Last week I was honoured to open the 19th year of the LILAC Conference. Technically it’s 18 years of LILAC as no conference was run in 2020 and 2021. But in my mind LILAC is now 20 years old, as it was 2004 when a small band of librarians got together to starting plotting….
Anyway, I came back inspired and refreshed and happy to meet new and old friends in Leeds last week. There was a lot about Generative AI at the conference, and a lot about the changing needs of students since the pandemic. But before I dive into the conference content, I thought I would share the opening words I wrote for the conference here:
Welcome to LILAC 2024: my name is Jane Secker and I’m the chair of the CILIP Information Literacy Group and one of the founders of LILAC.
You know this is the 19th LILAC, but in fact our planning started in 2004 so it’s you could say it’s 20 years of LILAC this year, even if the first conference was in 2005. Gosh that makes me feel old !!
But there is an important anniversary this year as well It’s 50 years of the term information literacy – 50 years since who I call, the Obi One Kenobi of IL, Paul Zurkowski who was then president of the information industry association wrote his seminal paper who at the time. HAVE YOU ALL GOT YOUR 50 BADGES? Because in fact what you don’t know is there is other anniversary this year – it is also 50 years of Jane Secker! The connection I have with information literacy and Lilac actually makes it more special to be stood up here.
However I have promised not to go on forever, so after 7 years of chairing ILG, I’ll be stepping down in April and I’m so pleased we have nominations for two fabulous co-chairs of ILG to take over – Laura Woods and Anne-Lise Harding. Let’s give them a big cheer! [Side note: the ILG AGM will be on 26th April and they will be formally elected at this meeting].
I’m doing a lot of looking back though at the moment. I am writing a chapter about the history of ILG, JIL and LILAC in collaboration with a number of others, for a book called ‘Charting the Discipline of Information Literacy’. I’ve just been interviewed for the Chatting InfoLit podcast run by the ILG new professionals on what 50 years of information literacy means to me.
I’ve been doing a lot of looking back and reflecting and thinking about what impact the work I’ve been doing has had. But also what I want to do with the remainder of my time on earth.
You know what my biggest reflection is, that I seem to have collected a lot of geeky t-shirts. So I thought it was time to make a special one this year. I think there should be more information literacy advocacy through t-shirts. (takes off jacket to reveal t-shirt)
But now onto a serious point….
Looking to the future it can be scary, we see the growing tide of misinformation, disinformation, deep fakes, fuelled in part by Generative AI. Sometimes it’s hard not to be disillusioned or negative about where we might be heading. And that’s without thinking about wars, the climate crisis, and the upcoming election.
But that is why I think it’s actually a really important time to be working in, teaching or researching information literacy. Never have our skills been needed more. To try and help people make sense of the information they are bombarded with, to work out who to trust. To understand how to use tech like AI critically and ethically.
However, most importantly it’s a good time to reflect on what it means to be human. On finding joy in the world, and in our work and in connecting with each other. Of being thankful for the privileges we have that allow us to be here and participate. And by always thinking what we can take back and share with others in our workplace and in our lives.
I’m really looking forward to the conference – I always look forward to LILAC, as it means meeting new friends, catching up with old friends and feeling like I’m part of something bigger that has meaning. So have a wonderful time in Leeds. Thank you to everyone who helped make this event possible. Please come and chat to me and take some of the joy from LILAC into the world after Wednesday.
Work hard, play hard if that’s you thing, but rest and take care of each other. Think and reflect on what you can do to make the world that tiny bit better! And let me know if you want a new T-shirt!
Libraries, Information Literacy and E-learning 