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Alison Hicks

@alisonhicks0.bsky.social

500 followers 75 following 71 posts

Associate Professor, Library and Information Studies @ucldis. Editor in Chief @jinfolit. information literacy researcher | european | she/hers/ella

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Alison Hicks @alisonhicks0.bsky.social · May 12

Happy publication day to me! My monograph, Risk-Informed Information Practice: Ways of Knowing in an Uncertain World is published open access in Routledge’s Global Perspectives on Library and Information Science series, today (Paperback, Hardback also available…) www.routledge.com/Risk-Informe...

Risk-Informed Information Practice: Ways of Knowing in an Uncertain World

How do people become informed about risk and why is this important? This book draws upon three case studies to interrogate risk’s informational thread, including how people map and orient themselves t...

www.routledge.com

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Reposted by Alison Hicks

Jess @bookelf.bsky.social · 3d

Have an interest in Information Literacy and want to get started in academic publishing? JIL is looking for Associate Editors! journals.cilip.org.uk/jil/announce... this is a great opportunity to be mentored by Alison, and to see the inner workings of journals and research.

The Journal of Information Literacy seeks 3-5 Associate Editors to co-manage the content, quality, and direction of the journal. | Journal of Information Literacy

journals.cilip.org.uk

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Alison Hicks @alisonhicks0.bsky.social · Aug 22

The Journal of Information Literacy has announced a new special issue on information literacy and censorship- please consider submitting your work! Given political tensions, we will be permitting pseudonymous submissions. Please contact me or @bookelf.bsky.social with questions- DMs open!

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Reposted by Alison Hicks

Jess @bookelf.bsky.social · Aug 22

EXCITING THINGS ARE AFOOT (Check your LIS-LINK).

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Reposted by Alison Hicks

Dr Beth @drbeth.bsky.social · Aug 19

Seminar 2 of the LIS Research Seminar Series is now confirmed. Come and hear @patchedelbows.bsky.social talk about his brilliant research on HE librarians & social class. Some of you probably even contributed 😉

cassyni.com/series/KVXBf...

Cassyni | Science starts with a seminar

Seamlessly organise, run and publish academic research seminars. Get started in minutes.

cassyni.com

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Alison Hicks @alisonhicks0.bsky.social · Jul 22

or the toll that the reconfiguration of professional work is having on core functions and long-term viability. Part of my wider project exploring information literacy and censorship, the paper is available free and open access in the journal of librarianship and information science!

Alison Hicks @alisonhicks0.bsky.social · Jul 22

Given that censorship creates legal, financial and employment risks for school librarians + risks to young people (eg driving reading into unregulated online spaces), I argue that framing the work of school librarians in terms of risk uncovers the hidden costs of censorship…

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Alison Hicks @alisonhicks0.bsky.social · Jul 22

New paper alert! ‘Shelves under siege: School librarians as (temporary?) risk workers’, uses the concept of risk work to explore the impact that the risks of censorship are having on professional school librarianship journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Shelves under siege: School librarians as (temporary?) risk workers - Alison Hicks, 2025

Book-banning and censorship attempts are becoming increasingly prominent within UK school libraries. Creating legal and financial risk for school librarians, at...

journals.sagepub.com

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Reposted by Alison Hicks, Nancy Foasberg

Alice Cann @alicecann.bsky.social · Jul 22

Just read this - it was shared on LinkedIn. ‘To my users, “we couldn’t generate an answer for your question” translates to “your topic is not worthy of pursuing—change it.”’ While it’s nice to think that students will come & ask when they don’t find results, many won’t.

And the blocking of content…

“We Couldn’t Generate an Answer for your Question” - ACRLog

Editor’s note: We welcome a guest blog post from Jay Singley, Document Delivery and Circulation Desk Manager at North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics. In March 2025, Ex Libris unveiled thei...

acrlog.org

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Reposted by Alison Hicks

Index on Censorship @indexoncensorship.org · Jul 8

"It’s never been more important for us to ensure that libraries have the resources and support to create and defend diverse collections" Read @katiedd.bsky.social’s response to Reform’s attack on books:
bylinetimes.com/2025/07/08/r...

