ALIA Information Literacy Forum

August 2003 Newsletter

Information Literacy Advocacy Kit

The ALIA Information Literacy Forum sought and received permission from the American Library Association to adapt its kit to the Australian environment. The adaptation work was undertaken by a sub-group of the committee and was completed in time to be launched during Library and Information Week 12 to 18 May 2003.

The launch was attended by about 30 people and held at the Bayside City Library Brighton Branch, Victoria. Support for the launch came from Adult Learning Australia. Subsequently the kit has been made available on the ALIA website.

The kit is valuable for all those interested in advancing information literacy skills and provides key arguments, facts and ways to advocate information literacy programs and libraries, covering all types of libraries.

An article about the kit and launch appeared in the June issue of inCite.

Online Forum 1-7 September 2003

An Online Forum will be held during Adult Learners Week, 1-7 September, hosted on our electronic discussion list INFOLIT. Annemaree Lloyd of Charles Sturt University will lead the debate titled: 'Into the broader context; exploring information literacy meaning' - looking at what it means to be an information literate person, drawing on her research on information literacy in the workplace. The discussion will be facilitated by Helena Zobec - all inquiries to her via e-mail (please remove '.nospam' from address).

This is a partnership activity with Adult Learning Australia, under the interim National Coalition on Information Literacy (see previous article). The online forum will be part of the Great Literacy Debate which is a major project of Adult Learning Australia's (ALA) special focus on literacy this year, to coincide with the commencement of the United Nations Literacy Decade.

Adult Learning Australia has a website with information about the debate and the week. There will be a series of debates on literacy held by organisations, large and small, around the country during Adult Learners Week (ALW). Adult Learning Australia is actively encouraging a whole range of organisations to stage their own literacy debates during ALW and is offering research support to help these debates get underway. Please get involved in a debate or in Adult Learners Week!

Our debate promises to stimulate and provoke discussion around definitions and meaning. To send a message to the e-list the address is aliainfolit@lists.alia.org.au. For details on how to join in, go to the group's website.