OPEN SOURCE , INFORMATION LITERACY AND ALBANIAN LIBRARIES Athina Basha atenabasha@gmail.com Tirana, Albania 3-4 May 2014

OVERVIEW The presentation will cover some findings on the : • The new paradigm and how to deal with it, • What is Information Literacy • State of understanding of Media and Information Literacy, • State of infrastructure in different libraries in Albania • Open sources and the role of libraries and other related institutions on

how to assist all levels of users and academic staff in using information properly in professional and daily life decisions,

• Some recommendations.

Keywords : Libraries, Open Sources, Media and Information Literacy, Life Long Learning, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Library Infrastructure, Training, Curricula.

INFORMATION LITERACY IN ALBANIA: The Role of Libraries in Fostering and Practicing Policies of Literacy, Life Long Learning and Information Literacy Education Master thesis Thesis Supervisor: Assist. Prof. Polona Vilar Athina Basha (Furxhi) Co-supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Ivanka Stricevic Ljubljana 2014

UNIVERSITY OF LJUBLJANA FACULTY OF ARTS DEPARTMENT OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE AND BOOK STUDIES

“New” Paradigm of Information Literacy

• Is clear to all now that computers, Internet and the supportive infrastructure have changed significantly the way information is stored and transmitted. But in order to have full benefit of the potential the information has, it is not enough to have the skills for using computer and media devices. Here comes the “new” paradigm of information literacy. (Horton, 2008).

Why to explore IL understanding in Albania ? When we started • No articles or research in Albanian language on IL • No official agreement on the IL term

• No formal information and library education programmes at

the university level

• 40 years of world experience in IL , what about Albania?

• Basic human right-access to information…

• Basic life and IL skills=economy grow, poverty decline

• Adopting to dev. of Info Age requires high degree of IL skills

• OECD research in 20 dev. countries, 1 in 4 do not posses IL skills

Information Literacy (IL) & Life Long Learning (LLL) • IL is more than a set of skills, it is a process • Facilitates social inclusion through education • To meet the continuous changes in work methods • IL skills facilitate academic success, labor market • IL people have learned how to learn • IL people know how knowledge is organized, how to find information and

how to use information in such a way that others can learn from them. • IL people are prepared for LLL, because they can always find the

information needed for any task of decision at hand

Information Literacy means

the set of skills, attitudes and knowledge • to know when information is needed, • to help solve a problem or make a decision, • how to articulate that information need in searchable terms

and language, • search efficiently for the information, • retrieve it, interpret and understand it, • organize it, • evaluate its credibility and assess its relevance, • communicate it to others if necessary, • utilize it to accomplish bottom-line purposes

Literature Review THE INFORMATION LITERACY CONCEPT & FINDINGS • Paul Zurkowski (1974):

• IL is the catch phrase for the entire trans literacy system that

includes Visual, Digital, Media, Cultural, Critical, 21st Century Workplace, Metal, Mobile, Global etc.

• Bangkok Thailand Findings • Australia • The American Association of School Libraries (AASL) • UK-England-The Leeds University Library (2012) • Padua University

Literature Review IL Practices and Findings Examples: Regional

UNESCO-CEI workshop in Ljubljana (2006) TT Workshop in Ankara (2008) • most of the countries in the region do not have specific IL policies

and strategies • with few exceptions (Slovenia, Croatia, Turkey), the majority of

the universities in South-East European countries do not provide Information Literacy courses or programmes for acquiring basic information competencies for their students...

• an insufficient focus on IL in education; • an insufficient support for the library sector; • limited cross-country, regional and global cooperation; • a lack of firm evidence of existing IL skill levels; • and poor Information Literacy skills in the workplace…

Padua University

according to Ferrante (2012):

• In 2011 about 900 students were trained in library resources and research activity facilities … and…for the first time the Library System of Padua University is offering “Information Literacy classes” and not just “induction classes”. For the first time an Academic Library is able to issue a kind of “licence”: the Library gives a “pass”, a minimal but mandatory permit that allows the student to start his research with his supervisor.

Ideally, one should become information literate, and practice those habits and skills over one’s entire lifetime. In short, Information Literacy must not be seen as standing alone, as if it were some arcane technical subject that one could learn and then forget about. Also, literacy should not be viewed as a single high point on a scale of learning that can be reached, like scaling a ladder, and then the learner can sit back and feel content and self-satisfied because a personal goal has been reached. Rather, there is no “upper limit” to literacy because it is a continuum, more like a voyage that must be undertaken over one’s lifetime (Horton, 2008).

UNDERSTANDING INFORMATION LITERACY

Technology and media preferences: results from some user studies in Albanian public libraries.

Time : Surveys conducted in Fier Public Library + few libraries in Tirana during 1995-2012

Focus: • Study the state of awareness on MIL • The role of libraries in increasing their

capacity in fostering use of technology • Media and practicing polices of LLL and

education

The Role of Libraries in the Technology Era Surveys conducted in Fier Public Library + few libraries in Tirana during

1995-2012

Survey

New Service for Children

Preference survey

Shaping Our Opinions

Library Infrastructure

The Role of Libraries in the Technology Era

• The surveys done in Fier Public Library and few libraries in Tirana during 1995-2012, will bring a contribution to a greater understanding of the situation in most of the public libraries in Albania and the impact that information, media, and new technologies have in our daily life.

Results show that Albania needs : • a better understanding of the Information Literacy concept, its

benefits and requirements,

• the integration of IL in curricula,

• creating the right infrastructure in schools and libraries to support the new technologies and

• take the utmost care for further education and training of the librarians , teachers library users.

• National Plan and strategies… • Etc.

