Speakers from Channel 4 News, the Information Commissioner’s Office and an award-winning documentary film maker are some of the high profile speakers completing the line up for CILIP’s Umbrella Conference.
Held on 2 and 3 July 2013 at the University of Manchester, this year’s Umbrella programme includes debates on hot topics, keynotes addressing big issues and spotlight sessions on more focused themes.
Confirmed speakers include:
Biddy Fisher OBE, Conference Director, said: “Umbrella 2013 is set to be one of the highlights of the year. We have amazing speakers, we have the chance to debate and explore key issues in depth, there are social events and awards to enjoy, over forty exhibitors, an unconference, and it’ll be easier than ever to get involved and navigate your way round with an event app.”
With four conference themes – future skills and future roles, information to best support society, forming and informing the Government’s agenda and partnerships for progress – Umbrella will cover a wide range of issues that are essential to the library and information profession.
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Press contact:
Mark Taylor, Director of External Relations, CILIP
Tel: 020 7255 0654
Mobile: 07792 635 305
Email: mark.taylor@cilip.org.uk
Notes to editors:
CILIP: the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals is the leading professional body for librarians, information specialists and knowledge managers. CILIP’s vision is a fair and economically prosperous society underpinned by literacy, access to information and the transfer of knowledge. CILIP is a registered charity, no. 313014. Visit www.cilip.org.uk for more information.
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A new date has been arranged for the General Meeting called under Bye-law 22 by a requisition of Individual Members of CILIP. This is to ensure all Members receive the required twenty-one days’ notice in writing, in accordance with legal advice.
A General Meeting of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals will be held in the Ewart Room at CILIP, 7 Ridgmount Street, London WC1E 7AE on Monday 8 July at 1.00 pm.
Find out more details about the meeting including the motion to be discussed, proxy voting details, how to book and supporting information.
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In a session entitled ‘Where does the internet end and the library begin?’ Rebecca Bartlett, Innovation Manager at the Library of Birmingham; Ben Lewis, Director of the documentary 'Google and the World Brain'; and Creative Director of Running in the Halls Shay Moradi gave their interpretations. Ben Lewis talked about how Google’s attempts to digitise the world’s collection of books is less about unlocking the content for people to use, and more about unlocking it for Google’s own algorithms. However the by-product of Google’s apparent desire to harness the knowledge contained in the books has the benefit of making them freely available.
Gamification and games featured in the debate with both Shay and Rebecca talking through examples of how game play can be used to increase interactions within libraries. Shay’s Running in the Halls company develops apps and games and has a number of library specific tools that bring an element of competition to users. Lemontree, for academic libraries, and the soon to be released public library version, Orangetree, both utilise social media to push people towards increasing their library use. According to Shay, both tools follow the ‘nudge’ model, using subtle gamification to gently guide people into changing their behaviours. He said: ‘Gamification is about making things more interesting by introducing gaming elements.'
He pointed to a range of popular examples where gamification is utilised to some extent, including Nike+ and supermarket loyalty cards where users collect points for rewards. He said that both Lemontree and Orangetree provide users with virtual incentives to carry out functions such as taking out a book or visiting a library, and early research shows it is having a positive effect. Progress can be shown to friends through the interface or via social media including Facebook. At the Library of Birmingham Rebecca has taken the idea of gamification to another level. Less about ‘subtle gamification’ the library is set to introduce a full blown game that puts users in the role of library curator. They are able to create a virtual library using content from the library’s collections. She said this was blurring the lines between physical footfall and people gaining virtual access to collections, adding: ‘We’re having conversations about that digital experience being as valid as the physical experience.’ The work at Birmingham Library is very much user focussed and includes apps that help unlock collections and knowledge of library staff. Users are also being used to help archiving through crowd-sourcing initiatives on the internet, giving people real ownership of local collections.
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Janice trained as a lawyer but has never practised law and says her career has never been defined by the title. Instead it is the skills she learned that have helped her secure roles in a variety of seemingly unconnected arenas – including a stint at the White House as one of Bill Clinton’s inner circle. This acceptance that job title or degree need not be the defining elements of a career is something she urged delegates to take on board.
In a time where jobs are increasingly difficult to come by, Janice pointed out that expertise is a commodity that is always at a premium. Library and information professionals possess vast quantities of expertise and Janice believes that pushing this will help open up a new world of opportunities outside traditional sectors.
Janice’s message focussed on the need for librarians to not only promote the services they are providing within an organisation. She said they must go further and show how the skills they are using meet the needs of organisation and senior leaders. Research and analytical skills that can unlock the value of information are just two areas where traditional library skills can bring about benefits that demonstrate return of investment. She said library and information workers have to think like executives to go beyond the retrieval of information and facts and to look at ways of interpreting them to add value.
