The Info Lit journey: improving information literacy engagement through student-led immersive and collaborative non-hierarchical learning activities

Encouraging students to engage with library services as a core and integrated component of their learning journeys is fundamental to the development of effective education environments. This short paper will demonstrate how the Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC) funded Info Lit Journey project improved the relationship between the students and the library services of the University of the West of Scotland through the processes and outputs of a collaborative creative project. At the core of the Info lit Journey was the notion of challenging traditional educational hierarchies by placing students at the centre of this relationship building process. Accordingly, the Info Lit Journey charged our students with creating a short film (learning object) for our students that explained how the library services can empower learning journeys through information literacy. In doing so, the production and development processes of the film project functioned as student led learning events that encouraged partnership between students, the library, and academic staff, supporting the notion that learning journeys are ongoing collaborations involving all university users. So successful was the student ownership of this process, that while the original brief called for the production of one film, the students decided that two films should be created, each with a different aesthetic and tone, in order to reach as wide an audience as possible. The resultant films have now been disseminated via social media, the library website and public display screens throughout the learning environment of the University of the West of Scotland and serve as a safe entry point into the library services of the institution. As such, the key recommendations that this paper will offer are 1) to improve information literacy students should be placed at the heart of information literacy, and 2) immersive collaborative non-hierarchical activities are the gateway to achieving this engagement.