J. Adam Edwards - Profile on Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by J. Adam Edwards

Dewey Game

Template to print out and/or make your own version of the game.<br>

Foundation resources cards

Resources (e.g. Cite them Right Online, Lynda.com) cards used to encourage exploration of resourc... more Resources (e.g. Cite them Right Online, Lynda.com) cards used to encourage exploration of resources useful to foundation year students. See instructions via link for full details.

Does it really improve their marks? A brief foray into measuring the impact of Information Litera... more Does it really improve their marks? A brief foray into measuring the impact of Information Literacy training

Using our games and activities: Overview, instructions and templates (version 9) April 2016

Instructions on how to use our games.<br>

Jeux sans frontieres: It's a library knockout

V10 Using our games; updated July 2017 (Current version)

My Subject: Support for students with a disability or a health condition: Ebook Central (Proquest) accessibility

Information and advice for students needing extra support Links to information on support for stu... more Information and advice for students needing extra support Links to information on support for students with a disability or a health condition

My Subject: Liaison Librarians: Liaison librarians

The paper is a brief report on a survey of second year computer science students to see what if a... more The paper is a brief report on a survey of second year computer science students to see what if any impact library information literacy training had on the linked coursework. The results show evidence of higher marks, better use of research tools and better understanding of evaluation criteria by those attending the training unlike those who did not attend.

This statement explores the potential role of librarians in the development of information litera... more This statement explores the potential role of librarians in the development of information literacy and research integrity in higher education. We contextualise this in a critical reflection of our own professional careers and practice, within continually changing information, social and political landscapes. We illustrate our development through a critique of our core public work, Enhanced pedagogy for improved information literacy, and a number of other smaller but significant previous public works. We also examine some of the narratives which surround the ‘Google Generation’, academia and librarianship and demythologise the context in which we operate. To inform the future development of our professional role we investigate information literacy concepts and models, the obstacles to the wider adoption of information literacy in higher education curricula, the skills and attributes that the librarian of the future can bring to its achievement and how the public works are a continuo...

Informing the uninformed: using the national press to promote library/information work

ABSTRACT The article looks at the ways college librarians can inform the uninformed about the wor... more ABSTRACT The article looks at the ways college librarians can inform the uninformed about the work of the library/information science profession. Particular attention is focussed on the national press as a channel for communication with the outside world.

UK Libraries Plus: use by education students

UK Libraries Plus, a reciprocal borrowing program offered to distance learning students, part tim... more UK Libraries Plus, a reciprocal borrowing program offered to distance learning students, part time students and students on teaching practice, is evaluated. Survey results assessing student satisfaction are presented, with emphasis on data representing education student ...

UK Libraries Plus: two years of progress

In 1999, The Coalition of Modern Universities in the United Kingdom met and launched a consortial... more In 1999, The Coalition of Modern Universities in the United Kingdom met and launched a consortial agreement to allow access among member libraries for students of participating institutions. The author describes the set up of the UK Libraries Plus scheme along with the growth that ...

The paper describes the creation of online learning materials for information skills and academic... more The paper describes the creation of online learning materials for information skills and academic writing to support teaching in the Business School at Middlesex University. It includes discussion of the origins of the project, the materials created (illustrated) and how a number of problems were solved during the project.

What’s the name of the game? How Summon saves time for fun games

ABSTRACT Over the past two years the Liaison Librarian team supporting Computing and Design Engin... more ABSTRACT Over the past two years the Liaison Librarian team supporting Computing and Design Engineering at Middlesex University have been changing their pedagogical practice to base their teaching on games and activities rather than ‘follow me’ demonstrations. This paper discusses the broader issues that prompted these changes to our information literacy training, the ideas and inspiration that underpin our new approach, the games and activities we have developed, the role of Summon as enabling technology, and the results of a survey undertaken to measure the impact of our teaching. It concludes with a brief look at future developments.

What’s the name of the game? How Summon saves time for fun games

Using our games JORUM v 5 updated Oct 2014: Instructions for the games and activties on Jorum

The winner takes it all: Enhancing the quality and impact of Library Workshops

Adam Edwards and Vanessa Hill present their work changing their teaching methods over the past tw... more Adam Edwards and Vanessa Hill present their work changing their teaching methods over the past two years and will alllow delegates to try out some of the games and activities they have developed. The presentation will cover the issues they faced in changing their pedagogy and their collaboration with academic and academic writing colleagues to facilitate the changes made. They will then discuss the inspiration they gained from the work of others such as Markless and Boyle and how this influenced their choices of teaching methods. The solutions they have come up with which will include practical demonstration of these games and activities and finally the impact this has had on the students they have taught, presenting the results of a survey they undertook in 2012. They will then reflect on the lessons learned and their plans for the future.

In the post-truth era we are constantly bombarded with " news " which is fabricated, distorted, a... more In the post-truth era we are constantly bombarded with " news " which is fabricated, distorted, and massaged information, published with the intention to deceive and mislead others. Such " news " has come to be known as " fake news ". The influence of fake news can have profound socio-political and cultural effects when translated into action. The ability to distinguish between real facts, fabricated stories, rumours, propaganda, or opinions is of paramount importance. The rapid proliferation of information through social media is now the norm. In this paper we consider the challenge of preparing students, in developing skills for recognising mis-information, dis-information and mal-information. We argue that critical thinking for evaluating information should now be considered a basic literacy, equally important to literacy itself, as well as information and information technology literacies. In this paper we revisit Bloom's taxonomy of cognitive skills and represent what a learner can achieve at each level. We customise the traditional moral and ethical concepts suggested by the US Content Subcommittee of the ImpactCS Steering Committee to flag the ethical concerns over mis-information, dis-information and mal-information. We report on current levels of awareness and practices at the authors' five higher education institutions, and reveal varying levels of awareness of the significance of critical literacy and different practices in each location. The paper concludes with an outline of future work.

