Project K is a youth development programme that targets young people aged 14Á15 years with low self-efficacy. It is run by the Foundation for Youth Development. Story-telling style interviews that asked participants to imagine themselves in a reality television show with different 'episodes' were conducted with six Maori Project K participants on the effectiveness of the programme and if and how it works with Maori 'as Maori'. Results suggested the programme used graded mastery, team work and fun to produce positive outcomes. It also had high expectations of participants, coupled with intense support. Participants described the programme as not particularly attending to them 'as Maori', which they generally viewed positively. A workshop was held with key programme staff to analyse the results and formulate an action plan to address areas for improvement. Implications for other programmes that involve indigenous youth are outlined.

Though definitions of Information Literacy (IL) vary, there is consensus in the literature that it is one coherent variable or measurable construct so important it has been called a human right (Sturges & Gastinger, 2010). This paper reviews existing IL measures, treating them as psychometric tests, aiming to address two questions: do existing IL tests sufficiently meet the needs of researchers and what do the tests tell us about whether or not there truly is a single variable identifiable as IL?   Existing instruments for testing IL will be assessed. Only validated, freely available, testing instruments are considered. All of the current IL tests of this type are context bound to education, and are often domain-specific. These are only useful for researchers looking to assess these particular populations. However, if IL is a human right it ought to be a construct that exists across all human populations. The context and domain specificity of existing IL tests is therefore surprising; it implies that IL is something specific to higher education, not a factor in the population at large.   This paper therefore argues for a need to develop validated testing instruments for IL that are context and domain independent and made freely available. The review of IL tests will benefit researchers looking to investigate IL. The broader argument of this paper aims to be of interest to a wider library and information science audience seeking to understand whether IL is indeed a coherent singular construct.

The OTIL is a new information literacy (IL) test, designed to be flexible and adjustable for use across a variety of contexts where IL is important. This paper discusses the development and face validation of OTIL and a Higher Education (HE) add-on that can be used to make the test HE specific. OTIL was developed in line with the new CILIP (2018) definition. It is comprised of a core set of general IL questions which can be combined with context-specific add-on question sets. Categories of IL form a template that can be used for additional question creation. Additionally, we have developed add-on questions for HE which do not contain in-built specificities to domain, region or institution in order to permit for IL research across different universities. The OTIL is designed for longitudinal research, with three The Development and Face Validity Testing of OTIL 2

Reading fiction has been associated with improved social and imaginative reasoning that could lead to improved critical thinking. This observational study investigated the relationship between fiction and nonfiction exposure, narrative transportation, and factors of critical thinking (critical thinking disposition, and epistemological orientation). Self-selecting participants (N = 335) completed an online survey including an author recognition test and self-report scales. Fiction scores were significantly associated with higher critical thinking disposition, while nonfiction had an inverse effect correlating with lower disposition. Fiction reading was associated with decreased absolutism, and nonfiction score conversely with higher absolutism. Total and nonfiction print exposure were associated with lower multiplism, with no significant association for fiction. Total and fiction print exposure were associated with higher evaluativism, with no significant association for nonfiction. Narrative transportation mediated some of these relationships. These findings provide a basis for further research into reading fiction and nonfiction, and critical thinking.

This study investigated readers’ experiences of critical thinking and reading, comparing fiction and nonfiction. As previous research has shown links between fiction reading and increased social and cognitive capacities, and such capacities are argued to be necessary for critical thinking, this study sought to explore a potentially unique relationship between reading fiction and critical thinking, as distinct from nonfiction. In depth interviews were conducted with participants who self-identified as readers ( N = 12). Each reader was interviewed twice, first in a general discussion of their reading and critical thinking experiences, and secondly with reference to a text they selected to read. An open, iterative coding process yielded 10 codes from the data, forming five categories. These show links between reading experiences and critical thinking, the integration of critical thought into the reading experience through transportation into the text, and also differentiate fiction from nonfiction influences. Nonfiction was valued for its directness, assessable authorship, and questioning. Fiction was found to uniquely drive critical evaluations through the subtle and circuitous way it presented ideas, its complication of veracity, as well as giving rich and deep understandings of the real world. These findings suggest fiction reading experiences are connected with critical thinking in ways distinct to nonfiction, and as such could be an avenue for promoting critical thinking across society through public library provision.