1. Why should I care about
information literacy?
Improving researchers’ competency in information
handling and data management
Moira Bent – University of Newcastle
Stéphane Goldstein – RIN
Simon Hodson – JISC

2. Structure of workshop
◘ “Information handling and data management” = “information
literacy”
◘ How does this relate to researcher development?
◘ Information Literacy and the RDF
◘ The 7 Pillars model of information literacy
◘ What’s happening in practice?
– National initiatives
– Personal experiences, perceptions and needs
– Case studies
◘ An information literate graduate or/ and an information
literate university?

3. What does information literacy
mean to you?
◘ Choose top 3 statements
◘ We’ll record your top choice

4. Are you male or female? (give one answer)
M
ale
Fem
ale
0%0%
1. Male
2. Female
0
of
49

5. Are you:
Postgraduate
student/p...
Research
supervisor/m
a...
Teachingsupportstaff/t...LibrarystaffPolicy
staff
Other
0% 0% 0%0%0%0%
1. Postgraduate
student/postdoc
2. Research
supervisor/manager
3. Teaching support
staff/trainer
4. Library staff
5. Policy staff
6. Other

6. What does information literacy
mean to you?
Beinga
lifelonglearner
How
/w
hen
to
use
the
library
Able
to
search
forand
findinfo/...
Understandinglegaland
ethical...
M
anagingand
curatingresearch
...
Usinginfo
to
develop
ideas
Understandingthew
ayinw
hich
...
Abilitytojudgethequalityand
...
Interpreting,sum
m
arising
0% 0% 0% 0% 0%0%0%0%0%
1. Being a lifelong learner
2. How/when to use the library
3. Able to search for and find info/data
4. Understanding legal and ethical
issues around information/data
5. Managing and curating research data
effectively
6. Using info to develop ideas
7. Understanding the way in which
information/data are disseminated
8. Ability to judge the quality and
authenticity of information/data
sources
9. Interpreting, summarising

7. An IL definition
Information literacy can be thought of as:
“Individuals building an awareness of how they use, manage,
synthesise and create information and research data, in an
ethical manner, together with the information skills to do so
effectively, as part of their learning and research life.
Information literacy is central to learning and essentially involves
developing skills and competencies and changing learning
attitudes, habits and behaviours so that people understand how
information and research data fit into their learning and
research”.

8. An Information Literacy Landscape

9. Does it matter?
◘ Information and data as both the raw material and the product of
research: knowing how to handle it is truly important!
– Foundation of the scholarly record
– The imperative to share
– The tendency to protect
◘ Information and data deluge – need for discrimination
◘ Importance of meeting standards and institutional/funders’
requirements (esp. for data)
◘ Quality versus quantity
– Google = the wisdom of the crowd
– Wikipedia is a celebration of the amateur”
◘ Digital Darwinism
– The survival of the loudest and most opinionated
– An endless digital forest of mediocrity
[Keen, A : The cult of the amateur (2007)]

10. How important is IL in the context of
researcher development?
Crucial
Veryim
portant
Fairly
im
portant
Notvery
im
portant
Notatallim
portant
Notrelevantatall
0% 0% 0%0%0%0%
1. Crucial
2. Very important
3. Fairly important
4. Not very important
5. Not at all important
6. Not relevant at all

11. What might motivate you to support
or become more involved
with IL development?
M
ore
tim
e
M
ore
resources
M
ore
guidance
/support
M
ore
dem
and
from
users
M
ore
rew
ard
Betterunderstandingof...
Don’tw
antto
becom
e...
0% 0% 0% 0%0%0%0%
1. More time
2. More resources
3. More guidance /
support
4. More demand from
users
5. More reward
6. Better understanding of
its relevance
7. Don’t want to become
more involved

12. So, who’s interested?
◘ Vitae
– Development of the RDF
◘ SCONUL
– Development of the 7 Pillars model of Information Literacy
– Linkage between 7 Pillars and the RDF: the former provides an
information/data ‘lens’ to the RDF
◘ RIN
– Facilitation for all those with an interest
– Working group on information handling and data management
◘ JISC
– Data management skills projects
– Support project for the above
◘ CILIP
– Information literacy group
◘ And others…

13. The 7 pillars of Information Literacy:
a research lens that can be applied to the RDF
The
Information
Literate Researcher
The research process
NoviceExpert

