit and myaccount. At the same time, barriers around such services have been increasing, making it more challenging for everyone to actually access and use the services they need. This is bound to impact the information practices of many users. One result might be the temptation to avoid the use of some online systems altogether, but this is often not a practical option. Another could be individuals using risky behaviours with their digital identity, such as sharing passwords, with obvious implications for data protection and privacy.

The primary focus of this work is online services (e.g. government or utilities), partnering with system owners, citizen support/advocacy groups and other stakeholders to understand how they are supporting (vulnerable) citizens to better cope with increased online systems that are integral to their everyday lives.

Please contact Bruce Ryan if you have further questions about the event or the project as a whole

A Consultation on the Digital Strategy for Scotland

Hello everyone, this consultation closes at midnight tonight the 23 December 2020.

I’m really sorry we’ve not coordinated a joint reply from all of you in the Information Literacy Community of Practice for Scotland.

As Liz McGettigan tweeted ‘Don’t reinvent the wheel. Respond to this consultation #Libraries! Reinvent and fund existing library network! Libraries have been taking on this challenge for decades.'

With this in mind, I hope you might agree that I respond to Digital Strategy consultation with the same thoughts we collaborated on regarding the last Digital Strategy for Scotland, bearing in mind that with the pandemic crisis and a world rife with mis-disinformation, it’s all the more necessary we employ information and digital skills and literacies.

The main point we made in the last Digital Strategy for Scotland, was the request to include information literacy and information skills when describing digital skills in The Digital Strategy for Scotland.

“Information literacy is associated and overlaps with other literacies, including specifically digital literacy, academic literacy and media literacy.”

cilip_definition_doc_final_f.pdf (ymaws.com) CILIP Information Literacy Group Information Literacy - CILIPS

 Information literacy incorporates a set of skills and abilities which everyone needs to undertake information-related tasks; for instance, how to discover, access, interpret, analyse, manage, create, communicate, store and share information. But it is much more than that: it concerns the application of the competencies, attributes and confidence needed to make the best use of information and to interpret it judiciously. It incorporates critical thinking and awareness, and an understanding of both the ethical and political issues associated with using information.

Information literacy relates to information in all its forms: not just print, but also digital content, data, images and the spoken word. Information literacy is associated and overlaps with other literacies, including specifically digital literacy, academic literacy and media literacy. It is not a stand-alone concept, and is aligned with other areas of knowledge and understanding.

Information literacy helps to understand the ethical and legal issues associated with the use of information, including privacy, data protection, freedom of information, open access/open data and intellectual property.

Importantly, information literacy is empowering, and is an important contributor to democratic, inclusive, participatory societies; as interpreted by UNESCO, it is a universal human right. (CILIP Information Literacy Group)

Thank you,

Jenny Foreman (joint chair for Information Literacy Community of Practice for Scotland)

Email: jenny.foreman@gov.scot

Twitter: @JennyForeman

Digital inclusion in the UK - new report from Lloyds Bank

What does the Lloyds Bank UK Consumer Digital Index 2020 tell us about digital inclusion?

Blog post from SCVO talking about the report which gives an overview of the digital inclusion landscape in the UK.