This paper describes the current pedagogical practice within the team of librarians at Middlesex ... more This paper describes the current pedagogical practice within the team of librarians at Middlesex University and some of the innovations we have introduced to our information literacy (IL) teaching in recent years. In particular it will look at the use of games and activities to encourage engagement and learning. The Middlesex context Middlesex University can trace its history back to 1878, but is probably more familiar to SCONUL members as a multi-campus polytechnic with sites across north London. A policy of campus closures to deliver economies in the UK combined with expansion overseas means the Middlesex University of 2016 is located on four very different campuses: Hendon in northwest London, Dubai, Mauritius and most recently Malta. Student numbers are now approximately 38,000 across the campuses, including distance learners. The team of subject liaison librarians are part of the university's Library and Student Support (LSS) service, which brings together several student support services such as academic writing, numeracy, wellbeing, IT, and progression and achievement, with a one-stop, front-of-house student helpdesk called UniHelp. Students at Middlesex come from a broad range of backgrounds, and, in the best former polytechnic tradition, Middlesex earns more in the UK from widening participation than it does from research. One consequence for IL teaching is that our students come to us with vastly different experiences, if any, of libraries. This recent email to one of our librarians is a good example: I wanted to check out some of the books that have been assigned to us to read for required reading and I wasn't sure if I had to make a specific appointment to borrow/read them/take notes from them in the library or if I could simply come in and take my notes? So, alongside students who are very well informed, we find ourselves supporting some students with very poor expectations of the library and limited perceptions of our offer. On the positive side, the ubiquitous nature of the internet means that our students are now exposed to vast oceans of information and need our help navigating them. The assumption that they are all digital natives is questionable (Boukacem-Zeghmouri 2014; Prensky 2001). Indeed, we are all too

Dewey Game

Template to print out and/or make your own version of the game.<br>

Foundation resources cards

Using our games and activities: Overview, instructions and templates (version 9) April 2016

Instructions on how to use our games.<br>

Jeux sans frontieres: It's a library knockout

V10 Using our games; updated July 2017 (Current version)

My Subject: Support for students with a disability or a health condition: Ebook Central (Proquest) accessibility

My Subject: Liaison Librarians: Liaison librarians

Informing the uninformed: using the national press to promote library/information work

UK Libraries Plus: use by education students

UK Libraries Plus: two years of progress

What’s the name of the game? How Summon saves time for fun games

Using our games JORUM v 5 updated Oct 2014: Instructions for the games and activties on Jorum

The winner takes it all: Enhancing the quality and impact of Library Workshops

Our aim in developing these activities and games is to encourage deeper learning of information l... more Our aim in developing these activities and games is to encourage deeper learning of information literacy skills through:
• engagement with the learning process
• interaction with peers and librarian
• reflection on what is already known and what has been learnt in class
• discussion around topics
• peer learning amongst the class

We believe it is better to cover a small number of topics in detail than to try and cram too much in to a workshop. We do not use on screen demonstrations, as this does not encourage users to experiment or think about what they are doing.

All our sessions include a range of varied activities and games to cover the core components of:
• Thinking about resources
• Constructing keywords (Search terms)
• Exploring resources
• Evaluation of information

Our use of games was inspired by Susan Boyle’s (Librarian: UCD) presentation at LILAC 2011 .

Our teaching and learning principles were inspired by Sharon Markless (Senior Lecturer Higher Education, Kings College London), in particular ‘Teaching information literacy in HE: What? Where? How’ which she presented at CILIP Dec 2010.

Other people have also inspired and influenced us including library colleagues from Middlesex University, Phil Bradley (Information Specialist and Internet Consultant), Amanda Clossen (Librarian: Penn State University) and Alan Turner (Librarian: Art University Bournemouth).

This document describes how we provide information skills training for two of our subject areas: Computing and Product Design.

Templates for all our games and activities plus worksheets are available alongside this document in JORUM and the relevant game, activity or worksheet is noted at the end of each section below.

If you would like more information, please email:
Dr Adam Edwards (School Liaison Manager) a.edwards@mdx.ac.uk or
Dr Vanessa Hill (Service Development Liaison Librarian) v.hill@mdx.ac.uk

Adam Edwards and Vanessa Hill will present on their work changing their teaching methods over the... more Adam Edwards and Vanessa Hill will present on their work changing their teaching methods over the past two years and will alllow delegates to try out some of the games and activities they have developed. The presentation will cover the issues they faced in changing their pedagogy and their collaboration with academic and academic writing colleagues to facilitate the changes made. They will then discuss the inspiration they gained from the work of others such as Markless and Boyle and how this influenced their choices of teaching methods. The solutions they have come up with which will include practical demonstration of these games and activities and finally the impact this has had on the students they have taught, presenting the results of a survey they undertook in 2012. They will then reflect on the lessons learned and their plans for the future.

To inform the future development of our professional role we investigate information literacy concepts and models, the obstacles to the wider adoption of information literacy in higher education curricula, the skills and attributes that the librarian of the future can bring to its achievement and how the public works are a continuous response to change. Our insight and understanding are further informed by the opinions of academic colleagues following a series of in-depth interviews. We consider their views and the implications these have for our own learning and the development of our professional identity, within both higher education and our own university.

Throughout this statement we show how our previous and core public works have influenced and informed our thinking, our practice and the recommendations that we make.