Category Archives: Activities

ICT program for African universities

nhancing librarians’ ICT skills for research enablement in African universities: a Carnegie-funded CPD programme

 

Applications for the fourth intake of the Carnegie-funded Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme, which is aimed at enhancing ICT skills for research enablement in African universities opened on 1 February 2015 and closes on 13 March 2015. The The programme will begin on 23 May 2015 and ends on 20 June 2015. Academic librarians and LIS faculty in Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda are eligible to apply for admission to this programme. Eight four-week training sessions will take place over a period of three years. 32 participants will be selected for each intake. 

 

This four-week residential training programme with both practical (70%) and theoretical (30%) components will cover the following

topics:

1.     Setting the context: Libraries, ICTs and research 

2.     Leadership and innovation

3.     Information literacy

4.     Social media for research discoverability in an academic environment

5.     Mobile technology and mobility

6.     Managing and organising information

7.     Personal Information Management

8.     Open Scholarship and Open Science – Publishing

9.     Open Scholarship and Open Science – Institutional Repositories

10. Open Scholarship and Open Science – Understanding and using research data management

11. Digitisation

12. Evaluating website architecture

13. Cloud services and storage

14. Virtual research environments

15. The next generation librarian

 

This is a fully funded programme which will take place in Pretoria, South Africa. The funding covers books and other academic expenditures, flights, accommodation, and a daily stipend while in Pretoria. All participants are expected to reside in the accommodation provided in Pretoria for the duration of the programme.

 

Grant exclusions:

·       Visa applications, personal expenses (for example medicine, laundry, phone calls, etc.)

·       ICT equipment such as laptops, modems, internet access top-ups etc.

·       Travel to and from the airport in your home country

 

Application for the third intake closes on 13 March 2015. No late applications will be considered. (There will be a fifth intake in November 2015, as well as three further intakes in 2016.)

 

For additional information on the programme content, eligibility and selection criteria, application procedures, important dates, etc., please see http://www.up.ac.za/en/information-science/article/21563/carnegie-cpd-programme.

 

All correspondence or enquiries: Joan de la Haye at Carnegie-cpd@up.ac.za.

 

October is International School Library Month

October 1 marks the beginning of International School Library Month (ISLM), a month to celebrate and draw attention to school libraries.  First started as International School Library Day in 1999 by Past President Blanche Woolls, it was changed to International School Library Month in 2008 to give more flexibility to schools around the world to choose a time in the month that best fits their specific situation. During this month, school libraries around the world can choose a day, week, or the entire month to celebrate the importance of libraries.

The theme for ISLM 2014 is Your School Library: Mind-Map Central. The ISLM Committee, under the leadership of Marie O’Brien has worked hard to plan a number of activities (thank you, Marie and all other members!). In addition, there is long list of activities available on the IASL web site that schools have carried out in the past to give you ideas. Please feel free to choose an activity (or more than one) that suits you to celebrate the occasion, including, among other ideas you might have,

  • ISLM Bookmark Exchange Project
  • ISLM Skype Project
  • Exhibitions / Bulletin Boards in schools and prominent places
  • Community donations to school libraries (get the politicians involved – they love publicity!)
  • Recognizing outstanding students who have used the library
  • Honoring those who have contributed to the school library in the past year
  • Posting messages on various listservs
  • Writing to the newspapers, and radio / TV stations
  • Sending greetings to school library friends and non-school librarians through Facebook or other social media

As you carry out your activities, we would love to hear on what you did. Send in your submissions for “What people are doing for ISLM 2014”, with pictures if possible, by email to lesley.farmer@csulb.edu

IFLA 2014 Congress School Libraries Section Activities

School Libraries Section minutes and updated Action Plans are available on the website.

The School Libraries Section had a very productive time at the Lyon World Library and Information Congress – having hosted 2 successful sessions.

Minutes from the Lyon WLIC and the section’s Standing Committee meetings held in Lyon are available on the website, plus an updated action plan, and they include details of the 2 successful sessions held during the WLIC. The first on “IFLA/UNESCO School Library Guidelines: Review and Recommendations.” had members of the School Libraries SC as faciltators for the session for a workshop on the draft international school library guidelines (a revision of the 2002 IFLA/UNESCO School Library Guidelines). An expected 35 participants for the guidelines workshop was in fact 185, including about 50 French-speakers. Organized into 15 groups by language and topic. each group worked on the documents and then the participants reported back, one from each French-speaking group, whose words were then translated into English, and one from each English-speaking groups, whose words were then translated into French, by one of the conference volunteers, Christele Mir. A fantastic amount of work was achieved – and huge thanks to Christele.

The second was entitled School Libraries on the Agenda: Advocacy Initiatives from Around the World.” Members of the School Libraries SC served as faciltators for the session which was a culmination and celebration of the completion of our joint advocacy materials project with 8 presentations followed by roundtable discussions. Again an expected 60 participants was in fact 90 delegates. 8 speakers each give a 5-10 minute overview of his/her paper, and then organized the participants into 8 roundtable groups for discussions with the presenters. Presenters came from France, Norway, USA, Sweden, Malaysia, and South Africa. Presenters from Nigeria and Argentina were unable to come to Lyon, unfortunately. However, all ten of the papers on school library advocacy are available on the IFLA conference website and in the IFLA Library.

