Frequently Asked Questions:

What the project is about?
What help we would appreciate from you in the libary?
How many academics are we aiming to interview?
What type of academics are we wanting to interview?
What is our time frame?
What information we require of you?
Where can I find more information on the project?
What results can I see?
Who is running this project?

Project Basics:

Funding
Phenomenography

FAQ

We are seeking two academics in each of four targeted departments: Chemistry, Civil Engineering, English, and Marketing. At each institution we are aiming for a maximum of eight participants, comprising two participants from each of the four disciplines (hard pure, hard applied, soft pure, and soft applied).

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What type of academics are we wanting to interview?

We are looking for a wide variety of academics. In fact, our phenomenographic approach (see below) is enhanced by variation. So you needn’t try to pin down one type of academic or another. In terms of the individuals, we are looking for as much variation as possible: for example, variation in teaching methods (traditional to innovative), in library use (non-users to highly-interested, collaborative users), and any other aspects within the discipline itself that you might be able to bring our attention to.

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What is our time frame?

We will be scheduling the interviews throughout 2003. We are hoping to do a few interviews per week.

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What information we require of you?

In order to contact the participants, we would ask that you send us full contact details (name, position, department, postal address, e-mail, telephone, and fax) for the academics selected, to Stuart Boon. To provide a context for the interviews with the academics, we would also be interested in learning about information literacy initiatives in your institution. Lastly, we would like your permission to use your name as a point of contact.

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Where can I find more information on the project?

You can find more information about the project, including recent news, updates, publications, and contact information on the project website: http://dis.shef.ac.uk/literacy/project/.

You are also encouraged to contact Stuart Boon by e-mail ( s.j.boon@shef.ac.uk ), telephone (0114) 222 6337, or fax (0114) 278 0300.

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What results can I see?

All publications relating to the project will be linked from the project website (http://dis.shef.ac.uk/literacy/project/publications.html). We will not be able to share the interview transcripts, however. This is to protect the confidentiality of the interviewees, in line with guidelines for ethical research followed by our University and called for by our funding body.

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Who is running this project?

The project team consists of Sheila Webber (Sheffield), Bill Johnston (Strathclyde), and the project's research associate and primary contact, Stuart Boon (Sheffield).

Sheila Webber is a lecturer in the Department of Information Studies at the University of Sheffield, UK, and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP).

Bill Johnston is a lecturer in the Centre for Academic Practice, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. His areas of research and teaching include critical thinking, educational perspectives on the student experience, and curriculum design. Sheila and Bill have both spoken and published extensively in the field of information literacy.

Stuart Boon joined the project in November of 2002 as a research associate in information literacy. He is based out of the Department of Information Studies at the University of Sheffield, from which he will be carrying out interviews across the UK. Prior to the current research in Sheffield, Stuart worked in Canada as a research assistant on a three-year information literacy project in Canada with Dr. Heidi Julien at the University of Alberta. This Canadian research, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), focused on the conceptions and, particularly, the practices of instructor librarians and on the outcomes of library information literacy instruction in academic libraries.

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Project Basics

Objectives of the project

1. Contribute to the development of the discipline of information literacy by identifying UK academics' conceptions and relating the results to information literacy research internationally;
   
2. Develop a framework of academics' educational practice as regards information literacy and collect data using that framework;
   
3. Identify whether there are differences in conception and practice in different disciplines, and relate any differences to previous research on disciplinarity.
   

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Funding

The project is funded by a £137,000 grant awarded by the Arts & Humanities Research Board (AHRB) for a total of three years (2002-2005). The award holders are Sheila Webber and Bill Johnston.

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Phenomenography

The phenomenographic approach will be used for the first stages of research. The key features of this research are, first, that it aims to identify variation in experience of a phenomenon, and, second, that it takes a second-order perspective: that is, the focus is on the perceptions of the subjects of study, not on those of the researcher. This contrasts with the more commonly used consensus approach that characterises the formulation of information literacy definitions, models and standards in the library and information sector. For a more detailed description of Phenomenography and our use of it, please see the project website (http://dis.shef.ac.uk/literacy/project/about.html)

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