From cornerstone to capstone: information literacy collaboration across the curriculum

Librarians and academics alike are passionate about how students engage with scholarly information. We want students to build on their existing information literacy skills when they commence university and to graduate with the information skills needed for lifelong learning in their chosen profession and society at large. Collaboration between librarians and academics to embed information literacy into curriculum design is a key strategy for developing students’ information skills. But what impact does our collaborative effort have on student learning outcomes and long-term information seeking behaviour? Are our graduates information literate and ready for a complex information society? At Latrobe University information literacy is situated as part of inquiry/research graduate capability. Librarians and academics invest much time and effort in teaching and learning partnerships at the institutional, course and subject level. The emphasis is on a coherent, consistent and coordinated approach to embedding information literacy into curriculum design across these three domains. This approach is supported by reusable online resources that have been developed by library staff at La Trobe and intended for use in a blended learning environment. This paper describes the results of a longitudinal study that tracked the information literacy skills of a particular cohort of students from cornerstone to capstone (2009-2012), and reflects on how this evidence-base has informed collaborative practice and development of learning activities and assessment tasks. The study includes the outcome of international benchmarking for final year students at La Trobe University using a standardised information literacy assessment tool. In conclusion, the paper returns to the importance of embedding information literacy into the curriculum design and measuring information literacy learning outcomes progressively during a course. Highlighting the advantages of collaborative practice in terms of student learning outcomes and graduate capabilities reinforces the impact of library and faculty partnerships in the university teaching and learning environment

Digital Dexterity: A Sustainable Model for Building Essential Skills for the Future Workforce

The importance of digital dexterity in achieving institutional and business missions led the Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL) to establish a Digital Dexterity Program in 2018. The aim of the CAUL Program was to ascertain the current state of play of digital literacies at member institutions and to establish best practice principles for developing the skills and understandings necessary for staff and students to become effective global citizens and lifelong learners. The Program consisted of three project teams tasked with developing resources that would provide: a framework for the development of digital dexterity skills, tools to assist CAUL members to improve their capability in digital dexterity, and a strategy and means to engage with stakeholders and advocate on digital dexterity. CAUL’s approach with the Digital Dexterity Program is unique in that it was practitioner-led, and involved industry engagement, particularly around the sustainability of the model. Each team consisted of CAUL member library staff with a passion for enabling and empowering staff and students through the development of digital dexterity skills. Team members were drawn from 14 institutions across six Australian states and territories and this collaborative work has enabled the development of a truly national approach. The grass-roots engagement included consultation with industry stakeholders outside of CAUL, including the Australian Academic and Research Network (AARNet), CAVAL and the Australian Research Data Commons. The Digital Dexterity Program, (launched in February 2019) included a Digital Dexterity Framework, and the establishment of a Community of Practice, which will ensure the continued development and sustainability of the program

Unrealised Potential: A survey of students as partners in Australian university libraries

Student partnership, a growing phenomenon in higher education, has transformed the way universities collaborate with students. Yet to date the academic library has rarely been examined as place for student and staff partnership to thrive. In this paper, we present findings from a national students as partners benchmarking survey conducted across Australian academic libraries, with responses from library staff representing 35 universities across six states (n = 210). Our findings highlight that while many library staff see the potential benefits to student partnership, this potential is largely unrealised. Our findings further tackle the commonly perceived barriers to partnership specific to the library context, such as staff understanding of student partnership and its corresponding practices as well as challenges and barriers to student engagement. We conclude with a recommendation for more reflection in academic libraries on how to create a connected and relationship-rich culture of partnership

Measuring outcomes in trials of interventions for people who self-harm:Qualitative study of service users’ views

This is the final version. Available on open access from Cambridge University Press via the DOI in this recordBackground Patients often have very different ideas from clinicians about what they want treatments to achieve. Their views on what outcomes are important are not always reflected in trials. Aims To elicit the views of people who self-harm on the most commonly used outcome measures and to identify the outcomes that matter to them. Method We conducted in-depth interviews with 18 people with histories of self-harm, recruited from hospital and community settings. We conducted thematic analysis using a framework approach and used visual mapping to arrive at our final analysis and interpretation. Results Participants' accounts contained a number of challenges to the validity and meaningfulness of current trial outcome measures. Five broad issues emerged: (a) relationship between frequency and severity of self-harm; (b) behavioural substitution; (b) self-management skills; (d) the role of self-harm as survival tool and affect regulator, and (e) strategic self-presentation. We show how these affect the visibility and measurability of commonly used outcomes. The outcomes that mattered to participants focused on positive achievements in three domains: (a) general functioning and activities of everyday living; (b) social participation, and (c) engagement with services. Participants conceptualised these as both measures and means of sustained improvement. Conclusions Our findings suggest that current self-harm trial science rests on flawed assumptions about the relationship between mental states and behaviours and about our ability to measure both. Greater understanding of the outcomes that matter to people who self-harm is needed to inform both intervention development and trial design.National Institute for Health Research (NIHR

