Category Archives: ICT proficiency and productivity

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Choice overload: Finding the right tool for the job (conference) 

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By Sae Ra Germaine, Deputy CEO and Manager, Member & Academic Services, CAVAL (saera.germaine@caval.edu.au)

As a self-confessed conference organising addict I’ve seen my fair share of conference platforms. Before COVID there was a smattering of virtual conference platforms available and to be honest they were all terrible. There just wasn’t the need to develop something that was user-friendly and created an event “experience” that we all grew to love in the “meatspace”.

Since then… well, COVID happened. It saw this accelerated need to bring the conference space into the virtual space and the rapid growth in many cases didn’t do us many favours. We now have an over-abundance of event management platforms and I for one suffered from a severe case of choice overload.

A bit of background about me, I’m currently the Co-Chair of VALA2024 Conference, founder of the Everything Open Conference, and a “Ghost of Conferences Past” for Linux Australia. In total, for the various organisations I am linked to, I have helped in some sort of form, run 13 conferences. 4 of those were in a virtual environment with no face-to-face attendance, while 2 of those were in a hybrid form. The concept of a “Ghost of Conferences Past” is a group of those who have organised a conference prior to the current conference organising team. This group passes on knowledge, wisdom, and war stories to the current team, so they learn from victories and mistakes of conferences past.  

A picture of a dark stairwell with an illuminated 3 hanging light to indicate the 3rd floor
Photo by Alison Pang on Unsplash  

One of the greatest words of wisdom that was ever dealt out was: “You only need to deliver 3 things for a successful conference: speakers, delegates, and venue”. The venue could be the crappiest venue available, but the important piece was that people were there to learn from each other and that’s all that matters. Some of the best conferences I attended were held at a school camp venue, with post-it notes on a wall for a schedule, terrible Subway for lunch, and a whole bunch of new people to meet. 

Most conferences I have run have been 100% volunteer effort. Most core teams had about 6-10 people and then about 30 volunteers on the ground during the conference. Many of these volunteers had many hats ranging from Rego Desk-ers to speaker wranglers, AV recorders, MCs, code of conduct teams, and volunteer well-being checkers. A personal plea… please don’t forget volunteer well-being checkers. This is so important! Volunteers need to be looked after too! 

A screenshot of the vFAIRS platform. The screenshot depicts a large virtual hall with an Information desk, vending machines, plants, advertising on the walls, and virtual people standing around in groups.
Screenshot from vFAIRS

As I mentioned, COVID caused many platforms to pop-up and I’m not sure why this is but, so many platforms insisted on re-creating the “meatspace” conference experience in a virtual environment. You know what? It does not work! It creates a confusing space for people, and it makes it difficult to manage by your team.  

A fancy virtual world creating experiences are very IT resource intensive. Remember, given Australia’s terrible internet situation you want to deliver a conference to reach the regions that will experience your conference with a horrible internet connection. The true benefit to running an online conference is to maximise your reach, don’t exclude those you are trying to reach by choosing a platform that a bad internet connection will struggle to deliver. 

I’m not going to list and do comparisons on lots of platforms as we all will make decisions on the platform we use based on needs at the time and what would provide the best experience possible. But, what I will do is talk about 3 specific setups that I’ve found to work very well for the events that I’ve helped run. The key with all 3 is the usability of the interface – in a virtual world, the venue does matter! The first 2 setups will require a separate mechanism for managing sponsorships, vendors, and schedules/website, etc.

Scrabble pieces that spell out the word Zoom.
Photo by Glen Carrie on Unsplash

Zoom:

Love it or hate it, Zoom is one of the most common tools used across sectors. It can be downloaded or used directly within a browser. Zoom has also added an “Events” platform to help manage ticket sales and while it’s not perfect, it will get there eventually. One of the best conferences I attended was multiple zooms that I could duck in and out of and the schedule was in a simple Google doc spreadsheet. But the one thing that was missing was the serendipitous chatting that happens between/during/after talks.

Other versions of this were using an open-source tool called Jitsi. While this works great, it just doesn’t scale well beyond about 30 people.

A photo of a mobile phone which has the Twitch.tv app open that has the Twitch.tv logo.
Photo by Caspar Camille Rubin on Unsplash

Twitch.tv: or even YouTube: 

Twitch is a gaming platform where you can watch many streamers play games. But between Twitch and YouTube they have more recently moved to hosting conferences and it has worked quite well. It has chat functions and is very light in using computer resources. But again, it’s missing those serendipitous chats! 

Last but not least:

Sae Ra’s choice! https://venueless.org/en/

It would be remiss if I didn’t bring up an open-source friendly alternative 😊. Venueless is part of a 3-part software package. Venueless is primarily text based however it has 4 key pieces. Sponsor exhibitor spaces, text-based chat rooms, streaming spaces, and video/audio conferencing. What makes this unique is that it’s completely stripped back and a low resource intensive solution. There are no bells and whistles, it’s essentially text-based chat rooms with some video capabilities.