Her argument was that the jobs of the future will not necessarily be in a traditional library setting and that the profession needs to look at how skills can be transferred and used elsewhere. Key to that is showing potential employers what those skills will bring to a role and how that will then improve the organisation.
‘If you think of yourself in terms of your degree or job title it will limit your opportunities.’ said Janice. ‘Align your role with the organisation and specifically with the senior executives. Look at the organisation’s needs and weaknesses and look at leaders’ goals. If you adopt this mindset you will become more integral to the success of the organisation, not just your team or department.’
She ended the keynote with three pieces of advice – look for opportunity where you wouldn’t normally look; take risks that stretch your abilities; and believe you can make a difference, not just a living.
She added that employers also have a responsibility to change the way they recruit – focussing on ability and potential rather than experience. Job roles are constantly evolving and employers would be better to attract staff who have the skills and potential to evolve with them.
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The Spring 2013 issue of the Local Studies Librarian+ is now available to LSG members. Just login to the CILIP website and you should be able to see the issue on the LSG publications page.
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There are many ways you can make the most of your HLG membership. Find our top 10 on our Membership page.
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Jisc and Wikimedia UK are collaborating on a project to bring the academic world and Wikipedia closer together. This will create opportunities for researchers, educators, and the general public to contribute to the world's freely available knowledge.
Jisc is supporting this initiative so that the widest possible audience will benefit from the world-leading projects that it supports. These include open educational resources, online repositories of research, and collections such as the 19th century newspapers archive and Manuscripts Online, which holds British written and early printed materials from 1000 to 1500AD.
Wikimedia UK is the national charity supporting Wikipedia and its sister projects such as Wiktionary and Wikiversity. It works with professionals in universities, museums, libraries, and other institutions to improve the knowledge that those projects make freely available. It is investing in this project to involve more of these experts in improving Wikimedia projects for everyone's benefit. This project is part of the charity's wider commitment to higher education, shown through efforts such as their annual EduWiki conference and participation in the global Wikipedia Education Program. The charity recently appointed its first education co-ordinator in order to gain greater focus on higher education.
This is a national project, based at the University of Bristol. It will train experts in their workplaces and also run ‘editathon’ events which will be open to the public. Dr Martin Poulter, who is a Wikipedia editor as well as a professional creator of educational materials in the University, will be an ambassador between the two communities. This will include working with Jisc’s communities to identify specific topics for development.
Peter Findlay, Jisc programme manager said:
“We at Jisc are delighted to be working in partnership with Wikimedia UK to allow people to take full advantage of Wikipedia’s sophisticated open publishing systems. Our communities have worked hard to develop academic rigour but equally Wikimedia’s community has developed a rigorous approach to publishing crowd-sourced knowledge; it makes perfect sense for us to join forces for the advancement of teaching, learning and research.”
Jon Davies, chief executive of Wikimedia UK, said:
“I’m pleased that we are working with Jisc on the Wikimedia Ambassador project. Both the academic and Wikimedia communities are committed to the pursuit and sharing of knowledge. Bringing the two communities together can help demystify Wikipedia to people who work in higher education, and at the same time create and improve Wikimedia content by encouraging more experts to edit.”
The project is jointly funded by Wikimedia UK and Jisc and will run for around nine months.
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Iconic buildings of the past and present are being brought to life thanks to their architectural drawings going online through Architectus.
The Architectus archive contains unique student designs from the 1930s to the 1950s and work from famous post-war architects like John Madin (who designed Telford as a new town, Pebble Mill and Birmingham Central Library amongst others in the 1960s and 1970s). Buildings featured in the resource range from New Selfridges Birmingham, to an edible gingerbread house and the iconic THE CUBE.
Developed by the Birmingham City University and made possible by Jisc, the resource contains over 5,000 assets. It is useful to students studying architecture, allowing investigation into new and old techniques, period styles and the building of scale models.
Bev Cole, project manager for the Architectus Project, Birmingham City University, says:
“One of the key directives of the Architectus initiative was to provide students with the detailed, high quality drawings needed to further their education. This is probably the best open educational resource of original, primary sourced, contemporary design and building plans for the wider educational community available on the web. The projects couldn’t have been possible without Jisc’s support.”
Content has been both digitised and centralised to develop this wealth of information and includes video interviews with building designers complemented by suggestive learning activities, plans, drawings, elevations, sketches and photographs. The resource also contains maps which you can click on to see the buildings from a street view. Alongside this, users can rate the resources, add comments and submit new building designs to help grow the archive.
