This presentation was given by Sheila Webber at the CILIP Libraries for Nursing Study Day, held in York (UK) on 5th October 2010. the final slide (before the contact details and the references) gives instructions for the exercise that was then carried out by participants.

1. Identifying the information Literacy
needs of your diverse users
Sheila Webber
Information School
University of Sheffield
October 2010
Presented at the Libraries for Nursing study day, York, UK; 5 October 2010

2. Information: ambulancemen
Lloyd, A. (2009) “Informing
practice: information
experiences of ambulance
officers in training and on-
road practice.” Journal of
Documentation, 65 (3),
396-419
• training manuals
• books,
• written rules
• protocols
•Colleagues
•Trainers
Bodies/ people/ environment
• Sound
• Speech
• Touch
• Appearance
• MovementPatients Text
“you don’t really know what’s happening until you get
your hands on the patient and can see breathing, feel a
pulse, what’s the blood pressure, are they pale?” (p409)

3. Integration of the “external” evidence
base into practice
“An information literate person has a deep awareness,
connection, and fluency with the information environment.
Information literate people are engaged, enabled, enriched
and embodied by social, procedural and physical information
that constitutes an information universe. Information literacy
is a way of knowing that universe."
Lloyd (2004: 223)
International IL Logo:
http://www.infolitglobal.info/
Sheila Webber, 2010

4. Most groups are diverse
• You have some things in common, but also
differences
• I make some assumptions from institution, job title,
your name, the fact that you signed up for this day
… these assumptions could be wrong
Sheila Webber, 2010
Pictures taken by
Sheila Webber, on
the UEL island in
Second Life

5. Options in meeting diverse needs
• Who (takes action)?
– You
– The learners
– Others
• Where?
– Their workplace
– Their home
– (Anywhere else they are…)
– Your workplace/training venue
• When?
– Before
– During
– After
– Continuously
– Synchronous or asynchronous
• How?
– Web
– Virtual chat/ world
– Print
– Face to face
In marketing terms: creating a customer relationship: but not worth it
for all customers, and some customers don’t want a relationship
Sheila Webber, 2010

6. Example … “before”
Educator
e.g. Observation (Looking at student profiles, activity, past work;
Googling people)
Posing questions; Engaging in discussion online;
Setting tasks; Changing plans in the light of what is discovered.
Learner
e.g. Responding to requests for information about themselves;
Completing a diagnostic; Formulating questions;
Creating a portfolio of examples from practice;
Following through an online tutorial.
Others
e.g. Nurse educators providing you with information;
Computing centre or development unit supporting computing or writing
skills; Academic facilitating exercises you have jointly agreed on;
Peer support for the learner f2f or online.
Sheila Webber, 2010

7. What and why?
• What is essential, and part of, the learning?
• What is a necessary tool/skill to support learning, but
not actually the goal of the learning?
• What are your motivations and their motivations?
• What is their:
– Disposition to learn?
– Attitude towards the “academic” part of their learning and to
technology?
– How does it fit with their professional identity?
Sheila Webber, 2010

8. Example: 4 types of international student
• Kari Smith’s (2010) research
• Distance learning students (Objectives: adventure,
language, wider horizons, new perspectives)
• Students from abroad choosing to study in another
country (want degree/profession not attainable in their
own country
• Immigrant population (want integration into society)
• Minority groups (want degree/profession)
• Different needs, expectations, motivations and
behaviour as regards language, content, national &
educational culture, aspirations for study etc.
Sheila Webber, 2010

9. Some issues preventing lifelong IL learning
in nursing
• Learner knowledge, skills and
attitudes
– Knowledge and skill levels in
searching
– Knowledge about sources
– Levels of self confidence
• Organisational issues
– Degree of emphasis placed on
research based clinical practice
– Access to technology
– Attitude to change
– Library and information provision
• Curriculum design& pedagogic
approach
– Should not be short isolated
experience, which “Does not
prepare nurses for the challenges
of research, problem solving and
continuous learning”
– Should be in the context of
nursing curricula “structured so
that inquiry is the norm, problem
solving is the focus and
development of critical thinking is
natural and ongoing” (not talks
and textbooks)
Barnard, Nash and O’Brien (2005)
Sheila Webber, 2010

10. Figure 1 Diversity and Learning Framework for effectively
recognizing and responding to diversity issues
Language
Religion and
spirituality
Sexual
Orientation
Age
Gender
Culture
Abilities
Other
Socio-
economic
status
Awareness of
issues
Reflection
Skill
sets
Action
Knowledge
base
Student
Learning
Encounter
Closely adapted from: Johnston and Mohide (2008)
Age cohort e.g.
boomer
Sheila Webber, 2010
Openness to diversity

11. Exercise 1
• What types of diversity have you encountered?
• Take a few minutes to jot them down
• I will write them up: if there are very many we can
identify the most frequent/ problematic
Exercise 2
• One “type” of diversity per flip chart sheet
• You circulate round the sheets: note any strategies you
have used, or problems encountered
• Share them at the end (writing up the sheets, if there
are a lot)
Sheila Webber, 2010

12. Sheila Webber
s.webber@shef.ac.uk
http://information-literacy.blogspot.com/
http://www.slideshare.net/sheilawebber/

13. References
• Barnard, A., Nash, R. and O’Brien, M. (2005) “Information Literacy: developing
lifelong skills through nurse education.” Journal of nursing education, 44 (11),
505-510.
• Lloyd, A. (2009) “Informing practice: information experiences of ambulance
officers in training and on-road practice.” Journal of documentation, 65(3), 396-
419
• Lloyd, A. (2004) “Working (in)formation: conceptualizing information literacy in
the workplace.” In: Danaher, P.A. et al (eds.) Lifelong learning: whose
responsibility and what is your contribution? Refereed papers from the 3rd
International Lifelong Learning Conference, Yeppoon, Australia: 13-16 June
2004. pp.218-224. Rockhampton: CQU.
• Johnston, C. and Mohide, A.A. (2009) “Addressing diversity in clinical nursing
education: support for preceptors.” Nurse education in practice, 9(5), 340–347
• Smith, K. (2010) “Challenges posed by diversity: looking at language and
assessment”. In Creating Knowledge VI, Bergen, Wednesday 8 September
2010. http://creatingknowledge.blip.tv/file/4124394/ [Video]
Sheila Webber, 2010

14. Additional items
• SCONUL (2008) Library services for international students. London: SCONUL.
http://www.sconul.ac.uk/groups/access/papers/international_students.pdf
• Sovic, S. (2008) Lost in Transition? The International Students’ Experience Project.
London: University of the Arts. http://www.arts.ac.uk/docs/ISEP_-
_Public_Report.pdf
• Student Diversity and Academic Writing project. (2008) International Students,
Academic Writing & Plagiarism. London School of Economics and Lancaster
University Management School. http://www.sdaw.info/index.htm
• University of Sheffield. (2008) Study Skills for Students with Dyslexia. Sheffield:
UoS. http://dyslexstudyskills.group.shef.ac.uk/
Sheila Webber, 2010