Screenshot of linux.conf.au Online 2022 conference opening address. The screenshot includes the linux.conf.au 2022 logos, a picture of the speaker, and a picture of “The pets of LCA” with pictures of cats and dogs that joined during the conference.
Screenshot of linux.conf.au online 2022 conference opening address

At Linux Australia we used the video/audio conferencing for side birds-of-a-feather sessions, product demonstrations, user group meetings, and we even had our conference dinner in there! One of our speakers wrote their perspective on the event. Running that specific conference gave me all the joy that I would have got in bringing something to people face to face.

One thing to note, is that audio quality is a must. If you are watching a video stream all day, you can forgive video quality because you can look away, but audio quality we aren’t so forgiving about. For some handy tips please go and see this document that we created for linux.conf.au 2021. 

After all of this I think it will just go back to the basics: Speakers, Delegates, and Venue. You don’t need the bells and whistles to run a successful conference. Keeping it simple will make your life easier and will make the delegates feel more included.

The power of large language models to augment human learning 

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By Fernando Marmolejo-Ramos, Tim Simon and Rhoda Abadia; University of South Australia

In early 2023, OpenAI’s ChatGPT became the buzzword in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) world. A cutting-edge large language model (LLM) that is part of the revolutionary generative AI movement. Google’s Bard and Anthropic’s Claude are other notable LLMs in this league, transforming the way we interact with AI applications. LLMs are super-sized dynamic libraries that can respond to queries, abstract text, and even tackle complex mathematical problems. Ever since ChatGPT’s debut, there has been an overwhelming surge of academic papers and grey literature (including blogs and pre-prints) both praising and critiquing the impact of LLMs. In this discussion, we aim to emphasise the importance of recognising LLMs as technologies that can augment human learning. Through examples, we illustrate how interacting with LLMs can foster AI literacy and augment learning, ultimately boosting innovation and creativity in problem-solving scenarios. 

In the field of education, LLMs have emerged as powerful tools with the potential to enhance the learning experience for both students and teachers. They can be used as powerful supplements for reading, research, and personalised tutoring, benefiting students in various ways. 

For students, LLMs offer the convenience of summarising lengthy textbook chapters and locating relevant literature with tools like ChatPDF, ChatDOC, Perplexity, or Consensus. We believe that these tools not only accelerate students’ understanding of the material but also enable a deeper grasp of the subject matter. LLMs can also act as personalised tutors that are readily available to answer students’ queries and provide guided explanations. 

For teachers, LLMs may help in reducing repetitive tasks like grading assignments. By analysing students’ essays and short answers, they can assess coherence, reasoning, and plagiarism, thereby saving valuable time for meaningful teaching. Additionally, LLMs have the potential to suggest personalised feedback and improvements for individual students, enhancing the overall learning experience. The caveat, though, is that human judgement is to be ‘in-the-loop’ as LLMs have limited understanding of teaching methodologies, curriculum, and student needs. UNESCO has recognised this importance and produced a short guide on the use of LLMs in higher education, providing valuable insights for educators (see table on page 10). 

Achieving remarkable results with LLMs is made possible through the art of “prompt engineering” (PE) – a term referring to the art of crafting effective prompts to guide these language models towards informed responses. For instance, a prompt could be as straightforward as “rewrite the following = X,” where X represents the text to be rephrased. Alternatively, a more complex prompt like “explain what Z is in layman’s terms?” can help clarify intricate concepts. In Figure 1, we present an example demonstrating how students can use specific prompts to learn statistical concepts while simultaneously gaining familiarity with R coding.

Figure 1.  Example of a prompt given to ChatGPT to create R code. The plot on the right shows the result when the code is run in R. Note how the LLM features good code commenting practices and secures reproducibility via the ‘set.seed( )’ function.

Additionally, Figure 2 reveals that not all LLMs offer identical responses to the same prompts, highlighting the uniqueness of each model’s output.

Figure 2. Example of how ChatGPT (left) and Claude (right) respond to the same prompt. Claude seemed to give a better response than ChatGPT and provided an explanation of what was done.

However, the most interesting aspect of PE lies in formulating appropriate questions for the LLMs, making it a matter of problem formulation. We believe this crucial element is at the core of effective prompting in educational contexts. Seen this way, it’s clear that good prompts should have context for the question being asked, as context provides reference points for the intended meaning. For example, a teacher or student could design a prompt like: “Given the information in texts A and B, produce a text that discusses concepts a1 and a2 in text A in terms of concepts b1 and b2 in text B”; where A and B are paragraphs or texts given along with the prompt and a1, a2, b1 and b2 are specific aspects from texts A and B. Admittedly, that prompt lacks context. Nonetheless, context-rich prompts could still be conceived (see Figure 3). These examples also hint at the idea that prompts work in a “rubbish prompts in; rubbish responses out” fashion; i.e. the quality of the prompt is directly proportional to the quality of the response.

Figure 3.  Example of a prompt with good context. This prompt was obtained via Bard through the prompt “construct a prompt on the subject of cognitive science and artificial intelligence that provides adequate context for any LLM to generate a meaningful response”.