Human Physiology Students’ Perceptions of etextbooks: Towards Open Access as an Alternative to Traditional Textbooks

Science experts across the globe are requesting educators to teach science in authentic and inquiry-driven ways to prepare graduates to be scientifically literate citizens. Shifting from traditional teacher-centred approaches to models of authentic learning requires new and innovative resources. In an inquiry-driven human physiology curriculum an etextbook, How to Do Science: a guide to researching human physiology, was developed as an alternative to a traditional textbook and is an example of how professionally designed electronic textbooks can support new approaches to learning. While the advantages of OER have been documented internationally, there is little empirical evidence to indicate benefits of open etextbooks for students in Australia. This study found a majority of students prefer etextbooks compared to hardcopy textbooks, most often due to accessibility, ease of use and convenience. Regarding How to Do Science specifically, a majority of students rated accessibility, attractiveness, ease of navigation, and the quality of the content as high or very high. Students reported that the etextbook contributed most to their learning through assisting in completion of authentic scientific assessment tasks. The etextbook was designed for local use, however, the release as an OER has meant wider dissemination with more impact. We encourage educators to incorporate OERs into their practice

Why do patients seek primary medical care in emergency departments? An ethnographic exploration of access to general practice

Objectives: To describe how processes of primary care access influence decisions to seek help at the emergency department (ED).Design: Ethnographic case study combining non-participant observation, informal and formal interviewing.Setting: Six general practitioner (GP) practices located in three commissioning organisations in England.Participants and methods: Reception areas at each practice were observed over the course of a working week (73 hours in total). Practice documents were collected and clinical and non-clinical staff were interviewed (n=19). Patients with recent ED use, or a carer if aged 16 and under, were interviewed (n=29).Results: Past experience of accessing GP care recursively informed patient decisions about where to seek urgent care, and difficulties with access were implicit in patient accounts of ED use. GP practices had complicated, changeable systems for appointments. This made navigating appointment booking difficult for patients and reception staff, and engendered a mistrust of the system. Increasingly, the telephone was the instrument of demand management, but there were unintended consequences for access. Some patient groups, such as those with English as an additional language, were particularly disadvantaged, and the varying patient and staff semantic of words like ‘urgent’ and ‘emergency’ was exacerbated during telephone interactions. Poor integration between in-hours and out-of-hours care and patient perceptions of the quality of care accessible at their GP practice also informed ED use.Conclusions: This study provides important insight into the implicit role of primary care access on the use of ED. Discourses around ‘inappropriate’ patient demand neglect to recognise that decisions about where to seek urgent care are based on experiential knowledge. Simply speeding up access to primary care or increasing its volume is unlikely to alleviate rising ED use. Systems for accessing care need to be transparent, perceptibly fair and appropriate to the needs of diverse patient groups

Does health and social care provision for the community dwelling older population help to reduce unplanned secondary care, support timely discharge and improve patient well-being? A mixed method meta-review of systematic reviews

Background: This study aimed to identify and examine systematic review evidence of health and social care interventions for the community-dwelling older population regarding unplanned hospital admissions, timely hospital discharge and patient well-being. Methods: A meta-review was conducted using Joanna Briggs and PRISMA guidance. A search strategy was developed: eight bibliographic medical and social science databases were searched, and references of included studies checked. Searches were restricted to OECD countries and to systematic reviews published between January 2013–March 2018. Data extraction and quality appraisal was undertaken by one reviewer with a random sample screened independently by two others. Results: Searches retrieved 21,233 records; using data mining techniques, we identified 8,720 reviews. Following title and abstract and full-paper screening, 71 systematic reviews were included: 62 quantitative, seven qualitative and two mixed methods reviews. There were 52 reviews concerned with healthcare interventions and 19 reviews concerned with social care interventions. This meta-review summarises the evidence and evidence gaps of nine broad types of health and social care interventions. It scrutinises the presence of research in combined health and social care provision, finding it lacking in both definition and detail given. This meta-review debates the overlap of some of the person-centred support provided by community health and social care provision. Research recommendations have been generated by this process for both primary and secondary research. Finally, it proposes that research recommendations can be delivered on an ongoing basis if meta-reviews are conducted as living systematic reviews. Conclusions: This meta-review provides evidence of the effect of health and social care interventions for the community-dwelling older population and identification of evidence gaps. It highlights the lack of evidence for combined health and social care interventions and for the impact of social care interventions on health care outcomes. Registration: PROSPERO ID CRD42018087534; registered on 15 March 2018