APLA Information Literacy Interest Group (ILIG) Report

 

 

Janet Goosney replaced Gwendolyn MacNairn as ILIG Convener in May 2006. During 2008/2009, the interest group had a healthy 83 individual members, plus three institutional members. Membership increased slightly in 2009 as a result of the ILIG’s Engage - Entertain - Enlighten contest, due to the fact that several APLA members joined the ILIG in order to participate.  

 

 

The key initiative for the ILIG was the Engage - Entertain - Enlighten contest, which was developed with three goals in mind: to raise awareness of and attract new members to the group; to engage existing ILIG members; and to share ideas and showcase information literacy innovation in Atlantic Canada.

 

Contestants were invited to participate by submitting a short essay (plus relevant attachments) describing a teaching & learning strategy or tool they have developed to promote information literacy. 

Few restrictions were placed on the type of submission, which could take any form (e.g. an in-class activity or exercise, applied teaching method, or a learning object) and target any group of learners (e.g. post-secondary, K-12, public or special library users). The main criterion was that it engaged students in some way as active or reflective learners. Submissions were received from librarians in academic and public libraries, and were designed for both children and adult learners.

 

Contest winners were chosen by a panel of four judges, selected for their range of experience and expertise:

 

 

Of the submissions received, three winners were selected: one first place winner, plus two runners up.

 

First place:

 

§ Shannon Gordon, Public Services Librarian, QEII Library, Memorial University of Newfoundland, selected for her Post-Research Reflective Exercise. Shannon received a $100.00 Chapters Gift card; details of her submission will be published in the APLA Bulletin as well as on the ILIG webpage.

 

Runners up:

 

§ Barry Cull, Information Services Librarian, Harriet Irving Library, University of New Brunswick, selected for his Pre-Evaluation Exercise. Barry received a water bottle bearing the APLA logo.

 

§ Erin Alcock, Science Liaison Librarian, QEII Library, Memorial University of Newfoundland, selected for her Wikipedia vs. Scholarly Article Exercise. Erin also received a water bottle bearing the APLA logo.

 

All prizes were generously provided by the association. A poster, briefly describing the winning submissions, will be on display at the Interest Group table in the lobby throughout the conference.