A story of primary & secondary sources
Opening up the research process
Victoria Smyth, DCU Library

The Letter
https://arcg.is/KuqzP
16 Aug 1938
Discusses accuracy of
place names associated
with 6th century Battle of
Dún Bolg, and events
leading up to it

ACRL (ALA) Framework for information literacy for higher education (2016)
6 core concepts central to information literacy:
Authority is constructed and contextual
Information creation as a process
Information has value
Research as inquiry
Scholarship as conversation
Searching as strategic exploration

ACRL (ALA) Framework for information literacy for higher education (2016)
Research as inquiry
❏ A process that focuses on unresolved problems or questions
❏ Recognition of collaborative effort to extend knowledge in a field
❏ Points of disagreement where debate and dialogue work to deepen the conversations
around knowledge

ACRL (ALA) Framework for information literacy for higher education (2016)
Scholarship as conversation
❏ Discursive practice in which ideas are formulated, debated and weighed against one
another over extended periods
❏ Understanding that a given issue may be characterised by competing perspectives as part
of an ongoing conversation
❏ A query may not have a single uncontested answer; so seek out many perspectives
❏ Developing familiarity with the sources of evidence, methods, and modes of discourse in
the field assists novice learners to enter the conversation
❏ Attribution to relevant previous research an obligation of participation in the conversation

IL themes emerging...
Letter
Reads like a literature review
Critically considers multiple sources
➔primary and secondary
◆ Some conflicting
(CONUL ACIL, 2013)

Scrollytelling | Visual narrative
Emerged as a concept in journalism
‘Presenting complex issues using multimedia content’
Less clicking, more (vertical) scrolling
(Seyser and Zeiller, 2018)

Building blocks in storytelling (Sammer and Heppel, 2015)
Central character
Conflict
Meaningful motive
Viral approach
Emotional narration
Author(s) of the story
Battle of Dún Bolg &
Conflicting sources
Historical and
topographical detail &
place name accuracy
Letter to Henry Morris
& other research
outputs
Eóin Mac Néill,
Researcher
Core concepts in IL,
engagement; Also:
mapping data
Battle of Dún Bolg &
Conflicting sources
Shared story map
Eóin Mac Néill Us

‘According to the ancient historical
tract called the Borumha-Laighean,
this Cumascach set out on his royal,
free-quarter, juvenile visitation of
Ireland, on which he was resolved to
have the wife of every king or
chieftain in Ireland for a night! He
first set out for Leinster, (O’Donovan,
1854, p. 216)’
(O’Donovan, 1854, pp. 216-220)

Challenges
Risk of overtaxing (Seyser and Zeiller, 2018) |
overwhelming (Fulda, 2018)
Conflict between support and obstruct
No style guide for this kind of content
Message is universal but hard to get beyond case study
Audience - Who is this for?

Opportunities
Creativity
Exposing unseen material | repurposing
Some open source options for digital storytelling:
Omeka
Scalar
Twine
Nodegoat
(ACRL, 2019)

https://arcg.is/KuqzP

References
Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) (2016) Framework for information literacy for higher education.
Available at: http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework (Accessed: 30 October 2019).
Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) (2019) Primary sources beyond history: promoting use across the
disciplines [Webinar]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXUb1YSOQPY&feature=youtu.be (Accessed: 30
October 2019).
CONUL Advisory Committee on Information Literacy (ACIL) (2013) Integrating information literacy into the curriculum.
Available at: http://www.conul.ie/media/Complete-Guide.pdf (Accessed: 30 October 2019).
Fulda, J. (2018) 'Interactivity to the rescue', in Hahn, O. and Stalph, F. (eds.) Digital investigative journalism: data, visual
analytics and innovative methodologies in international reporting. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 123-135.
Mac Néill, E. (1938) Letter to Henry Morris, 16 August.
Sammer, P. and Heppel, U. (2015) Visual storytelling: visuelles Erzaehlen in PR und Marketing. Heidelberg: O'Reilly Verlag.
Seyser, D. and Zeiller, M. (2018) 'Scrollytelling - an analysis of visual storytelling in online journalism', Proceedings of the
22nd international conference on information visualisation, Fisciano, 10-13 July. 401-406. doi:
https://doi.org/10.1109/iV.2018.00075.
LaFayette Ltd. (1920-1929) Photograph of Eóin Mac Néill half length studio portrait addressing a meeting. Doi:
http://dx.doi.org/10.7925/drs1.ucdlib_30861.