Reform UK's 'Children's Book Bans' Could Open The Floodgates for Censorship

The party that claims to champion "free speech" is now trying to crack down on books whose messages they disagree with, reports Katie Dancey-Downs

bylinetimes.com

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Reposted by Alison Hicks

victoriarend.bsky.social @victoriarend.bsky.social · Jul 7

Calling all the UK public library workers! 📚 Seeking participants for UCL MA Library and Information Studies research project

#LibraryScience #Libraries #LibraryLife #LIS #LibraryTwitter
#LibTech #UCL #EDI #Librarians #LibraryStaff #CulturalHeritage #PublicLibraries #Research

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Reposted by Alison Hicks

Holly Casio @hollycasio.bsky.social · Jul 7

Did you know that although Section 28 was repealed in 2003, Kent County Council was the only council in England which voted to uphold their own version of section 28 all the way up until 2010. Way before Reform existed.

4 panel watercolour comic.
Panel 1. The caption reads 'Last week Reform councilors claimed to be removing trans books across Kent's 99 libraries'. The panel shows Reform councilors Paul Webb and Linden Kemkaran with a speech bubble that says "A victory for common sense in Kent!

Panel 2. The caption reads 'No books have been removed, no policy implemented, but Kent County Council doubled down with this statement. '. The panel shows a mobile phone view of the KCC library Instagram page. Underneath the latest post the library has written the following statement: "Kent County Council have confirmed that children are not and will not be exposed to trans adult literature in our libraries...including in public welcome displays."

Panel 3. Panel shows someone in a Hazmat suit and gloves and boots holding a book. The text reads: "Exposed" because just like all centres of moral panics, trans is a contagion."

Panel 4. Panel shows a copy of the book The Autistic Trans Guide to Life. Arrows point at the book with accompanying labels: 'This book will trans you.' 'The front cover will make you change your pronouns.' 'Free hormones for every reader. '

Panel 5. The caption reads 'So there will be no more adult literature in public welcome displays.' underneath are illustrations of 4 books: 'Elon Musk autobiography. How to influence elections and destroy everything.' 'Military stuff and war is cool'. 'How to diet and hate your body because being fat is bad.' and 'Jolly Cooper's Rich Shaggers.' The caption continues 'Does this apply to all books which might corrupt and pervert young minds?'.

Panel 6. Panel shows a library shelves cordoned off with hazard tape and a sign which reads 'Do not enter these books might trans you.' The caption reads 'Will young people be prevented from reading beyond their age level?'

Panel 7. Panel shows a group of library protestors holding signs which say 'Save our library's and 'Keep Folkestone library open ' The caption reads 'How are Kent libraries which are underfunded, understaffed, and under-resourced meant to police this contagion?'

Panel 8 Shows two people talking. The first person is a white woman saying "I voted Reform to stop the boats." The second person is me saying "You also voted to stop children from reading."

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Reposted by Alison Hicks

Katie Dancey-Downs @katiedd.bsky.social · Jul 4

Monday: The House of Lords debates my @indexoncensorship.org investigation into UK school library censorship, showing overwhelming support for freedom to read.

Friday: Kent's Reform council bans books with transgender topics in all of its 99 libraries and 5 library vans. Based on one complaint.

Kent council bans transgender books in children’s library section

KCC says the move came after a

www.bbc.co.uk

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Reposted by Alison Hicks

The School Library Association @sla.org.uk · Jun 30

Amazing to see this conversation unfold in the @houseoflords.parliament.uk today. It is great to see the recognition for the SLA and the work we do advising on #schoollibrary provision 👉 bit.ly/3Gqs5yL

Watch from 14:47:09 - Index on Censorship and School Libraries

#uksla #schoollibraryassociation

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Alison Hicks @alisonhicks0.bsky.social · Jun 6

We do this at @jinfolit.bsky.social in the editorial- will see if we can integrate into the PDF too!

Reposted by Alison Hicks

Times Higher Education (THE) @timeshighered.bsky.social · Jun 5

‪Restrictions to US databases and scholarly work mean that researchers need new approaches to navigate research absences and silences rather than the more typical information overload, writes @alisonhicks0.bsky.social‬: www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/strat... #AcademicSky #EduSky

Strategic silencing: how censorship is reshaping scholarly discourse

Restrictions to US databases and scholarly work mean that researchers need new approaches to navigate research absences and silences rather than the more typical information overload, writes Alison Hi...

www.timeshighereducation.com

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Alison Hicks @alisonhicks0.bsky.social · Jun 5

Oh, I’m so pleased, Lauren- thanks for letting me know!

