Stay one step ahead: some free information literacy resources for library staff and their customers
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Ranked #27,284 in How-To, #271,171 overall
Welcome to my Squidoo Lens for Information Literacy. It's been set up for the CLIC Information Literacy Event on 7 September 2006 in Cardiff, Wales. Here you'll find a selection of resources which library and learning resources staff can use to develop their own information literacy skills, and to help others do the same. Have fun!
Please note RSC Wales does not endorse any commercial products whose advertisements may appear on this page, nor can it take responsibility for the content of any websites listed.
Photo "Leafy knows how to find mice" - Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zenera/, accessed via http://yotophoto.com (see that site for licensing details).
Have a go
Some free resources to try in the hands on session. Though aimed at Further, Higher and Adult Education, they are freely available and can be used by anyone.
- Intute
- Intute is the new name for the Resource Discovery Network (RDN). THe service has at its heart a catalogue of key internet sites for a wide range of subjects taught in UK universities and colleges, evaluated by subject specialists. You can search across the whole of Intute or you can focus on one of its four subject areas: Science and technology (try the 'We Recommend' section); Arts and Humanities (try the 'Features' section); Social Sciences ; and Health and Life Sciences. There is also a special FE catalogue. As well as the catalogue of resources, there are a number of other useful services to support study and research, and a wealth of support materials to download. You can create a MyIntute account to save and manage records which you find on Intute.
- Virtual Training Suite
- The Intute Virtual Training Suite is a large set of free tutorials to help you use the internet effectively for study. Most of the tutorials were originally written for university users, and there are also a number of tutorials for Further Education and Adult & Community Learning subjects. If this is the first time you've used this resource, you might like to try one of the ACL or FE tutorials as these follow a particularly easy-to-use design. All the tutorials are being updated in 2006/2007. Two of the latest ones to be updated are Internet for Business and Internet for Education.
- Internet Detective
- Internet Detective is a free tutorial aimed at students and would probably be best suited to students at A-level or Access course level, and could also be used with library staff. It is not focussed on any specific subject. It adopts a 'film noir' theme to explore how to find quality information for study, and also touches on the important issues of referencing, copyright and plagiarism.
More tutorials
Some more free tutorials to try when you get back to your workplace. I hope you'll find one to suit you!
- Safari
- An information skills tutorial designed for Open University students. However it is freely available to anyone.
- BBC Webwise
- Before you can search effectively you need to be fairly comfortable using a computer in the first place. This tutorial helps you learn how to use the internet step by step including 'Finding Stuff Online". If you need an even simpler introduction, it also links to the beginner's 'BBC Computer Tutor'.
- Ticket to Find
- A set of free tutorials created by a group of organisations in the Wolverhampton area. They cover Childcare, Health, Education, Neighbourhood and Family History.
- E-literate?
- A project in America called UCLA 21st Century Literacies commissioned this 15-minute video to promote information literacy to young people. You'll need audio and headphones for this so you may have to look at this back at your workplace.
- Tonic
- A free tutorial on using the internet, created by Netskills. Registration is required so it is best to do this from your workplace.
More information management resources from JISC
JISC also funds some other resources designed to support the improvement of staff information literacy skills in further and higher education.
- JISC I-Skills guides
- I-skills is a term coined to describe information management skills for staff. These resources include a guide for senior managers on 'Investing in staff i-skills', a guide for staff developers on 'Improving staff i-skills', a list of suggestions for those thinking of developing an i-skills programme, a quiz to assess the i-skills level of your institution, and a promotional leaflet. These may all be downloaded for free.
- Netskills Information Literacy
- Netskills is a training organisation, partly-funded by JISC, which offers workshops on internet topics. These are open to all for a fee, with reductions for FE/HE. Netskills also sells online training materials for institutions. Their product range includes a variety of information literacy topics, geared to university and college staff.
- Big Blue
- Big Blue was a project looking at the teaching of information literacy (information skills) in further and higher education in the UK. Although Big Blue ended a few years ago and some of the information is now be a bit dated, some of the materials such as the case studies are still useful for showing good practice if you are setting up an information literacy programme.
More inspiration
Here are a few more of my favourite information literacy links. I'm always keen to discover new material so let me know if you find any.
- Bill and Sheila's Information Literacy Place
- Bill Johnston and Sheila Webber are two academics (Bill at Strathclyde and Sheila at Sheffield). This site aims to provide a 'modest virtual textbook' on information literacy and provide links to key resources.
- Information Literacy Weblog
- Sheila Webber maintains an excellent blog on information literacy, embellished with her beautiful digital images. As well as regular insights in information literacy topics, she provides links to key sites.
- Phil Bradley's website
- Phil Bradley is a information consultant and expert on internet searching and web design. His website is full of fascinating tips and tricks, fun stuff and timesaving hints. If you want to become more expert at using the web, or just want some entertainment, this is definitely a useful site to visit.
- Strongest Links: Information Literacy
- Part of the website of Anne M Robinson, School Librarian of the Year 2005. Designed for school librarians, it could also be useful for other sectors. It has a lot of useful links to resources, background information and tutorials.
- Information Literacy
- This website has been set up by various UK library and information organisations such as CILIP. It includes links to a wide range of resources.
RSC Wales
I've created this Squidoo lens as part of my work with RSC Wales. If you would like to know more about our services here is some information.
RSC Wales is one of thirteen RSCs (Regional Support Centres) around the UK. We are funded by the further and higher education funding councils of the UK, via JISC the Joint Information Systems Committee. Our remit in Wales is to support further education colleges and five smaller higher education institutions in the use of learning technology. For more details see our website at www.rsc-wales.ac.uk Feedback welcome
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by Lis_Parcell
Hi, I'm Lis Parcell. I am Learning Resources Advisor and HE Coordinator with RSC Wales www.rsc-wales.ac.uk. This picture was taken on a fantastic... (more)
