Copyright literacy in the UK: Understanding library and information professionals’ experiences of copyright

This chapter reports on research to investigate the “copyright literacy” of librarians in the UK. Based on a survey and focus groups, undertaken following reform of copyright legislation in the UK in 2014, it originated from a European study. The research highlights gaps in knowledge, identifies training requirements in the sector, and suggests library and information science (LIS) qualifications and continuing professional development (CPD) need to address a greater range of topics related to copyright and intellectual property rights. The data also suggests that copyright is a source of anxiety for many librarians. Following the survey, a follow-up qualitative study was undertaken, using phenomenography as a way of exploring in detail librarians’ varying experiences of copyright. The chapter concludes by discussing how copyright might form a key component of the wider digital and information literacies taught by librarians. It also discusses how games based learning might be a valuable approach to copyright education

Libraries, social software and distance learners: the adventures of LASSIE

There is currently a lot of hype about a phenomena known as web 2.0 or social software and not a day goes by when there isn’t a new story about the social networking site Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/), or a company buying space in Second Life (http://www.secondlife.com/). Librarians and libraries are certainly no different and web 2.0 or ‘Library 2.0’ as it has been called, has been receiving considerable publicity recently. Even our professional body CILIP opened offices in Second Life and has been encouraging CILIP groups to set up blogs. There have also been a number of recent publications on implementing web 2.0 technologies in libraries, such as Phil Bradley’s How to Use Web 2.0 in your Library (Bradley, 2007) and Meredith Farkas Libraries and Social Software (Farkas, 2007). A team based at the University of London and led by Dr Jane Secker at LSE’s Centre for Learning Technology, have spent the past nine months working on the LASSIE (Libraries and Social Software in Education) project to explore how social software might enhance the distance learners’ experience of libraries. The team includes librarians, learning technologists and archivists colleagues from the Institute of Education, the Open University, University of London Research Library Services and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. This short paper will present an overview of the work of the project to date, as well as some initial findings about how these technologies are being used by medical libraries

The Impact of Open Access on Teaching—How Far Have We Come?

This article seeks to understand how far the United Kingdom higher education (UK HE) sector has progressed towards open access (OA) availability of the scholarly literature it requires to support courses of study. It uses Google Scholar, Unpaywall and Open Access Button to identify OA copies of a random sample of articles copied under the Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) HE Licence to support teaching. The quantitative data analysis is combined with interviews of, and a workshop with, HE practitioners to investigate four research questions. Firstly, what is the nature of the content being used to support courses of study? Secondly, do UK HE establishments regularly incorporate searches for open access availability into their acquisition processes to support teaching? Thirdly, what proportion of content used under the CLA Licence is also available on open access and appropriately licenced? Finally, what percentage of content used by UK HEIs under the CLA Licence is written by academics and thus has the potential for being made open access had there been support in place to enable this? Key findings include the fact that no interviewees incorporated OA searches into their acquisitions processes. Overall, 38% of articles required to support teaching were available as OA in some form but only 7% had a findable re-use licence; just 3% had licences that specifically permitted inclusion in an ‘electronic course-pack’. Eighty-nine percent of journal content was written by academics (34% by UK-based academics). Of these, 58% were written since 2000 and thus could arguably have been made available openly had academics been supported to do so

A qualitative study of 2Create: A mental health service user-led art group

Background: 2Create is a mental health service user-led art group in the UK established by graduates of Open Arts, a community arts and mental health project. The study aimed to explore group members’ experiences over its first year. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with five current and one former member of 2Create. Results: Key themes related to organisation (evolving; flexibility; finance; leadership challenges), the studio environment, personal gains (social inclusion; self-esteem; well-being) and future plans (increasing membership; exhibitions; funding applications; social events). Conclusion: The gains reported indicate that 2Create is beneficial to its members. Although a number of challenges were identified, all participants identified personal and group-wide gains and emphasised that challenges are to be expected when setting up a new group. The key implication for independent mental health user-led arts groups is that support is needed in the early stages and that independence can then be achieved with time