Reposted by Eamon Tewell

Alison Hicks @alisonhicks0.bsky.social · Jun 5

Hey IL folks! If you thought censorship was just impacting school librarians, take a look at my new article in @timeshighered.bsky.social exploring what challenges to intellectual freedom mean for HE teaching librarians, too. How do we shift our work from overload to absence?

Katherine Stiles @katherinestiles.org · Jun 5

“The substantial challenges that authoritarian ideology poses to knowledge exchange mean that researchers must be prepared to safeguard their commitment to empirical insight.”

🖊️ @alisonhicks0.bsky.social via @timeshighered.bsky.social
#US #HigherEducation #AcademicSky #EduSky #Censorship

Strategic silencing: how censorship is reshaping scholarly discourse

www.timeshighereducation.com

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Reposted by Eamon Tewell

Katherine Stiles @katherinestiles.org · Jun 5

Strategic silencing: how censorship is reshaping scholarly discourse

www.timeshighereducation.com

Alison Hicks @alisonhicks0.bsky.social · May 28

Thanks to @ioe.bsky.social library for covering worrying growth in censorship in school libraries in their most recent exhibition! Featuring my research as well as the fabulous work of @katiedd.bsky.social 🙌🏼

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Alison Hicks @alisonhicks0.bsky.social · May 28

I know, right- I was so excited to see this!

Alison Hicks @alisonhicks0.bsky.social · May 28

And watch this space for an upcoming piece from me on the implications of recent attacks on intellectual freedom on information literacy and other academic work and practices…

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Reposted by Alison Hicks

Darren Flynn (he/him/his) @patchedelbows.bsky.social · May 27

*CW Discussion of sensitive themes inc. sexual assault*

#CALC25 Recording no. 2 is up!
This is Heather Barr talking about her research into the information behaviour of survivors of sexual assault. Incredibly important and difficult research.
youtu.be/v4mTCO6PsMs
#CritLit #LibrarySky

Heather Barr -Looking for help: exploring the information behaviour of survivors of sexual assault

YouTube video by CALC Conference

youtu.be

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Alison Hicks @alisonhicks0.bsky.social · May 27

Oh! I actually have questions about this… will DM.

Alison Hicks @alisonhicks0.bsky.social · May 12

I loved writing this book- and to my amazement, I am still as eager to think more about this topic as I was when I started writing, so please do let me know if you want to chat about this topic further! Thanks in advance for downloading, reading and buying for your library!

Alison Hicks @alisonhicks0.bsky.social · May 12

(And I promise that all the other chapters are well worth your while, too…)

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Alison Hicks @alisonhicks0.bsky.social · May 12

If you are interested in book-banning in the UK, head to Chapter 4, which explores how the work of school librarians is changing in the face of censorship challenges. And if methods are your thing (surprisingly understudied in risk research), head to Chapter 7.

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Alison Hicks @alisonhicks0.bsky.social · May 12

If you have never thought about information literacy and risk could be linked, take a look at Chapter 1, which presents my rationale for bringing these two concepts together. If you are an information literacy theory nerd, head to Chapter 6, when I theorise how all these ideas fit together.

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Alison Hicks @alisonhicks0.bsky.social · May 12

Is this book about institutional risk assessment? Nope, I’m more interested in how people use information to establish and manage what is risky to them. Am I a big fan of Ulrich Beck’s risk society thesis? Nope again- this book is a massive chance for me to fangirl over the amazing Mary Douglas :)

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Alison Hicks @alisonhicks0.bsky.social · May 12

Unsurprisingly, for anyone who knows me, the book takes a sociocultural perspective, which means that information literacy refers to how seeking, using, avoiding and creating information supports learning, and risk refers to uncertainty about the outcomes of activity that is of value to someone.

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Alison Hicks @alisonhicks0.bsky.social · May 12

So, what is this book about? In a nutshell, it explores how risk is informed or how people use information to perceive, understand and manage risk. I use three case studies to examine how information literacy supports how people learn how to deal with risk in everyday, academic + professional lives.

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