As I collected my lanyard and notebook at the start of the LILAC information literacy conference, I noticed a bee theme. From a display of origami bees crafted by delegates to the logo on the cover of our conference notebooks, bees reflected this year’s Manchester setting. They also reminded me of the value of library conferences. Like bees working together, the conference allowed library and information professionals from around the world to gather and share ideas around information literacy.
The sessions that addressed library teaching with diverse
learners stood out to me, as one of the reasons I wanted to attend LILAC was to
keep working on the inclusivity of my teaching skills. One of these was a
session on ‘Dyslexia, creativity and information-seeking: how can academic
librarians acknowledge neurodiversity in their information literacy teaching
practice?’ by Lynne Beveridge. This session helped us to understand some of the
barriers undergraduates with dyslexia encounter in their information-seeking as
well as the creativity and problem-solving skills that these students bring.
Another useful session was ‘The value of librarian-led
information literacy lessons for higher education students in the further
education college environment’ by Jo Lapham. It was interesting to see how
students navigate the unique challenges of information literacy in the further
education environment and to hear Jo advocate for the impact of library-led
information literacy sessions with these students, who do not always have access
to the same opportunities as students who attend a higher education institution
during their degree.
Some of the sessions introduced a broader perspective on
information literacy. A session called ‘Serving and supporting students as
whole people: leisure reading for information literacy, lifelong learning, and
mental and emotional well-being’ by Elizabeth Brookbank connected information
literacy with the reading that students do outside of their courses, taking a
more holistic approach than a narrow focus on skills to meet the requirements
of assessment. I also liked the session on ‘Wikipedia, Student activism, and
the Ivory Tower’ by Ewan McAndrew which described an initiative where students
are rewarded for using their subject knowledge and information skills to
contribute to Wikipedia. I enjoyed these opportunities to expand my definition
of IL and discover where it might unexpectedly overlap with other library
topics.
The keynote talks and question sessions prompted us to
step back and reflect on how we work in information literacy. During the panel
by Manchester Metropolitan University students, we were encouraged to think
about how information literacy related interactions in our work can impact
wellbeing. On the second day, Marilyn Clarke, Director of Library Services at
Goldsmiths, talked about decolonisation in education and how we should bring an
awareness of this to our information literacy activities. In the final talk,
Emily Drabinski, Critical Pedagogy Librarian at the Graduate Center, City
University of New York, reminded us that librarians’ knowledge of the power
structures inherent in information and how it is organised is an important
contribution that we can offer in our information literacy teaching. These
sessions gave us plenty to discuss in the tea and biscuit breaks and to apply
to our own practice.
As well as a notebook full of notes and a head full of
ideas, I brought home a packet of sunflower seeds from the Media and
Information Literacy Alliance stall. I like this as a metaphor for the ongoing
impact of the conference: ideas were planted in the heads of delegates and
continue to be nurtured and grow in the contexts of our own work, study and
research.
- Emmy Ingle
MA Librarianship student
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