1. LILAC 2006 The place for weblogs and RSS newsfeeds in information skills instruction. Kara Jones Subject Librarian Mathematics, Computer Sciences, Biology & Biochemistry University of Bath K.L.Jones@bath.ac.uk

2. Overview Weblog features RSS Newsfeed features Information Literacy Competencies Building into IL Instruction

3. Weblogs “A blog is a website in which journal entries are posted on a regular basis and typically displayed in reverse chronological order. The term blog is a shortened form of weblog or web log.” (Wikipedia 2006)

4. Weblog functions Personal diaries commentaries news updates Individual or collaborative Updated with any frequency Templates = Easy to create and edit Able to add comments Archives Add categories by using tags RSS Newsfeeds

5. Weblog features Reflective tools Highlighting a path of progression Strengthening evaluation skills Being prepared to respond Improving written communication skills Ease of acknowledging sources online Community building Maturing with incorporation into more ‘scholarly’ platforms

6. RSS newsfeed functions RSS newsfeeds: “push technology” An alerting service that pushes information updates to you from websites you’ve selected to your desktop Feedreader / aggregator RSS – Really Simple Syndication Rich Site Summary RDF Site Summary ATOM } XML file formats for syndicating web content.

7. RSS Newsfeed features RSS newsfeeds on regularly updated websites Feedreaders manage and read feeds Tools for organising new information into manageable chunks Delivered to your desktop into folders Used for keeping up to date

8. Information Literacy frameworks CILIP ‘Information Literacy: the skills’ http://www.cilip.org.uk/professionalguidance/informationliteracy/definition/skills.htm ACRL ‘Information Literacy Standards for Science and Technology (draft)’ http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlstandards/infolitscitech.htm CILIP = Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals ACRL= Association of College and Research Libraries – ALA

9. CILIP Information Literacy skills This definition implies several skills. We believe that the skills (or competencies) that are required to be information literate require an understanding of: a need for information the resources available how to find information the need to evaluate results how to work with or exploit results ethics and responsibility of use how to communicate or share your findings how to manage your findings...’in addition to purposive searching, information can be acquired by browsing, scanning and monitoring information sources… [such as] scanning RSS and news feeds’..’participating effectively in collaborative writing and publication, including use of collaborative software’ [such as weblogs].

10. CILIP Information Literacy skills This definition implies several skills. We believe that the skills (or competencies) that are required to be information literate require an understanding of: a need for information the resources available how to find information the need to evaluate results how to work with or exploit results ethics and responsibility of use how to communicate or share your findings how to manage your findings. Weblogs provide a wealth of evaluative information: author’s affiliation point of view (bias) currency Links to quotations or ideas from others helps reinforce ethical use of information. Weblogs provide a place for critical reflection and journaling findings. Feedreaders used to sort and organise findings

11. ACRL IL Standards for Science and Technology (draft) Standard Three: –PI 6: Validates understanding and interpretation of the information through discourse with other individuals, small groups or teams, subject-area experts, and/or practitioners. Standard Five: –The information literate students recognises the need to keep current regarding new developments in his or her field. ‘..Participates in class-sponsored electronic communication forums designed to encourage discourse on the topic’ [weblogs] ‘..current awareness services, using citation searching, ToC scanning and other rapid communication literature’. Keeping up to date = RSS newsfeeds. Cited reference searching = trackbacks?

12. Weblogs RSS Newsfeeds IL Frameworks Building into IL instruction

13. Features of weblogs and RSS newsfeeds Match to Information Literacy Competencies Delivery within Information Literacy instruction: Specific classes on ‘Keeping up to date’ Workshops on ‘New scholarly communication trends’ Advanced general induction classes Placed within the ‘Information Life Cycle’

14. Information Lifecycle Used with permission – Curtin University Library and Information Service, 2005

15. Info lifecycle stages 1: Ideas and research in progress Internet, newsgroups, blogs… 2: Original publication: 'primary sources' Conference papers, peer-reviewed journal articles… 3: Later publication: 'secondary sources' Review articles, scholarly books, popular literature… 4: Summary publication: reference works Dictionaries, encyclopedias… 5: Guides to the literature and subject guides: 'tertiary sources' Library subject guides, bibliographies… “Current info” Difficult to locate “Older info” Summarised and easier to locate

16. Summary Weblogs and RSS newsfeeds are social/collaborative technologies that are maturing into scholarly research tools. They can be matched to Information Literacy competencies and as such might be included in information skills instruction. Identifying these tools within the Information Life Cycle is one method for locating them within Information Literacy instructional objectives.

17. References ACRL (Association of College and Research Libraries). 2005. ‘Information Literacy Standards for Science and Technology (DRAFT) [online]. Available from: http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlstandards/infolitscitech.htm [Accessed: 8 Jan 2006]. CILIP. 2005. ‘Information Literacy: The Skills’ CILIP Information Literacy [online]. Available from: http://www.cilip.org.uk/professionalguidance/ informationliteracy/definition/skills.htm [Accessed: 10 Jan 2006]. Mazar, R.A. 2005. ‘Faculty blogs: Good idea or Bad idea?’ Random Access Mazar weblog [online]. Available from: http://mazar.ca/archives/2005/05/faculty_blogs_g.html [Accessed 5 Mar 2006]. McCracken, H. 2005. ‘It’s Yahoo mail! It’s an RSS Reader!’, PCWorld [online]. 29 November, 2005. Available from: http://blogs.pcworld.com/techlog/archives/001110.html [Accessed: 8 Jan 2006]. O’Reilly, Tim. 2005. ‘What Is Web 2.0: Design Patterns and Business Models for the Next Generation of Software’. O’Reilly.com [online]. Available from: http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html?page=2 [Accessed: 8 Jan 2006]. Tomlin, Sarah. 2005. ‘Science in the web age: The expanding electronic universe’ Nature.com [online]. Available from: http://www.nature.com/news/2005/051128/full/438547a.html [Accessed 5 Dec 2005].