Meet the IL Group Committee: Jane Secker

What is your role on the committee?
I’m the editor of the group’s open access journal, the Journal of Information Literacy.

When did youJane Secker join and why?
I’ve been a member of ILG since 2004 when the group was formed. I was originally the LILAC conference officer and ran LlLAC for the first 8 years with a lot of help from a dedicated committee of course! I joined the group because information literacy was an important part of my job and I was increasingly aware that the staff and students I dealt with were often baffled by library systems and jargon and seemed to appreciate the help and support I was offering. I met Debbi Boden at an event we were both speaking at and we hit it off and she roped me in to help set up the group. I can still remember the first meeting at Imperial College where we set up the group and decided to run an event about IL. That event soon mushroomed into a full blown 3 day conference and the rest is history!

What do you do in your committee role?
My job is a little different to other roles as editor of the journal. I am also supported by my hard working editorial board and wonderful managing editor Cathie Jackson who keeps everything ticking over. In a typical week I might read peer reviews of recently submitted articles and draft responses to potential authors. Depending on the time of year I am more or less busy promoting JIL to encourage people to write articles and sign up to be peer reviewers – particularly new researchers and authors. Twice a year I write an editorial and in addition to attending the ILG meetings I hold two editorial board meetings a year where we plan the strategy of the journal.

What is your day job?
I work at LSE as Copyright and Digital Literacy Advisor. Interestingly I don’t work for LSE library though – I’m based in Learning Technology and Innovation which is part of IT. My job is what it says on the tin! I provide copyright advice to staff (and students) and run a programme of workshops that we call digital literacy. I also work on research projects and have recently been exploring how we best support undergraduate students develop their digital literacy skills.

What are your interests outside of work?
I have many interests and stay busy by going on many holidays, going to the gym, gardening, practicing yoga, looking after my cats and crafts such as knitting, painting and sewing. I love learning new stuff but I’m quite impatient with myself! I hope I’m better with my students! As a history graduate I am also really interested in visiting historic houses and gardens and have recently become secretary of our local Civic Society (which preserves the built heritage and green spaces) – producing the newsletter and launching them into the world of social media.

The new issue of the Journal of Information Literacy has just been published and features a special section on schools.

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