Copyright Education and Information Literacy

This chapter explores the relationship between copyright education and broader digital and information literacy initiatives. It traces the development of the term copyright literacy and explores the extent to which it has become recognised within the library and information profession and elsewhere. The authors run the website copyrightliteracy.org and share their insights into why copyright literacy matters and how it relates to other aspects of information and digital literacy. They highlight the relevance of copyright as part of digital education initiatives, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic and rapid shift to online learning, and provide two case studies from their institutions which demonstrate how to approach copyright literacy from both practical and strategic perspectives. Copyright laws were developed to encourage creation of cultural expressions and socially beneficial information such as scholarly communication. Copyright law attempts to do this by providing authors, artists and creators with exclusive rights that allow them or their representatives to decide how their work is copied and disseminated. However, the copyright space is highly contested with opposing voices from the creative and media industries, author/artist representative bodies, the technology sector and civil society groups taking quite different positions. At times it seems the stakeholder groups are locked in a perpetual battle. The greatest concern about copyright within the library, education and cultural heritage sectors is that it presents a barrier. This chapter therefore explores the value of critical copyright literacy as a way of addressing copyright in contested space and involves an analysis of the cultural, social and economic implications of the copyright system. Library users are likely to be both consumers and creators of copyright works and often draw on the experience of librarians to guide them. The chapter explores the role played by librarians in developing critical approaches, and the tensions encountered where colleagues and library users expect them to provide clear direction on how to access and use information. The final section reviews the practical application of the principles discussed through two case studies: the University of Kent Copyright Literacy Strategy and the City, University of London module in Digital Literacies and Open Practice

Getting published: tips for aspiring authors

Are you keen to develop your research or workplace investigations into a paper published in a peer-reviewed journal? This workshop, led by members of the editorial team of the Journal of Information Literacy will provide an opportunity to pick up tips for getting published. We will offer an insider view of the peer review process and highlight common problems that our editorial team encounter when papers are submitted. This will be a practical workshop with a chance to see the reviewers’ criteria for evaluating papers and discuss your ideas for publication with the team. The session is aimed at budding authors who are considering submitting their first paper to a peerreviewed journal. It may be particularly suitable for doctoral students, but the session will also be of interest to those who are not authors, but who support and advise research students. During the workshop you will discuss how to adapt a conference presentation or short report into a peer-reviewed journal article. We will also consider how to get started with the writing process and offer advice from the literature and from our own experience

Effects of zinc supplementation on cognitive function in healthy middle-aged and older adults: the ZENITH study

A randomised double-blind placebo-controlled design was employed to investigate the effects of Zn supplementation on cognitive function in 387 healthy adults aged 55–87 years. Several measures of visual memory, working memory, attention and reaction time were obtained using the Cambridge Automated Neuropsychological Test Battery at baseline and then after 3 and 6 months of 0 (placebo), 15 or 30 mg Zn/d. Younger adults (70 years), and performance improved with practice on some measures. For two out of eight dependent variables, there were significant interactions indicating a beneficial effect (at 3 months only) of both 15 and 30 mg/d on one measure of spatial working memory and a detrimental effect of 15 mg/d on one measure of attention. Further work is required to establish whether these findings generalise to older adults in poorer mental and physical health and with less adequate Zn intake and status than the present sample

A word in your ear: What do podcasters’ experiences tell us about creating podcasts for professional development?

Podcasting by practitioners in Higher Education to support the development of peers is becoming more popular and yet, unlike its use in learning and assessment, remains little researched. This paper identifies some of the reasons that bring HE practitioners to podcast for professional development, some techniques and suggestions for making successful podcasts, and what the essential characteristics are of the medium that leads to podcasting being an effective tool for professional development. The discussion cites extensive quotes from interviews with creators of four podcasts aimed at HE practitioners, in order to give a rich account of the experiences of podcasting

Physiology

Contains reports on four research projects

Photometric redshifts as a tool to study the Coma cluster galaxy populations

We investigate the Coma cluster galaxy luminosity function (GLF) at faint magnitudes, in particular in the u* band by applying photometric redshift techniques applied to deep u*, B, V, R, I images covering a region of ~1deg2 (R 24). Global and local GLFs in the B, V, R and I bands obtained with photometric redshift selection are consistent with our previous results based on a statistical background subtraction. In the area covered only by the u* image, the GLF was also derived after applying a statistical background subtraction. The GLF in the u* band shows an increase of the faint end slope towards the outer regions of the cluster (from alpha~1 in the cluster center to alpha~2 in the cluster periphery). This could be explained assuming a short burst of star formation in these galaxies when entering the cluster. The analysis of the multicolor type spatial distribution reveals that late type galaxies are distributed in clumps in the cluster outskirts, where X-ray substructures are also detected and where the GLF in the u* band is steeper.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figures in jpeg format, accepted in A&