The section is now continuing with this work and will report back regularly. Thank you to all participants.

http://www.ifla.org/node/9049

http://www.ifla.org/publications/school-libraries-section-action-plan

http://www.ifla.org/school-libraries/minutes

http://conference.ifla.org/ifla80

http://library.ifla.org/view/conferences/2014/2014-08-21/437.html

Secondary school library/information course in India

The Central Board of Secondary Education, Govt. of India, has introduced “Library and Information Science” as an
Academic Elective Subject in Senior Secondary Schools from the academic session 2014-’15 in classes XI-XII (Subject Code 079) on a pilot basis in some selected schools. One of the important aspects of this elective is to improve the education system for Library and Information Science at school level which may be equivalent to Diploma holders in Library and Information Science.The elective will import some of the basic of L.I.Sc to those who aspire to pursue higher studies in Library and Information Science.

The Course is defined with the following objectives:
1. To develop the basic understanding of theory and practical part of Library & Information Science among students
2. To develop knowledge and skill to pursue the subject for higher education in future; and
3. To develop basic skill to work as Library Semi Professional in the Library, if drop out after +2 Level.”

The Library and Information Science, an academic elective (Code No 079) would nurture the interest of students and expose them to the nuances of skills and approaches required in this field. The elective can be offered by students as one of the four elective subjects and also as an additional elective subject at senior secondary stage in combination with any of the subjects that are already available in the Scheme of Studies of the Board.”

The minimum qualification for Teachers in Library & Information Science is fixed as Master’s degree in Library & Information Science (M.L.I.Sc) from a recognized University.

See the circular here: http://www.cbseacademic.in/web_material/Circulars/2014/7_LIS.pdf
Here is a link to the report appeared on Amar Ujala on the subject.
http://kvlibrarians.grou.ps/blogs/item/introduction-of-%E2%80%98lis%E2%80%99-as-a-new-elective-subject-in-class-xi-xii

ICT webinar

For the month of March Australia librarians have two hot topics that address the ICT general capabilities and curriculum inquiry skills.

12 March – Badge Your Way to ICT Competency
26 March – Mapping curriculum inquiry skills to a pedagogical framework

The ICT general capabilities from the Australian Curriculum outline key skills and competencies students require to become digital citizens. These capabilities have been designed to ensure students can confidently, competently and safely navigate an ever-increasing digital landscape for both educational and social needs. Iona Presentation College has developed an ICT Passport that maps and strategically teaches these skills within the curriculum. This system is being trialled in 2014 using a digital badging system. Badge systems are increasingly bei ng used as a monitoring and assessment tool to demonstrate competency across a range of skills. This webinar will describe how the passport system will be implemented and will show examples of products that can be used to create the badges.

When: Wednesday, 12 March 2014
Time: 8.00 to 9.00 pm Australian Daylight Saving Time
Register today at http://eduwebinar.com.au/webinars to secure your place at this webinar.

As a result of this webinar participants will:

  • have access to a Year 6-10 ICT Scope and Sequence as it relates to the ICT general capabilities from the Australian Curriculum;
  • examine how these ICT competencies translate into practical classroom skills;
  • examine a Year 7 ICT Passport that can then be used as a model for other year level passports;
  • examine a range of online badge tools; and
  • learn how to create online digital badges for use in their classroom using class badges.
  • Register now at http://eduwebinar.com.au/webinars to develop your understanding of how a badging system could be used in your school.

Mapping curriculum inquiry skills to a pedagogical framework with Karen Bonanno, Founder & Managing Director, Eduwebinar Pty Ltd on Wednesday, 26 March 8.00 pm to 9.00 pm ADST

Inquiry skills are strongly evident across the Australian Curriculum. In late 2012, Karen Bonanno was given permission by the authors of Guided Inquiry Design: A Framework for Inquiry in Your School, Carol Kuhlthau, Leslie Maniotes and Ann Caspari, to develop an open collaborative project with Australian teacher librarians to develop a scope and sequence tying the five kinds of learning to the inquiry skills and capabilities in the Australian Curriculum.

This webinar will build on the preliminary work that has already been undertaken over the last 10 months for the 4 core subjects (English, History, Maths, Science) and add in the recent curriculum additions of Economics & Business, Civics & Citizenship, The Arts, Technologies, Health & Physical Education.

The focus for the webinar will be on:

  • creating a skills scope and sequence within an inquiry learning framework,
  • identifying core essential inquiry skills across the curriculum that support sequential skill development,and
  • web tools & apps to help develop the skills with the students.Register at http://eduwebinar.com.au/webinars to secure your place at either of these webinars.

Library of Congress summer program

The Library of Congress is pleased to announce details about its summer programs for K-12 educators.

Institutes

The application for the Library of Congress Summer Teacher Institute is now available. The five-day institute provides educators with tools and resources to effectively integrate primary sources into K-12 classrooms.

Teachers and school librarians of all grade levels and curriculum areas are encouraged to apply.

Interested? Check your calendar–Institute dates are listed below.

  • June 9-13        Institute session #1
  • July 7-11         Institute session #2
  • July 21-25       Institute session #3

Additional information, educator testimonials, and the application for the Institutes can be found here!