Information School News

This year’s LILAC conference was shifted online in the form of the condensed LILAC FestivIL situated over three half days on the afternoon of 6th July, the morning 7th July and the afternoon 8th July. LILAC is an annual conference organised by CILIP's Information Literacy Group and covers all aspects of information literacy. Double lucky for me, as well being online (accessible even from my Dubai location), I was offered the opportunity to virtually attend assisted by a Sheffield iSchool bursary. This was not my first time attending LILAC, and although the programme was compressed, as usual it delivered. Given the enforced deprivation of social connection during the global pandemic, the well-considered conference theme was community. This was echoed and reinforced by the conference structure on each half-day, with two daily slots being dedicated to ‘Campfire Conversations’. These informal online spaces, facilitated by small breakout rooms, provided attendees a welcome opportunity t

I recently had the opportunity to attend the information literacy (IL) conference organised by LILAC, called FestivIL. It was a three-day event jam-packed with lectures, interviews, and workshops of all kinds, and even though it's a busy time of year, I'm really happy that I went. This year's conference took place online because of the pandemic, but I think the organisers did a great job of making it as "normal" as they could. They even incorporated some asynchronicity by making the main stage speeches into Q&A sessions based on pre-recorded lecture videos, and I thought that worked really well. Unfortunately, I couldn't attend the second day due to a scheduling conflict (that day's events all took place in the morning, while the first and third days were in the afternoon), but I'd like to share my experience of the other two days. Day One I've never attended a professional conference before, and the first day was a whirlwind of ideas. Emily Dr

Launch of Major SCONUL Research Report on the Use of University Library Space Dr Andrew Cox On 5th July 120 representatives of UK and Irish university libraries gathered online for the launch of the report “ Drivers for the Usage of SCONUL Member Libraries ” written by Andrew Cox and Melanie Benson Marshall. The report presents an analysis of what has been driving the growing use of university libraries in the last decade and also reflects on the potential impact of COVID. SCONUL, The Society of College, National and University Libraries , represents all university libraries in the UK and Ireland, irrespective of mission group, as well as national libraries and many libraries with collections of national significance. The report was launched as part of SCONUL’s Libraries after lockdown project. Dr Andrew Cox Senior lecturer Digital Societies Research Group orcid.org/0000-0002-2587-245X

Senior Lecturer Dr Paul Reilly was recently published in The Conversation, with a piece about the role of social media in Northern Ireland's recent wave of protests and riots. The piece, entitled 'Twelfth of July: How to responsibly follow Northern Ireland’s summer of protest on social media', can be read here:  https://theconversation.com/twelfth-of-july-how-to-responsibly-follow-northern-irelands-summer-of-protest-on-social-media-163775