ALIA West

December 2004

ANZIIL Perth Forum:

Catering for international students: an information literacy focus

October 6th

The Australian and New Zealand Institute for Information Literacy (ANZIIL), which supports organisations, institutions and individuals in the promotion of information literacy, held its first Perth forum at Murdoch University on 6 October 2004.

The ANZIIL Perth Forum was a great success with over seventy participants from the university, TAFE and school sectors attending. We were very pleased to have Hilary Hughes, campus librarian, Brisbane International Campus (Central Queensland University) as our guest speaker and two other interstate librarians choosing to take the long haul to Perth to attend. A number of colleagues from regional WA also attended.

Professor Jan Thomas, pro vice chancellor academic (Murdoch University) began the forum with an overview of international students at universities in Australia. She was followed by Dianne Van Rhyn, accounting lecturer (Murdoch University) who gave an academic's perspective of teaching international students. Both Jan and Dianne emphasised the need for international students to be integrated as much as possible with their Australian peers, a point which was reiterated throughout the day. John Frylinck, deputy university librarian (Curtin University) highlighted the challenges of negotiating library services for new offshore courses where little or no consideration for library services had been given.

After morning tea Kathryn Shortland-Jones, english co-ordinator (Murdoch College) talked about her experiences living and teaching overseas and highlighted some examples of the cultural nuances she experienced. Pauline Hodson, manager, Learning Resource Services (Challenger TAFE) discussed how librarians can make the transition to TAFE WA easier for international students. Julia Gross, library account manager (Edith Cowan University) and Michelle Mahoney, reference librarian, Business (University of Western Australia) talked about their experiences in teaching offshore and outlined how they provide information literacy to their overseas students - something they both do regularly. Jan Harmsen, librarian, Information and Education Services (Curtin University) provided practical solutions to particular problems we as librarians may face with international students.

After lunch our guest speaker Hilary Hughes, campus librarian, Brisbane International Campus (Central Queensland University) provided us with an insight of her research into international students' use of online resources and implications for information literacy. Hilary highlighted the diversity of backgrounds of international students and emphasised that information literacy for these students (as for all students) should be needs-driven, flexible and curriculum based. This was followed by an excellent workshop provided by Colin Beasley, senior lecturer, Academic Affairs (Murdoch University) and Carmella Briguglio, manager, Communications Skills Centre, Curtin Business School (Curtin University) which addressed language and culture issues for international students. This was nicely interactive and allowed us to share our experiences and learn from others.

All of the speakers were excellent and very well received and the forum provided an opportunity for the lively exchange of questions and comments. The day ended with wonderful dances by the Chung Wah Association followed by refreshments. The committee (Merrilee Albatis, Murdoch University, Nancy Stokes, Central TAFE and Gill Westera, Curtin) would like to thank everyone for their enthusiasm for the day and great feedback. We hope to continue the success of the Perth ANZIIL Forum in future years.

Gill Westera on behalf of the ANZIIL Perth Forum Committee

Hilary Hughes, guest speaker from Central Queensland University and the ANZIIL Perth Forum Committee members Nancy Stokes, Central TAFE, Gill Westera, Curtin and Merrilee Albatis, Murdoch