Luke Nagle, student engagement mentor, Birmingham City University, explains previous difficulties when searching for information:
“My personal experience is that sourcing detailed and high quality architectural drawings has always been troublesome. More often than not this is due to financial constraints, a general lack of information available on the web and commercial intellectual property rights.”
Following a model making workshop, with first year architect students, to test the usefulness of the resource academic tutor, Jim Sloane from Birmingham City University said:
“The results of the model-making workshop reflected the effectiveness of the Architectus project sourced drawings. The models were far more accurate in both scale and detail. Interestingly, the students that used the Architectus drawings required less input from the tutor due to the quality of the Architectus content.”
The content was sourced from dozens of commercial architectural practices and the RIBA West Midlands (Birmingham and Five Counties Architectural Association Trust) archive. You can search for resources by practice or archive name, architect, building project, sector, category, materials used or date.
Paola Marchionni, digitisation programme manager at Jisc, says:
"This project represents another excellent partnership that Jisc is proud to have supported. It's great to see the Birmingham team work with a variety of commercial architectural practices to bring their drawings and models to life. Buildings old and new have now been turned into high quality digital resources to fill a gap in architectural studies and support students in improving their skills and experience. Luckily, these resources are freely accessible and can also be enjoyed by the public at large."
You can find more information on the Architectus blog.
View a selection of images made available via our Flickr slideshow.
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The winner of the ICT initiative of the year award, sponsored by Jisc, was announced last night in London at the Times Higher Leadership and Management Awards 2013.
The awards, hosted by comedian Dara O Briain, covered everything from international strategy to student services, from fundraising to HR and estates to admissions. The event showcased the extraordinary innovation, teamwork and commercial acumen of UK higher education institutions.
Robert Haymon-Collins, Jisc’s executive director of customer experience, said:
“At Jisc we believe in making the UK the most digitally advanced education and research nation in the world and this year’s winner is most certainly contributing to making this happen.
This year’s award goes to the National Union of Students (NUS), for their creation of UnionCloud, which is their own cloud computing platform, to create the NUS Digital project. NUS Digital enables students’ unions across the UK to interact more effectively with their members at a local level. Among other services, it offers membership communication management, targeted marketing, election functions and resources for student clubs and societies.”
NUS president Liam Burns said:
“We are really honoured to have won this award. There has never been a non-institution winner at these awards before and the shortlist had some serious initiatives to compete with.
As with all these things, it's the effort everyone has put into promoting NUS Digital and its potential that has made it an award winning initiative. So a genuine thank you to everyone in the NUS Group. What the platform will mean for our campaigning and ability to talk to students is really exciting and being nationally recognised this early on is exceptional.”
Chris Cobb, chief operating officer and university secretary at the University of London, was one of the category’s judges. He said that NUS Digital was
"...an example of what can be achieved through collaboration.
The core infrastructure and suite of tools in the UnionCloud are innovative, timely and relevant as evidenced by the very strong buy-in from local students’ unions.
What is particularly interesting is how the NUS has harnessed the power of social networking as a core means of communication within its membership.”
See the full list of award winners on the Times Higher Leadership and Management Awards 2013 website.
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A major survey of UK academics released today examines the attitudes of researchers and practitioners working within higher education. It sheds light on their behaviours, including their reliance on digital technologies, the Internet and open access.
The survey of academics, funded and guided by Jisc and RLUK and conducted on their behalf by the not-for-profit research organisation Ithaka S+R, received 3,498 responses, (a response rate of 7.9%). The survey covers a range of areas from how academics discover and stay abreast of research, to their teaching of undergraduates. How they choose research topics and publication channels, to their views on learned societies and university libraries, and their collections.
Overarching themes are an increasing reliance on the Internet for their research and publishing activities and the strong role that openness is playing in their work. Key findings include:
Rachel Bruce, innovation director for digital infrastructure, Jisc, explains:
“Across the findings, this survey confirms that the open web is the first port of call for academics starting research. If an article is not available through the library the majority of academics will go straight to the web to look for a free copy, suggesting that open access is becoming a critical component of the research process. It also confirms our expectation that libraries have an important role to play in both surfacing open content on the web and ensuring open content is accessible through library systems.”
Chair of RLUK, Stella Butler, commented:
“University libraries have long ceased to be passive repositories of information. Our role as gateways to research findings and as curators of knowledge, including data, is clearly expanding. The results of this survey will help all libraries explore the changing needs of one of our key customer groups and help RLUK re-define the research library model.”
Deanna Marcum, managing director, Ithaka S+R, added:
“Across the UK, organisations are deeply focused on the development of new policies and their implementation to transform research and higher education in the wake of emerging technologies and the charge to deliver the impact that the public expects. We hope this survey provides meaningful insight and will help in strategic decision-making as the future unfolds.”
