Nominations for the 2024 Information Literacy Award open in the new year. The award is open to all practitioners, researchers and academics working in the information literacy field in the UK, both individuals and teams, and recognises excellent practice. You can nominate colleagues or self-nominate, so why not start thinking about which person, team, project or initiative you want others to know about.
The prestigious award, the only of its kind for information literacy in the UK, is presented by the CILIP Information Literacy Group and the Information School at the University of Sheffield. Previous winners found it has demonstrated their innovation and expertise nationally and helped them become involved in strategic conversations advocating and developing information literacy in their fields.
It’s an amazing way to have your work recognised, both in and outside of the information literacy field, but don’t just take our word for it. We asked past winners to share their thoughts on what winning the Information Literacy Award meant to them.
Louise Speakman, Information Specialist (Systematic Reviews), University of Lancaster (winner of the Information Literacy Award 2023) said the following:
“Winning the IL Award in 2023 has provided recognition for the SR (Systematic Review) Conversations initiative, leading to an impact I could never have imagined, conversations with many internal and external colleagues have happened since winning, with further innovations and developments of the project. On a personal level my role has blossomed since winning this award. The IL Award continues to open further opportunities and I am certainly using this as motivation for new goals and challenges for myself and have recently started in a new role as Information Specialist (Systematic Reviews).”
Barbara Moye, Library Manager, Berkshire Healthcare NHS FT, and Alison Horner Le Riche, Royal Berkshire Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (winners of the Information Literacy Award 2022) reflected:
“Receiving the LILAC Information Literacy award boosted the teams morale [Royal Berkshire Foundation Trust and Berkshire Healthcare] due to the recognition and validation of our work in the health literacy programmes. It was rewarding to be acknowledged for the work we had done supporting young people and their understanding of health and gave us the confidence to get it embedded in the HealthCare Support Worker programme. It affirmed that as Library and Knowledge professionals we are experts in our field, both within the Trust and externally. Additionally, it raised the profiles of both library services and helped with inclusion in the ICS (Integrated Care System) discussions about digital literacy across the region and to approach the public libraries to offer training and promote health information, together with requests for input on other projects.”
Paul Cave, Digital Education Manager, University of Leeds (winner of the Digital Award for Information Literacy 2022 – Step Up to Masters project team) says:
“Winning the Digital Award for Information Literacy was incredibly important in recognising the work to support masters students in their transition to postgraduate study undertaken by the University, the Library and the project team responsible for creating and designing Step Up to Masters. The award also helped raise awareness of the package of associated transition resources produced by the Library aimed at undergraduates, providing a reputational benefit for the University. I referenced the award in my successful application for senior fellowship of Advance HE and was inspired to apply for further awards after moving to a more senior role in the institution, winning three, including the prestigious ALT Award for Digital Transformation.”
You can find more information about the criteria for nominations and the nomination process on the LILAC website. We look forward to receiving your nominations in the new year!
The LILAC Committee