Knowledge Brokers' Forum Blogs Knowledge Brokers' Forum syndicated data http://www.knowledgebrokersforum.org Sat, 25 May 2013 21:13:55 +0100 GROU.PS FeedCreator Politically and Socially Empowering Information Literacy http://www.knowledgebrokersforum.org/blogs/item/politically-and-socially-empowering-information-literacy Politically and Socially Empowering Information Literacy

What are the politically and socially empowering dimensions of information literacy? In what way can information literacy be perceived as an oppressive force? Do we need to reclaim information literacy as an empowering force? Andrew Whitworth, University of Manchester, turns to political theory to explore these issues further in a new article:

"The politically and socially empowering dimensions of information literacy” by Andrew Whitworth, University of Manchester -

...... [ Read the rest of this story ]]]> Tue, 30 Apr 2013 10:46:43 +0100 Exploring the IL needs of students in transition http://www.knowledgebrokersforum.org/blogs/item/exploring-the-il-needs-of-students-in-transition Josiline Phiri, University of Zimbabwe, has just blogged her second article exploring the IL needs of students in transition on Chat Literacy.

Her article focuses on supporting students for a successful transition from secondary to higher education in a Sub-Saharan Africa context and argues for developing information literacy capability from an early age as key to facilitating research skills later on.  She shares some online resources that can be useful for supporting secondary school-age students where there may not be formal IL training and highlights the challenge that there is a lack of locally-developed online resou

...... [ Read the rest of this story ]]]> Wed, 24 Apr 2013 10:32:12 +0100 Supporting Young Learners' information literacy - series complete http://www.knowledgebrokersforum.org/blogs/item/supporting-young-learners-information-literacy-series-complete I’m delighted to announce that a series of four articles focusing on preparing children and young students for the transition through to higher education and lifelong learning on Chat Literacy is now complete.

The articles focus on supporting young learners’ information literacy through ICTs and on the potential role of librarians at different stages: pre-school; elementary; secondary and the transition to high school and beyond.

 The series has been written by Hui-Yun Sung, Assistant Professor at the Graduate Institute of Library and Information Science, National Chung Hsing University in Taiwan.  Hui-Yun was one of the expert participants during last years’ Chat Literacy e-discussion on 'our conceptions of information literacy in an intern

...... [ Read the rest of this story ]]]> Tue, 23 Apr 2013 15:04:52 +0100 Indicators for M&E of Knowledge Management & Knowledge Brokering http://www.knowledgebrokersforum.org/blogs/item/indicators-for-me-of-knowledge-management--knowledge-brokering The use of Indicators for the Monitoring and Evaluation of Knowledge Management and Knowledge Brokering in International Development held at IDS on the 8th March: http://bit.ly/Zk0AVr (pdf)

Those working within knowledge management (KM) and knowledge brokering (KB) in international development are under increasing pressure to demonstrate the relevance and impact of their work. Practitioners lack best practice guidance on suitable indicators for external accountability (enabling practitioners to demonstrate the impact of KM/KB, providing an evidence base to justify investment) as well as for learning (allowing practitioners to determine which approaches to KM/KB are more effective, enabling improvement within organisations and across the sector).

This workshop brought together 30 practitioners from across the international development sector to share indicators in current practice, explore common issues and challenges, and collaborate to improve KM/KB indicators. Th...... [ Read the rest of this story ]]]> Tue, 09 Apr 2013 12:17:58 +0100 Latest DRUSSA Network News http://www.knowledgebrokersforum.org/blogs/item/latest-drussa-network-news i've just sent out the latest issue of the quarterly DRUSSA Network News. It has stories about making research visible online, institutional repositories and open access, as well as the latest on the DRUSSA MPhil and PhD programme in Science and Technology Studies (Specialisation: Research Uptake) offered by  ...... [ Read the rest of this story ]]]> Fri, 15 Mar 2013 13:01:35 +0100 Similarities and differences of knowledge brokering and knowledge mgmt http://www.knowledgebrokersforum.org/blogs/item/similarities-and-differences-of-knowledge-brokering-and-knowledge-mgmt Hello,


I have just blogged on the similarities and differences of KB and KM.


Please find the blogpost here. 

...... [ Read the rest of this story ]]]> Mon, 11 Feb 2013 13:15:38 +0100 Decentralisation of knowledge interventions (and complexity science) http://www.knowledgebrokersforum.org/blogs/item/decentralisation-of-knowledge-interventions-and-complexity-science
I finally managed to have a look at all your responses to the "One question" that 51 people answered on my blog. 

Please find the analysis here, which also touches on complexity science. I am looking forward to your comments.

Please also consider responding to the current "one question" here.

Thank you very much for your engagement.

Best wishes,
Philipp
]]> Thu, 07 Feb 2013 10:39:47 +0100 Alt-metrics, Digital Opportunity and Africa http://www.knowledgebrokersforum.org/blogs/item/alt-metrics-digital-opportunity-and-africa My new post at Altmetric is guided by the concept of digital opportunity. I take a quick look at some research on the uptake of ICTs and social media in Africa and link to and comment on Altmetric details of two articles on Africa we located through the Altmetric Explorer.

As a Latin American I have always been wary of the risk of mis-representation in research on developing nations which is carried out from a developed-nation perspective. On the one hand I believe we always function from specific positions that enable us or disable us, empower us or disempower us; on the other hand I believe it is possible to at least try to recognise all that we can’t possibly know given those positions. In other words this is to say that this is a post that was very difficult to write for me. I attempted to back up any claims with the consulted research and to offer a balanced, yet accessible perspective. It is a blog post, not a research paper, so what I can and cann

...... [ Read the rest of this story ]]]> Tue, 29 Jan 2013 17:00:10 +0100 IL in Flanders: Reflections about lib@web http://www.knowledgebrokersforum.org/blogs/item/il-in-flanders-reflections-about-libweb Josiline Phiri is the Faculty Librarian based at University of Zimbabwe.  She is just back in Zimbabwe after a three month secondment to Belgium to participate in an international training programme at the University of Antwerp called Lib@web - management of electronic information and digital libraries.  Part of the programme involved a number of library visits to the academic universities in Flanders. Information literacy was a key aspect of discussions. 

Read Josiline's article in full on the Chat Literacy Network at: “Information Literacy in Flanders: A reflection of the lib@web experience”.

...... [ Read the rest of this story ]]]> Tue, 29 Jan 2013 12:12:14 +0100 Future directions for IL... forty years on.... http://www.knowledgebrokersforum.org/blogs/item/future-directions-for-il-forty-years-on Future directions for IL: key trends, priorities and implications

It is forty years since Paul Zurkowski introduced “information literacy” as a term in a paper written in 1974 to support the development of a National Program on Library and Information Services in the USA.  Peter Underwood takes Zurkowski’s vision as a starting point for an article for Chat Literacy in which he outlines his thoughts on information literacy in 2013.  You can read Peter Underwood’s article in full at “Future directions for information literacy: key trends, priorities and implications”(to add a comment yourself you will need to join/log in to

...... [ Read the rest of this story ]]]> Mon, 28 Jan 2013 17:40:03 +0100