Information skills: critical success factors JISC RSC workshop

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Information skills critical success
factorsJISC RSC workshop

• Janet PetersHead of Library and Information
  Services, UWCN11 July 2002Cardiff

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What I am not ...

• An FE Librarian
• A Subject Librarian/Information Officer
• Going to tell you how to do Information Skills

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What I am ...

• Very interested in enabling students to learn
  independently by means of Information Skills (IS)
• Member of a group of HE Librarians trying to
  promote IS as a serious topic (even within HE!)
• About to give you some useful references

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What I am going to talk about ...

• Problems we all face as Librarians in promoting
  IS
• How we might tackle them
• Workshop activity
• Feedback session

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Problems we face

• We are not academics, but we want teaching time
• Can we explain IS?
• Do students know it all already?
• Is it a hat too many?

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How can we tackle?
Take a teaching qualification?
Think about why IS is important for our students
- and for us.
Work out your own definition of IS. Relate it to
Key Skills if it helps.
Think about what a person skilled in IS would
look like
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Seven Pillars model
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More thoughts
Learn from others (Big Blue). Share your
experiences with colleagues in similar
institutions.
Discuss your ideas with academic colleagues
Try to raise the profile of IS in your own College
Use materials created by others (eg. JISC RDN
tutorials)
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http//www.leeds.ac.uk/bigblue/
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TOUR key Web sites for your subject See the
sites that can help with essays, course work,
research and teaching. DISCOVER how to search
the Internet Find the best search tools and
techniques. REVIEW and JUDGE Web sites Learn
how to avoid common pitfalls on the Internet, by
evaluating the information you find. REFLECT and
PLAN to work efficiently Decide how to make the
most of the Internet for your own study, teaching
or research.
http//www.vts.rdn.ac.uk/
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Workshop activity

• Identify the Critical Success Factors
• What needs to be in place to enable Information
  Skills to be delivered effectively?

• Divide into 4 groups, then into teams of 3 or 4
• Brainstorm list of factors (15 mins)
• Group factors (10 mins)
• Teams join up in main group
• Agree set of about six factors (10 mins)
• Prepare to feedback

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References (in date order)

• Corrall, S. 1998. Key skills for students in
  higher education. SCONUL Newsletter (15), 25-28.
• Johnson, H. 1999. Information skills in higher
  education (SCONUL Briefing paper). Available on
  web at http//www.sconul.ac.uk/publications/publi
  cations.htm2
• Webber, S. 2001. Myths and opportunities. Library
  Association Record 103(9), 548-9. (Note - has
  excellent bibliography). See also the website at
  http//dis.shef.ac.uk/literacy/
• Johnson, H. 2002. Information skills, information
  literacy. Library Association Record 103(12),
  752-3.
• The Big Blue project at http//www.leeds.ac.uk/b
  igblue/

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Thank you for taking part