PE is thus a process that involves engaging in a dialogue with the LLM to discover creative and innovative solutions to problems. One effective approach is the “chain-of-thought” (CoT) prompting, which entails eliciting the LLM to provide more in-depth responses by following up on previously introduced ideas. The example shown in Figure 4 was output by Bard after the prompt “provide an example of a chain of thought prompting to be submitted to a large language model”. The green box contains the initial prompt, the orange box represents three subsequent questions, and the blue box represents a potential answer given by the LLM. Another way of CoT prompting can be achieved by starting by setting a topic (e.g. “The Role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Education”), then ask questions such as “start by defining Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its relevance in the context of education, including its potential applications in learning, teaching, and educational administration.”, “explore how AI can personalise the learning experience for students, catering to individual needs, learning styles, and pace of progress.”, “discuss the benefits of AI-powered adaptive learning systems in identifying students’ strengths and weaknesses, providing targeted interventions, and improving overall academic performance.”, “examine the role of AI in automating administrative tasks, such as grading, scheduling, and resource management, to enhance efficiency and reduce the burden on educators.” etc.

Figure 4. Example of a CoT prompt.

Variants of CoT prompting can be considered by generating several CoT reasoning paths (see the following articles Tree of Thought Deliberate Problem Solving with Large Language Models and Large Language Models Tree -of -Thoughts.). Regardless of the CoT prompting used, the ultimate goal is to solve a problem in an original and informative ways.

It’s crucial not to overlook AI technologies but rather embrace them, finding the right balance between tasks delegated to AI and those best suited for human involvement. Fine-tuning interactions between humans and AI is key when exchanging information, ensuring a seamless and effective collaboration between the two.

Library strategy and Artificial Intelligence

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by Dr Andrew M Cox, Senior Lecturer, the Information School, University of Sheffield.

This post was originally published in the National Centre for AI blog, owned by Jisc. It is re-printed with permission from Jisc and the author.

On April 20th 2023 the Information School, University of Sheffield invited five guest speakers from across the library sectors to debate “Artificial Intelligence: Where does it fit into your library strategy?”

The speakers were:

  1. Nick Poole, CEO of CILIP
  2. Neil Fitzgerald, Head of Digital Research, British Library
  3. Sue Lacey-Bryant, Chief Knowledge Officer; Workforce, Training and Education Directorate of NHS England
  4. Sue Attewell, Head of Edtech, JISC
  5. John Cox, University Librarian, University of Galway

A capacity 250 people had signed up online, and there was a healthy audience in the room in Sheffield.

Slides from the event can be downloaded here . These included updated results from the pre-event survey, which had 68 responses.

This blog is a personal response to the event and summary written by Andrew Cox and Catherine Robinson.

Impact of generative AI

Andrew Cox opened the proceedings by setting the discussion in the context of the fascination with AI in our culture from ancient Greece, movies from as early as the start of the C20th, through to current headlines in the Daily Star!

Later on in the event, in his talk John Cox quoted several authors saying AI promised to produce a profound change to professional work. And it seemed to be agreed amongst all the speakers that we had entered a period of accelerating change, especially with Chat GPT and other generative AI.

These technologies offer many benefits. Sue Lacey-Bryant shared some examples of how colleagues were already experimenting with using Chat GPT in multiple ways: to search, organise content, design web pages, draft tweets and write policies. Sue Attewell mentioned JISC sponsored AI pilots to accelerate grading, draft assessment tasks, and analyse open text NSS comments.

And of course wider uses of AI are potentially very powerful. For example Sue Lacey-Bryant shared the example of how many hours of radiologists time AI was saving the NHS. Andrew Cox mentioned how Chat GPT functions would be realised within MS Office as Copilot. Specifically for libraries, from the pre-event survey it seemed that the most developed services currently were library chatbots and Text and Data Mining support; but the emphasis of future plans was “Promoting AI (and data) literacy for users”.

But it did mean uncertainty. Nick Poole compared the situation to the rise of Web2.0 and suggested that many applications of generative AI were emerging and we didn’t know which might be the winners. User behaviour was changing and so there was a need to study this. As behaviour changed there would be side effects which required us to reflect holistically, Sue Attewell pointed out. For example if generative AI can write bullet point notes, how does this impact learning if writing those notes was itself how one learned? She suggested that the new technology cannot be banned. It may also not be detectable. There was no choice but to “embrace” it.

Ethics

The ethics of AI is a key concern. In the pre-event survey, ethics were the most frequently identified key challenge. Nick Poole talked about several of the novel challenges from generative AI, such as what is its implication for intellectual freedom? What should be preserved from generative AI (especially as it answers differently to each iteration of a question)? Nick identified that professional ethics have to be:

  • “Inclusive – adopting an informed approach to counter bias
  • Informed & evidence-based – geared towards helping information users to navigate the hype cycle
  • Critical & reflective – understanding our own biases and their impact
  • Accountable – focused on trust, referencing and replicability
  • Creative – helping information users to maximise the positive benefits of AI augmented services
  • Adaptive – enabling us to refresh our skills and expertise to navigate change”

Competencies

In terms of professional competencies for an AI world, Nick said that there was now wider recognition that critical thinking and empathy were key skills. He pointed out that the CILIP Professional Knowledge and Skills Base (PKSB) had been updated to reflect the needs of an AI world for example by including data stewardship and algorithmic literacy. Andrew Cox referred to some evidence that the key skills needed are social and influencing skills not just digital ones. Skills that respondents to the pre-event survey thought that libraries needed were:

  •        General understanding of AI
  •        How to get the best results from AI
  •        Open-mindedness and willingness to learn 
  •        Knowledge of user behaviour and need
  •        Copyright
  •        Professional ethics and having a vision of benefits

Strategy

John Cox pointed to evidence that most academic library strategies were not yet encompassing AI. He thought it was because of anxiety, hesitancy, ethics concerns and inward looking and linear thinking. But Neil explained how the British Library is developing a strategy. The process was challenging, akin to ‘Flying a plane while building it”. Sue Attewell emphasised the need for the whole sector to develop a view. The pre-event survey suggested that the most likely strategic responses were: to upskill existing staff, study sector best practice and collaborate with other libraries.

Andrew Cox suggested that some key issues for the profession were:

  • How do we scope the issue: As about data/AI or a wider digital transformation?
    • How does AI fit into our existing strategies – especially given the context of institutional alignment?
    • What constitutes a strategic response to AI? How does this differ between information sectors?
  • How do we meet the workforce challenge?
    • What new skills do we need to develop in the workforce?
    • How might AI impact equality and diversity in the profession?

Workshop discussions

Following the presentations from the speakers, those attending the event in person were given the opportunity to further discuss in groups the professional competencies needed for AI. Those attending online were asked to put any comments they had regarding this in the chat box. Some of the key discussion points were:

  • The need for professionals to rapidly upskill themselves in AI. This includes understanding what AI is and the concepts and applications of AI in individual settings (e.g. healthcare, HE etc.), along with understanding our role in supporting appropriate use. However, it was believed this should go beyond a general understanding to a knowledge of how AI algorithms work, how to use AI and actively adopting AI in our own professional roles in order to grow confidence in this area.
  • Horizon scanning and continuous learning – AI is a fast-paced area where technology is rapidly evolving. Professionals not only need to stay up-to-date with the latest developments, but also be aware of potential future developments to remain effective and ensure we are proactive, rather than reactive.
  • Upskilling should not just focus on professional staff, but all levels of library staff will require some level of upskilling in the area of AI (e.g. library assistants).
  • Importance of information literacy and critical thinking skills in order to assess the quality and relevance of AI outputs. AI should therefore be built into professional training around these skills.
  • Collaboration skills – As one group stated, this should be more ‘about people, not data’. AI requires collaboration with:
    • Information professionals across the sector to establish a consistent approach; 
    • Users (health professionals, students, researchers, public etc.) to establish how they are using AI and what for;
    • With other professionals (e.g. data scientists).
  • Recruitment problems were also discussed, with it noted that for some there had been a drop in people applying for library roles. This was impacting on the ability to bring in new skillsets to the library (e.g. data scientist), but on the ability to allow existing staff the time to upskill in the area of AI. It was discussed that there was the need to promote lifestyle and wellbeing advantages to working in libraries to applicants.

Other issues that came up in the workshop discussions centered around how AI will impact on the overall library service, with the following points made:

  • There is the need to expand library services around AI, as well as embed it in current services;
  • Need to focus on where the library can add value in the area of AI (i.e. USP);
  • Libraries need to make a clear statement to their institution regarding their position on AI;
  • AI increases the importance of and further incentivises open access, open licencing and digitisation of resources;
  • Questions over whether there is a need to rebrand the library.

The attendees also identified that the following would useful to help prepare the sector for AI:

  • Sharing of job descriptions to learn about what AI means in practice and help with workforce planning. Although, it was noted how the RL (Research Libraries) Position Description Bank contains almost 4000 position descriptions from research libraries primarily from North America, although there are many examples from RLUK members; 
  • A reading list and resource bank to help professionals upskill in AI;
  • Work shadowing;
  • Sharing of workshops delivered by professionals to users around the use of AI;
  • AI mailing lists (e.g. JISCmail);
  • Establishment of a Community of Practice to promote collaboration. Although it was noted that AI would probably change different areas of library practice (such as collecting or information literacy) so was likely to be discussed within the professional communities that already existed in these areas.

Workshop outcome

Following the workshop Andrew Cox and Catherine Robinson worked on a draft Working paper which we invite you to comment on @ Draft for comment: Developing a library strategic response to Artificial Intelligence: Working paper.

Understanding how websites work: a brief introduction

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by Nicholas Rowsell, Digital Library Programs and UX Officer, University of Newcastle Library (nicholas.brett@newcastle.edu.au)

Knowing how to code in web mark-up languages allows you to create and edit websites and understand how websites work.

Much like learning an instrument, this can be very intimidating at first but with practice you may find yourself intuitively recognising patterns and predicting what logical step to expect next.

The Foundation

HTML (Hypertext Mark-up Language) is the foundation of every website you visit on the internet. HTML documents are made up of elements, which are the building blocks of each page.

The following examples of code can be pasted into W3Schools.com allowing you adjust the code safely in a sandpit environment.

The Building Blocks

The basic structure of an HTML document includes the following elements (note that you will need to use single spacing between lines of code):

<html>

<body>

<h1>

Content Heading

</h1>

<p>

Content goes here…

</p>

</body>

</html>

The Working Example

<html>

<body>

<h1>

Digital Dexterity

</h1>

<p>

Digital dexterity is a critical component in the success of digital societies.

</p>

</body>

</html>

Note: As each element is opened with a tag <p> it is also closed with an accompanying tag </p> which has a backslash added.

Customising your Building Blocks

Elements consist of tags, attributes, and content.

A tag determines the element type. Examples include:
 

<html>Represents the root of an HTML document, differentiating from other types
<body>Defines the document’s body and may contain the below tags
<h1>Creates a header, can use the numbers from 1-6
<p>Defines a paragraph element
<img>Defines an image element
<a>Defines a hyperlink

An extensive list of tags can be found on W3Schools.com.

An attribute provides additional information or characteristics about an element. Examples include:

IDSpecifies a unique id for an element
altSpecifies an alternate text when the original element fails to display

Attributes are placed within the opening tag:

<h1 id=”myHeader”>Digital Dexterity</h1>

Content is the easiest part, this is the text or other elements within the tags that is your awesome subject matter knowledge you wish to share with the world!

Time to add some Style…

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is the language we use to style an HTML document. CSS describes how HTML elements should be displayed. Extending our metaphor from earlier, if HTML is the foundation of a website, then CSS is the architecture that makes it beautiful and functional.

CSS allows you to control the layout, font, colour, and other visual aspects of a website, just as an architect controls the layout, colour, and design of a building.

The code which determines this control over the style is known as a CSS rule.

A CSS rule consists of a selector and declaration blocks.

<style>

h1 {

  color: blue;

  font-size: 12;

}

</style>

In this instance <h1> is the selector as it designates the style to the 1st header.

Between the curly brackets { } are two examples of a declaration, the first being color:blue; followed by font-size:12px;. These declarations can be further broken down into their property and value. In the first instance is the property (color) which is separated by a colon : followed by the value (blue).

Bringing it all together

<style>

h1 {

  color: blue;

  font-size: 12;

}

</style>

<html>

<body>

<h1>

Digital Dexterity

</h1>

<p>

Digital dexterity is a critical component in the success of digital societies.

</p>

</body>

</html>

An ever-growing knowledge base

As the librarians at the University of Newcastle have developed our skills with web coding we have developed a knowledge base on LibGuides, where staff can see templates for components we have collected over time. The advantage of this knowledge base means having a library of consistent web elements which can be deployed as needed, saving time and creating ease of access.

To learn coding in a supported environment, W3Schools.com is a great and free web resource.

Project Management Digital Tools at University of Newcastle and University of Wollongong libraries

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by Kristy Newton (Digital Literacies Coordinator, University of Wollongong Library, knewton@uow.edu.au), and the Library Business Services Team (Aimee Herridge, Cassie Connor, Shaista Poonawalla and Tahlia Kelso) with Ruth Cameron (Coordinator, Digital Library Programs, University of Newcastle Library, ruth.cameron@newcastle.edu.au)

Two members of CAUL’s Digital Dexterity Champions group had a chat about the different project management tools we use in our libraries. You might like to read about what we found: 

University of Newcastle Library – the Project Management Toolkit 

Screenshot of the Project Management Toolkit in our Library Hub SharePoint site

What is it?

Library staff can use the digital toolkit to learn more about what a project is, how to propose and gain approval for a project, and the library’s project lifecycle (including a current project register). Templates have been created for each phase of the project lifecycle to help staff to manage their projects successfully. There is even a Tools and Training page which links out to further training for staff who want to learn more. 

Our Library Business Services team put the toolkit together so that we can standardise the project approval process, ensure that library projects are managed consistently, and follow best practice project management processes. The toolkit aligns with existing University of Newcastle digital resources to ensure a common language and consistent approach. 

How long did it take to build?

Approximately one month for the toolkit itself, which will include information and training sessions for library staff in 2023 to build capability and confidence. The toolkit was refreshed in 2022 and flipped into a more interactive SharePoint site with intuitive navigation based on gateways and the project lifecycle. The templates were also updated to align with University of Newcastle brand guidelines, giving them a clean, professional finish.  

How did the team decide what to include? 

The team benchmarked practices, tools and templates within the University of Newcastle, and researched other universities’ toolkits and project management methodologies (the University of Newcastle is PRINCE2 aligned). They looked at the types of projects usually undertaken by our library staff, and applied what was appropriate for those projects. 

Do we track usage? How popular has it been? 

The team looks at analytics in SharePoint to measure toolkit and template views. Stakeholder evaluation consultation was undertaken post-implementation, for feedback prior to the toolkit being flipped into the new design. This feedback informed the design and allowed adjustments to be made to the content. 

The initial review feedback was positive. Usage was low however due to COVID-19 impacting the number of projects being launched, and we hope to see more engagement following the training sessions in 2023.  

Are the documents/templates used in different ways? 

Templates are required for project approval and endorsement under the guideline that accompanies the toolkit. Staff are required to use the templates if they have a medium to high level project, to ensure projects are properly scoped and documented for consistency. The documents are designed to be tailored to the size and scope of the project.  

Staff can refer to the inbuilt Project Lifecycle page which provides guidance on the different stages (Ideation, Planning, Delivering, Close and Review) of any project, the approval gates, and the relevant templates for each stage.  However, the purpose of each template is clear, and they are used mostly for the same purpose in each project, e.g. Project Brief and Closing Report. 

University of Wollongong (UOW) Library – Microsoft Planner 

What is it? 

UOW Library make frequent use of Microsoft Planner. As it integrates so well into Microsoft Teams there are multiple active Planners in our digital environment, with uses ranging from project management, team priorities, strategy, and even resource sharing. Planner can be used to document tasks at a high level, or more granular level. Depending on the preferences of your team/project group you can arrange it by work area, due date, project phase, or topic – the options are virtually endless. 

Are the documents/templates used in different ways? 

In a team context, Planner can be used to manage team tasks, both strategic and operational. Buckets can be set up for the various focus areas that the team is responsible for, and individual task cards in each bucket document progress against the tasks. A ‘New’ column at the beginning of the board serves as a catchall queue for new items coming to the team, and the task cards are often moved across to a bucket as a team member picks them up. Projects with a separate Planner can be included in the Team Planner as a link, rather than replicating the tasks across multiple Planners. 

A resource-based project group uses Planner to arrange resources by topic. This is less a task-based system, and more a categorisation and navigation board.  

Project groups use Planner to manage the tasks for the project, with buckets for each of the project phases. There are task cards which function as links to key external reference points such as the vendor knowledge bases, with the rest of the board being populated with a variety of project tasks assigned to relevant staff members, utilising the Checklist function to break each task down into smaller components. The Charts view (which is available in all Planners) is particularly useful in a project as it gives a visual overview of the project milestones that can be extracted for use in reporting. 

Tips for getting the most out of Planner 

Staff with assigned tasks sprinkled through multiple team and project planners can choose to view a streamlined overview of all the tasks assigned to them by adding the “Tasks by Planner and To-Do” app to their MS Teams sidebar. This app draws in tasks from multiple planners and collates them into a handy task list. From the app view, there are options to filter tasks by options such as ‘Important’ or ‘Assigned to Me’ to drill down to the highest priority tasks. 

Prefer to see all the tasks assigned to you across various Planners in a more board-like structure? Use the web view by navigating to displays to see the various project planners you are part of by navigating to the Planner of your choice in the left-hand column. Visually motivated folks will enjoy the ability to add a colourful background to the Planner in web view, too! 

Large and complex Planners can get overwhelming and details can be easily missed. Use the Filters on the top right-hand side to drill down and see only those tasks which are high priority, due soon, or assigned to a particular staff member. 

Rather than adding multiple cards for smaller steps of a task, use the Checklist within a card to track the more granular aspects like emailing a certain stakeholder, finding an image to use, setting a meeting etc. This allows you and your team to see how the task is progressing and keeps the board a little cleaner. 

So … what do I choose?

This will really depend on the nature of your project, and how your team prefers to work.  And these two different examples of project management tools are just the tip of the iceberg! Sit down with your project team and talk about what will work best, for the project and for the people involved. Remember, too, that one function of these tools is to keep management updated with what you’re doing, so choose something which is easily shareable or copied for a presentation or meeting. 

Have fun!

The Need for Digital Literacy in a Digitally-Connected World

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by Darnell Epps and Kurtis Tanaka

We loved this post so much, we have to share it with our readers! Originally published in the Ithaka SR blog on 15 March 2021: https://sr.ithaka.org/blog/post-nchep-reflection/ . This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution/NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

If you have a topic you would like to read about, please drop us a line at digidexbloggroup@lists.caval.edu.au.

We also welcome contributors, so if you want to write a post yourself, please let us know!

Open knowledge activism for lifelong learning, independent research and knowledge translation

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By Clare O’Hanlon, La Trobe University Library

e: c.ohanlon@latrobe.edu.au

Open knowledge activism in libraries is about more than negotiating transformative agreements and making research available in repositories and open access journals. It also involves helping researchers and students give research back to communities in an accessible and meaningful format for their needs and contexts. Academic library worker support for student and academic digital literacies development, particularly information, media, and data literacies; collaboration; community and participation; and digital creation, problem solving and innovation, plays a crucial role in this. Local public library and community archive and museum workers provide extensive digital literacies, local history, STEM, and creative programming in their communities. Together we can do more to support lifelong learning, independent research, and knowledge translation.

Open knowledge activism by night

Volunteering with the Australian Queer Archives (AQuA) by night to preserve and make research and more knowledge available for and with LGBTIQA+ communities within and beyond the academy in multiple formats (from queer history walks and exhibitions to an Honours thesis prize and beyond) has helped me see that research can be a collective, generative, and transformative process. Our collection and work may not be open in traditional academic “Open Access” ways, and it is not safe for our collection to be completely open to all, but we are open in the inclusive sense of the word. In her Open as in dangerous talk, Chris Bourg illustrates the importance of individual privacy and protection from abuse and harassment, and warns that Open Access publishing can perpetuate existing systems of oppression and inequality and that opening up collections can potentially lead to a loss of context that is then extracted and shared in diverse ways. Bourg’s warnings and my work at AQuA by night motivate me to advocate for the collective, generative, and transformative kind of research and openness in the sometimes extractive and competitive academic environment I work in by day.

The Australian Queer Archives reading room
Australian Queer Archives reading room ready for visitors (author supplied).

Other ways that library workers can support open knowledge activism by night might include participating in learning spaces outside of universities, including but not limited to:

Open knowledge activism by day

Below are some ways I have helped and seen others help support lifelong learning, independent research, and knowledge translation through open knowledge activism by day:

Additionally, we could help connect academics and students with local public library, archive and museum-based STEM, local history, literary and creative programming rather than compete with such programs. Some examples of this public library and related programming include:

We must keep in mind the amount of labour involved in opening up research, translating it into practice, and making it accessible to communities and recognise that this is not always adequately acknowledged and supported. With increasing focus on research impact and engagement, this is changing, and I hope this post will encourage academic and public library workers to collaborate with each other and academics and students to open research with and for communities.

Large protest on Flinders Street in Melbourne with a trans flag and placard with the words 'Change the System' written in rainbow-coloured letters and two Aboriginal flags on it.
Protest in Melbourne (author supplied).

Happy Birthday Digital Skills GitBook!

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By Bryony Hawthorn and Nica Tsakmakis  Digidexlibrarians+gitbook@gmail.com

Gosh, how time flies! On the 6th of August the Living Book of Digital Skills (You never knew you needed until now) turns one! And what a year it has been. 

Image CC-BY-SA The Living Book of Digital Skills

Like any first year of life, the Digital Skills GitBook has had its fair share of trips and falls but has learned a lot and grown along the way.  

As proud parents, the GitBook family has shown off its many possibilities around Australia, including taking it to Canberra for ALIA National and Melbourne for VALA, to the Research Support Community Day, and to eResearch Australasia. 

We’ve also been feeding our young GitBook a regular diet of Shut Up and Write sessions. These are helping our book grow like a tree. We have been writing content for the GitBook on heaps of suggested topics.  

Just like any family, people come and go, and move around. We know it takes a community to raise a child and write a book. We now need our community to help shape our baby into a young adult.  

We are looking for people keen to help us keep our baby growing! You can contribute by: 

  • Suggesting a topic for the book 
  • Helping us maintain the book 
  • Giving us feedback on the book 
  • Contributing a chapter that you write on a suggested topic or a topic of your choice 

If you think you might be keen to write a chapter, you don’t necessarily need to write new content. It could be that you already have suitable content you’ve written for other projects. We will credit you as authors for your work.  

Don’t be shy about contributing! We have a helpful short video for anyone who wants to know how to join our family and support us by adding useful content so others can grow from the fruits of our book. This video takes you step by step through using GitHub to contribute – what an awesome skill to add to your repertoire! 

If after watching the video, you’re still a bit nervous of contributing via GitHub, that’s ok. Just email your content to us and we’ll do the rest. 

Another option is to join the camaraderie of one of our Shut Up and Write sessions. Come to the next session on Tuesday 9th August and SUAW with a bunch of other folk, so the GitBook can continue to branch out. It is productive and fun. You can even write with a partner on a topic that interests you both.

If you can’t make this date, just email us for the next one. We have one a month for the rest of the year.

While we’ve given this book a personality, we do need your help to make the book a successful reality.

So please contact us via email Digidexlibrarians+gitbook@gmail.com if you have any questions or have content you can share.  

Open Source and Digital Dexterity – software solutions at Auckland University of Technology Library

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By Craig Murdoch, Manager, Online & Open Initiatives, Auckland University of Technology Library

What if the products we choose to work with could help us become digitally dextrous?

At the Auckland University of Technology Library we’ve made a conscious decision to prefer open source software solutions where possible. We recently completed our implementation of the Koha library management system, adding this solution on top of VuFind for search and discovery, DSpace for our institutional repository Tuwhera and Open Journal Systems for our publishing initiatives. It’s fascinating to talk to people about why we’ve gone in this direction. The over-riding assumptions are that the main driver is either saving money, or because we have a fabulous pool of skilled staff who can ‘work’ these systems.

Of course it’s true that in some cases we have saved some money by going open source, but it is far from the primary motivation for us. In fact, the reasons we prefer open source are more about what it means for us as librarians, and I believe this ties in strongly with the goals of the Digital Dexterity framework for library professionals.

So, what benefits do we get as staff from working with open source technologies?

  • We build capacity and capability in our staff. By taking ownership and control of our software solutions we can improve our own engagement and motivation. We learn new skills, we understand systems on a deeper level, we develop new abilities to communicate with those working in areas like IT, documentation, research, security, and data.
Quote from Demian Katz, Director of Library Technology Services, Villanova University, that reads "Working in open source has strengthened my belief that the true purpose of software is to empower people to solve problems"
  • We get to control our own destiny. Sounds dramatic but it’s true! We gain the flexibility to be able to decide what we want to do with our systems, what is important to us. We drive change rather than responding to it (or not seeing it at all). We get to try things, make mistakes, and most importantly, take ownership for fixing them.
  • We get to work closely with a huge global community of librarians, software developers, and vendors to improve and extend the systems we use. When it comes to the development of new features we are partners, contributors, and sometimes even funders.
  • We learn more about, and take more responsibility for, safeguarding our data and that of our institution’s members. 
  • We improve our decision-making, analysis and planning skills with respect to software development and spending (partly driven by the fact that we can no longer say “it’s the vendor’s fault”). 

Where does this fit with the Digital Dexterity framework?

In a sense the answer is “Where doesn’t it?” but these are the words that jump out for me, because working with open source fosters growth in all these areas:

Confidence
To contribute meaningfully to complex discussions and broader communities.

Creativity
To courageously think outside the square and build our own future.

Collaboration
To work with generosity in a culture of sharing.

Capability
To build and enhance the skill sets we need.

Critical thinking
To support decisions which we must take increased responsibility for.

Which I think is a long way of saying that open source has created an environment where we are enabled to become better librarians, smarter humans, and more capable digital citizens. I’d love to hear whether this resonates with others.

Reference:

Katz, D. (2022, May 4). Open Perspectives: VuFind. https://communities.ebsco.com/posts/open-perspectives-vufind

Creating video templates for shorter lead times and greater consistency in library tutorials

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by Nicholas Rowsell, Digital Library Programs Officer, University of Newcastle Library

A challenge in creating anything across a team, or to a greater extent an institution, is ensuring that when content is created there is a consistent design language, and when adhering to this requirement, efficiencies are not lost.

To communicate your ideas with this purpose in mind, content should be:

  • aligned to brand positioning,
  • consistent between digital objects,
  • as equitable and accessible as possible
  • solutions should match your team’s abilities
  • lean into established processes when adding something new.


In wanting to establish new processes for the creation of a video tutorial series for the University of Newcastle Library, these were the considerations we had to address.   

Our solution was to create a series of templates for video creation programs such as Powtoon and Microsoft PowerPoint. By providing content creators with a series of template slides they are quickly and easily able to copy a slide and insert the content they need to present, with all the animations, transitions, and formatting completed for them ahead of time. All that is then required is for the team member to render the slides to create a video. The positive implications of this are that videos are highly sustainable and scalable, as content can be edited or updated on the slides and re-rendered as needed to reflect an updated syllabus, changes in technology or services, and so on.

So how did this solution come about?

Alignment with brand positioning

Our priority in creating a new video series was to align the look and feel of content to the University’s Brand Guidelines. This meant ensuring that our team members used the correct typography, colours, shapes, and images.

We quickly identified this as a pain point as the time taken to set up a file, create a design, then undertake a quality assurance check distracted from the goal of the content being created and released.

This is where our solution to create video templates first came about.

Leaning into existing practices

One of the first lessons learnt in our solution was to lean into what the team was already doing and what they were familiar with. This was done by learning from our mistakes and pivoting where needed. Our first approach was to implement the template solution in Microsoft PowerPoint; we did this as we knew the team had great digital capabilities with this program so that asking them to perform a new process in the application was straightforward.

What we overlooked was that the team was already very invested in using PowToon for video creation.  This did not create a major roadblock, however, as we were able simply to import the templates from PowerPoint into PowToon.  But time could have been saved had we been more perceptive to our team’s existing preferences from the get-go.

One solution leading to opportunities for continuous improvement

With greater efficiencies created, the team become time richer. This, in turn, presented an opportunity to introduce consistent practices. This opportunity was to make our videos more equitable and accessible, by adding in Closed Captions embedded within the videos, to aid students who don’t have English as a first language, or have a hearing impairment.  We can also introduce the use of Alternative Text sheets for download in the notes field below the videos, which can be used by screen readers.

A scalable, sustainable solution for higher quality resources

As our development of videos as digital learning objects continues, the team can rely on the sustainability and scalability of the slides to easily update content which is engaging and relevant, ensuring we can continue in our endeavour to provide high quality online information literacy resources.