14. The 7 pillars of Information Literacy
IDENTIFY
• A researcher is able to identify a need for information
ASSESS
• A researcher can assess their current knowledge and identify gaps
PLAN
• A researcher can construct strategies for locating information and data
GATHER
• A researcher can locate and access the information and data they need
EVALUATE
• A researcher can review the research process and compare and evaluate information and data
MANAGE
• A researcher can organise information and data and apply the knowledge gained
PRESENT
• A researcher can present the results of their research, synthesising new and old information and data to
create new knowledge and can disseminate it in a variety of ways

15. Stage 6: Manage
A researcher can organise information and data and apply the knowledge gained
The researcher understands:
◘ Their responsibility to act with professional integrity and to be honest in all aspects of
research, especially information handling and dissemination (e.g. copyright, plagiarism and IP
issues)
◘ The role they play in helping others in information seeking and management
◘ The need to keep systemic records, for example of:
– search strategies and resources searched
– resources found
– resources used
– research data
◘ The importance of sharing research data ethically without breaching data protection and
informed consent of individuals
◘ The need to archive research data ethically
◘ The importance of metadata

16. Stage 6: Manage
The researcher is able to:
◘ Use the information and data found to address the research question
◘ Use appropriate bibliographical software to manage information
◘ Cite printed and electronic sources using suitable referencing styles
◘ Create appropriately formatted bibliographies
◘ Demonstrate awareness of issues relating to the rights of other
researchers and research participants, including ethics, data protection,
copyright, plagiarism and IP issues
◘ Set standards of conduct for academic integrity
◘ Identify data curation opportunities to ensure that research data is
ethically stored for re-use in other projects
◘ Use data management software to manage and curate research data

17. Researcher Development Framework
◘ RDF recognises the importance and place of
information literacy
◘ Several competencies in the RDF are explicitly
relevant, notably:
– Information seeking
– Information literacy and management
– Synthesising
– Evaluating
– IPR/copyright
– Attribution/co-authorship
– Publication

18. Need for joined-up approach:
RIN working group
◘ “A focal point for the discussion of issues relating to
the effective development of information-handling
training for researchers in HE… Advocating for and
promoting the need for greater coordination and a
more strategic approach across the UK with regard to
the provision of such training for HE researchers.”
◘ Current membership includes Vitae, CILIP, SCONUL,
RLUK, British Library, JISC, DCC, UKCGE, HEA as well
as RIN
◘ More organisational membership welcome!

19. JISC and data management skills
◘ Projects to promote research data management skills
in HEIs, through designing and piloting discipline-
focused training units for postgraduate courses.
◘ Aim is “to encourage means by which skills and
capacity for data management and curation in HEIs
may be increased. It aims to promote the transition
to embedded training in management of research
data within the academic curriculum.”
◘ […] projects have recently been funded, covering a
range of disciplines

20. Group work
Each group to consider one of four sub-domains from the
RDF and identify any statements which have an
information literacy element
1. Highlight key elements / priorities
2. Discuss what you might do to develop the IL related
competencies in the sub-domains
3. List what you might need (resources, support, etc) to
take forward any such initiatives.
Also note examples from your own organisation of any of
these elements in practice

21. Some instances of good practice
◘ Newcastle
◘ Glasgow Caledonian
◘ Loughborough
◘ Leicester
◘ Importance of documenting examples through such
resources as Vitae database of practice – RIN
working group taking the lead in this activity

22. Did you find this workshop useful?
0%0%0%0%0%
Very useful Fairly useful Interesting but n...
Not very useful Not at all useful
1. Very useful
2. Fairly useful
3. Interesting but not
relevant
4. Not very useful
5. Not at all useful

23. I plan to apply what I’ve learned in
my own institution
0%0%
Yes No
1. Yes
2. No

24. Over to you!
Please use the post-it notes to leave comments on any
aspect of the workshop
For example:
What do you think about the activities of
RIN/SCONUL/JISC?
Is the 7 pillars model helpful?
Is information literacy / info and data handling important?

25. References
• RDF: www.vitae.ac.uk/rdf
• 7 Pillars:
http://www.sconul.ac.uk/groups/information_literac
y/sp/model.html
• RIN initiatives: www.rin.ac.uk/information-handling-
training
• JISC data management skills projects:
www.jisc.ac.uk/fundingopportunities/funding_calls/
2010/03/410dataskills.aspx

26. Thank you for taking part!
Moira Bent
moira.bent@newcastle.ac.uk
0191 222 7641
Stéphane Goldstein
stephane.goldstein@rin.ac.uk
020 7412 7303
Simon Hodson
s.hodson@jisc.ac.uk
020 3006 6071

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Postgraduat... Research su... Teaching su... Library staff Policy staff Other