Sektori i librit shqip Albaninan book departement Sektori i gjuhes se huaj Foreing book departement Sektori I femijeve Children’s departement Qendra e Informacionit dhe e Trajnimit Information & Training Center Public Library of Fier Biblioteka Publike Fier

BIBLIOTEKAT NDËRTOJNË KOMUNITETIN. Komuniteti ushqen familjet. Familjet forcojnë vlerat. Vlerat pasurojnë jetën. Jeta kërkon lirinë. Liria respekton dijen. Dija ushqen të kuptuarit. Të kuptuarit prodhon ide. Idetë mbështesin komunitetet. Komunitetet kanë nevojë për bibliotekat. BIBLIOTEKAT NDËRTOJNË KOMUNITETIN. ALA 1999

LIBRARIES BUILD COMMUNITY Communities nourish families. Families strengthen values. Values enrich life. Life seeks freedom. Freedom respects knowledge. Knowledge feeds understanding. Understanding generates ideas. Ideas sustain communities. Communities need libraries. LIBRARIES BUILD COMMUNITY. ALA1999

Information and Training Center: A Turning Point for Modern Standards

Realised in 2003 in Fier Public Library

Information and Training Center:

A Turning Point for Modern Standards

Purpose and Objectives:

The purpose of the Public Library of Fier is to:

provide citizens and community groups with free

access to information; train citizens on new

technologies; create new human capacities to use

technology; to encourage active citizen participation in

decision-making; to facilitate use of the library as a

center of community learning, so that information and

technology will be available to all people, regardless of

economic status.

Why is the Public Library of Fier a suitable place

for the implementation of the Information Center?

• For years, the library has been interested in having an information center. It

was a challenge to establish one in Fier.

• Information Centre is the next logical step in the evolving role of the library.

We offer citizens open access to all materials in all of the departments (open

access was previously not the norm in our and in other public libraries in

Albania).

• The library has suitable space and furniture.

•The permanent site of the library is very favorably located on the main

street and 5 minutes walking from the city center.

Why is the Public Library of Fier a suitable place

for the implementation of the Information Center?

• About 300 people visit the library every day.

• The community is interested in more information – printed and electronic

materials (according to the 2002 Survey)

• The library has good relations with local government, Department of

Education, NGOs, media, Information Office of the Municipality Hall.

• The library conforms to the Law of Libraries (Year 2000).

• The library is a source of pride for the community.

Partnership with local schools to improve learning proccess and teacher training, using CDs, video and Internet to illustrate different methods of learning

Traditional “Story time”, combined with digital information

Improvement in the quality of traditional activities through introduction of electronic information. P

• Employment training and opportunities

• Distance learning and correspondence courses

• ETC.

• Information for education opportunities in universities in Albania, as well as abroad

Information and Training Center offers useful information on:

• Local institutions and agencies

• Health

To increase the number of people using the library

To increase the community’s awareness of their right to useful information in their daily lives

Fier Public Library Albania

The children’s section has about 30,000 books in Albanian and foreign languages.

A successful activity in this section is “Story Time”.

Electronic Resources for Albania

COMSORTIUM

What about Albania & the Future of Electronic Resources?

“people everywhere can create, access, utilize and share information and knowledge, to achieve their full potential and to attain the internationally agreed development goals and objectives”

People can be information literate in the absence of ICT, but the volume and variable quality of digital information, and its role in knowledge societies, has highlighted the need for all people to achieve Information Literacy skills. For people to use IL within a knowledge society, both access to information and the capacity to use ICT are prerequisites. IL is however, a distinct capacity and an integral aspect of adult competencies. (Catts and Lau, 2008).

Information Literacy skills and ICT

“The mobile environment has changed the way people interact with information. They access, they evaluate, they use it differently…This is one of the burdens and responsibilities, that we have to help people to use these devices effectively…First we have to become comfortable among ourselves…” (Miller, R.K, 2012)

The Future of Open Labs and Library Users

“Mass Open Access Learning…Life Long Learning (LLL), free choice Learning, this is what Library has been about…Libraries are the ideal partner for that sort of movement we see now…Libraries can take the leadership in this transformation in education and open resources and LLL” (Miller, R.K., 2012).

Message to Alb. Open Labs and OSCAL Conference participants

Talented youth may be consulted about Information Literacy and its impact in all fields of life and to collaborate with experts in Media, Information Literacy and Library Science for creating proper applications and online or mobile tutorials in the Albanian language and continue further research in the field.

Thank You!

References

• Basha, Athina, Polona Vilar, and Ivanka Stricevic. DisCo 2013 : New technologies and media literacy education, 8th International Conference. Ed. Jan Beseda and Zbynìk Machát. Center for Higher Education Studies; Creative Commons CC-BY-SA 3.0, 24 July 2013. Web. 24 July 2013. <http://disconference.eu/wp-content/uploads/2013/8thDisCoReader2013_New%20tehhnologies%20and%20media%20literacy%20education.pdf>.

• Catts, Ralph, and Jesus Lau. Towards information literacy indicators: Conceptual framework paper. Paris: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2008. Web <http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/resources/publications-and-communication-materials/publications/full-list/towards-information-literacy-indicators/>.

• Horton, F. J. (2008). Understanding Information Literacy: A Primer. Paris: UNESCO. http://www.ifla.org/publications/understanding-information-literacy-a-primer

• IZUM and Akademia e Shkencave te Shqiperise. (n.d.). ERA 2012 Consortium and the EIFL Cosortium of Albanian Libraries. In Electronic Resources for Albania=Burimet Elektronike per Shqiperine. Retrieved October 16, 2013, from http://www.akad.edu.al/era/default-en.htm#2

• Free images online and from http://oscal.openlabs.cc/