Higher education leaders will gather at a workshop in London on the 20 May to discuss the survey results and consider the ways in which their organisations can align their efforts more closely with what academics say they need.
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A new survey of colleges across Scotland shows that social media, and particularly YouTube, has firmly entered the learning environment as teaching and learning tools, with its use growing significantly year on year.
In the 2012 ETNA (Enhanced Training Needs Analysis) survey, carried out by the Jisc Regional Support Centre (RSC) in Scotland and launched today at their annual conference in Edinburgh, nearly three quarters of academics in further education agree that social media tools enhance the quality of the learning experience. YouTube is by far the most popular tool, while Facebook and particularly Twitter, lag well behind. However, the survey also identifies a strong need for staff training in the use of social media.
The 2012 ETNA survey is the fifth of its kind in Scotland, with ETNA surveys having been carried out for more than a decade across Scottish colleges, analysing technology in further education and able to show trends over time. In 2012, 1,700 staff took part, including more than 700 academics across 40 of the 43 colleges. Together with responses from admin and support staff, managers, learning resource staff, learning technologists, and technical and network staff, it provides a comprehensive picture of technology in the learning landscape.
Of those surveyed:
Of the media channels:
Celeste McLaughlin, advisor: staff development at Jisc RSC Scotland said: "It's clear from the survey that social media is now here to stay in colleges as learning tools. They offer a familiar environment for students and, at the same time, teaching staff clearly like them. In particular, the ability to share videos online has made YouTube a clear favourite. But training is patchy, so Jisc RSC Scotland aims to help college staff improve their social media skills.”
The 2012 ETNA survey, Growth and Development – an analysis of skills and attitudes to technology in Scottish further education, is to be launched at today's Jisc RSC Scotland annual conference, Bring Me That Horizon!
Further reading: Social media use in Scottish universities - blog post from Celeste McLaughlin, RSC Scotland.
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A new survey of colleges across Scotland shows that social media, and particularly YouTube, has firmly entered the learning environment as teaching and learning tools, with its use growing significantly year on year.
In the 2012 ETNA (Enhanced Training Needs Analysis) survey, carried out by the Jisc Regional Support Centre (RSC) in Scotland and launched today at their annual conference in Edinburgh, nearly three quarters of academics in further education agree that social media tools enhance the quality of the learning experience. YouTube is by far the most popular tool, while Facebook and particularly Twitter, lag well behind. However, the survey also identifies a strong need for staff training in the use of social media.
The 2012 ETNA survey is the fifth of its kind in Scotland, with ETNA surveys having been carried out for more than a decade across Scottish colleges, analysing technology in further education and able to show trends over time. In 2012, 1,700 staff took part, including more than 700 academics across 40 of the 43 colleges. Together with responses from admin and support staff, managers, learning resource staff, learning technologists, and technical and network staff, it provides a comprehensive picture of technology in the learning landscape.
Of those surveyed:
Of the media channels:
Celeste McLaughlin, advisor: staff development at Jisc RSC Scotland said: "It's clear from the survey that social media is now here to stay in colleges as learning tools. They offer a familiar environment for students and, at the same time, teaching staff clearly like them. In particular, the ability to share videos online has made YouTube a clear favourite. But training is patchy, so Jisc RSC Scotland aims to help college staff improve their social media skills.”
The 2012 ETNA survey, Growth and Development – an analysis of skills and attitudes to technology in Scottish further education, is to be launched at today's Jisc RSC Scotland annual conference, Bring Me That Horizon!
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Jisc, the UK charity for digital innovation within education and research, is searching for a passionate technologist, strategist and innovator to take on the role of the organisation’s chief innovation officer and join their new leadership team.
Martyn Harrow, chief executive of Jisc, says: “After the successful appointment of our new leadership team to take forward our aim of assisting UK education and research to fully harness the power of digital technology and resources for advantage, we are now looking to recruit the final critical post.”
The new team will play a pivotal role in ensuring Jisc benefits the communities it serves by providing a high performing digital infrastructure, developing online content and delivering practical advice and guidance that aligns with the needs of UK further education, higher education and skills. The confirmed appointments include:
Prof Martin Hall, vice chancellor of University of Salford and Jisc board UUK nominee, says: “Jisc’s new leadership team will provide stronger more focused services and value for its communities. Having clear leadership for each key area of work will mean Jisc’s network, advice, content and support channels are more aligned to the sector’s needs".
Martyn adds that "Jisc also aims now to take a more hands-on and practical approach to future innovation and development supporting sector colleagues to continue to adapt and keep at the forefront in providing students and researchers with the best digital technology and resources available."
If you’re interested in applying for the vacant post which will lead Jisc in the development of new technologies to support universities and colleges and ultimately improve the student experience then find out more.
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