The North-West University LIS hosted the 2nd International Conference on Information Literacy (ICIL) with the theme: Information Literacy in the Fourth Industrial Revolution at Potchefstroom from 11 – 14 October 2022.
Attendees from the USA, United Arab Emirates, Zambia, Botswana, the Czech Republic, Oman, Switzerland, Pakistan, Italy and South Africa took part in the conference for an interchange of knowledge within the context of information literacy. Thirty-three papers and five PechaKucha’s were presented, with an average of 92 people attending in person and 42 attending online. The conference had a line-up of esteemed keynote speakers:
In his opening message, Dr. Moyo, Chief Director Library and Information Service mentioned that the LIS had envisaged having the second conference in 2020, but this was called off following the sudden outbreak of COVID-19. Although the pandemic had devastating effects on humanity, it also taught us many lessons – one of which is the ability to host conferences in hybrid mode.
In his welcoming message, Prof Jeffrey Mphahlele, NWU DVC for Research and Innovation, confirmed that the 2nd ICIL Africa 2022 is a testament that the NWU is willing to continue to play its part in the pursuit of the Africanisation strategy and global citizenship.
The following theme ran as a golden thread through most of the conference papers: the coronavirus pandemic forced institutions to adapt to a new method of instruction and to offer services by adopting new technologies. This sudden change had an impact on the information literacy approach. Lecturers had to prepare work in a way that would motivate students to learn, encourage critical thinking, and adjust the manner of deliverance. Teaching on online platforms posed a challenge not knowing whether the students were taking in the knowledge. To encourage active learning, illustrations were used to help the students to remember the concepts. The use of questions stimulated student engagement and promoted critical thinking when applying the knowledge.
Academic libraries were directly affected by the coronavirus pandemic and were challenged to change their modus operandi and adopt methods to fit the digital transforming era of the 4IR. During this critical time, academic libraries had to readjust their operational procedures, enforcing librarians to furnish remote services to students, researchers, and academics. Limited resources were a major constraint for some universities and some librarians utilized their devices to ensure that the library remained relevant. This good example of adaptability was motivated by understanding the importance of information literacy, especially for undergraduate students.
During the COVID-19 pandemic global phenomenon, librarians had to adopt a multi-modal method of offering services, particularly for the orientation of undergraduate students and the delivery of the information literacy programme.
Librarians are responsible for training individuals in the skills required to interpret and use information. Information literacy is central to other literacies such as digital literacy, media literacy and computer literacy. The content used in information training must complement the 4IR era in academic libraries. Information literacy skills are a prerequisite to making use of the advancing technological practices. Due to the importance of these information literacy programmes, some universities appointed an information literacy coordinator and formed an information literacy committee to help students achieve academic excellence.
However, the traditional face-to-face approach is still deemed effective and efficient as proven by the attendance statistics of the information literacy training sessions during the COVID-19 period. Other contributing factors to the inadequacy of training on the virtual platforms were load shedding, connectivity issues such as bandwidth and broadband limitations, data shortages and very low student attendance of training. To illuminate these constraints, some universities escalated their efforts by purchasing devices and data for students to ensure that the learning process was not compromised.
The coronavirus pandemic in 2020 accelerated the digital transformation journey for many institutions. Adapting practices to enable quality service has been a challenge but it has also strengthened adaptability skills. It enabled growth opportunities for staff members and improved productivity and efficiency. As a result, both staff and patrons acquired tech-savvy skills and are now exposed to the online platform in its extended capacity. This contributes to the alignment of information literacy training with the 4IR era.
But it was not ALL work and NO play – on the first evening delegates were entertained by a marimba band at a cocktail function in the NWU Botanical Gardens.
On the last evening of the conference, a gala dinner was held at Roots where delegates had the opportunity to relax after all the hard work.
The Black Note Ensemble and Sydwell Sithole entertained the guests with lovely music, and guests had the opportunity to enjoy the music on the dance floor.
During the closing ceremony, a special word of thanks was expressed to all the presenters for the major addition to the knowledge base of the attendees. Gratitude was also extended to the Conference Organising Committee, the Programme Committee, IT members, Logistics members and Fundraising Committee.
This was indeed a LIS team effort!
COMPILED BY: LINDI MAHLANGU AND LOUISE VOS
Reporting will also be done on NWU News on 26 October 2022.
NWU: Library and Information Service News 