LILAC 2006

Citation

Glass, B. (2006), "LILAC 2006", New Library World, Vol. 107 No. 9/10. https://doi.org/10.1108/nlw.2006.072107iac.001

LILAC 2006

The 2006 LILAC (Librarians Information Literacy Annual Conference) took place at Leeds University from 29-31 March 2006. Registration, Programme selection, Poster sessions and daytime refreshments were in the main hall of the Brotherton Library with lectures, seminars and workshops held in adjacent teaching rooms.

The extensive and varied programme was headlined by five keynote speakers: Lynne Brindley (Chief Executive of the British Library) – “A world of contrasts: information literacy in the digital world”; Professor Peter Brophy (Director, Centre for Research in and Library and Information Management (CERLIM), Manchester Metropolitan University) – “Information literacy: research perspectives”; Professor Philip Candy (Director of Education, Training and Development, NHS Collaboration for Health) – “Running amok with a chainsaw: a personal perspective on information literacy”; Jonathan Douglas (Museums, Libraries and Archives Council) – “French military victories”; and Professor Dorothy Williams (Department of Information Management, Robert Gordon Institute) – “Libraries supporting learning – really?”.

I attended the majority of the sessions and the quality and relevance were excellent.

Aside from Keynote Sessions, delegates got to select from a wide range of concurrent seminars and workshop tracks based on six conference themes. This allowed for the selection of a particular route or a mix and match approach which proved to be a really effective and flexible way to build up a catalogue of choices orbiting around the keynote sessions.

Conference themes included: Embedding and enriching, Information Literacy and citizenship, New areas of practice and research, Practical approaches to Information Literacy, Staff development and Information Literacy and Strategic approaches to Information Literacy.

Basing the hub of the conference around the Brotherton library hall was a good idea. There was ample time to network, view the Poster sessions and enjoy the refreshments in between the sessions. It also proved to be an excellent place to arrange meetings and give impromptu overviews of ongoing research and activities.

The evening social sessions were very well arranged, with a reception in Harvey Nichols Restaurant on the first night and the Conference Dinner at the Royal Armouries, followed by a very enjoyable disco on the second. And wow – Sheila Webber sure can move! It would be fair to say that both of these functions were well above the norm for conference events.

The conference was well attended even though this was only the second time it has been held. There were around 200 delegates, mostly from Higher Education in the UK, with a good representation of attendees from the USA, South Africa and Europe. It would have been good to see more Public and School librarians at the event, but perhaps their representation will grow as word about the conference spreads further through the library community.

The conference concluded on a real high with the launch of the LILAC Information LiteracyWebsite. This looks to be a really promising resource for ILS and related professionals who are interested in Information Literacy work, and its content will undoubtedly develop as members of the profession contribute to the site. (Note well – a little advert! I hope too that this will be complemented by the LearnHigher (CETL) Information Literacy Resource Website due for launch in September at www.mmu.ac.uk/Learnhigher!).

The conference also saw the launch of an exciting, new, peer reviewed electronic journal – The Journal of Information Literacy. Details can be found on the CILIP Website or contact: s.webber@sheffield.ac.uk for information regarding subscriptions or submissions.

This was only the second LILAC conference but it is already establishing itself as a must for Information Professionals with an interest in Information Literacy and related topics. The event was very well organised, the sessions were of high quality, there was ample help and support for delegates (when needed) and the programme ran very smoothly. Full marks to the organising committee.

A more detailed report on LILAC 2006 can be found under CSG, Information Literacy Group at www.cilip.org.uk.

We understand that the next LILAC will be held in March/April 2007, venue to be announced. Full details will appear on the CILIP website in due course. I am sure this will be an event not to be missed.

Bob GlassSenior Lecturer and LearnHigher Information Literacy Co-Ordinator, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK