What is your role on the committee?
I am half of the Library & Information Schools Representative, job-sharing with Geoff Walton.
When did you join and why?
I joined the ILG when I was working as a teaching librarian in the United States because I was interested in the UK’s strong heritage of IL research and practice and wanted to keep up to date with new developments. When I moved back to the UK to take up my position in the Department of Information Studies at UCL, I maintained my membership because I was keen to stay in touch with what was going on at the teaching librarian coalface.
What do you do in your committee role?
I work as a liaison between LIS schools, teaching librarians and library school students who are interested in IL research and practice. Some of my main interests and aspirations for this position are to facilitate LIS student transition between higher education and the workplace, including looking at how we can promote and support LIS student IL research as well as to encourage more LIS students to focus on IL education as a career choice.
What is your day job?
I am a lecturer in the Department of Information Studies at University College, London (UCL), where I teach courses and supervise PhD and MA research that focuses on information literacy, as well as maintaining my own IL research agenda. Most of my research to date has focused on information literacy within intercultural contexts, but I’m also very interested in the use of innovative research methods as well as sociocultural, critical and practice theoretical approaches to information literacy.
What are your other interests?
Most of my hobbies were adapted to the challenges and opportunities of living in a snowy part of the world; as these activities are generally considered to be slightly less achievable in the temperate climes of southern England, I am enjoying spending time with my 8 nieces and nephews as I re-adapt to the soggy isle! Perhaps unsurprisingly, I read a lot as well as encouraging others to read more in my role as a primary school reading volunteer
– I also love to walk in the various hills, glens, moors and mountains of the UK.