Information Literacy Course – The Perception of Students and Professors: University of Zadar Case

Abstract

Since the academic year 2011/12 University of Zadar’s Department of Information Sciences and the University library have jointly organized an elective course - Information Literacy. The purpose of this research was to examine students’ and professors’ opinions concerning the information literacy competencies represented in the Information Literacy course curriculum, and the possibility of future collaboration between professors and librarians to help students gain information literacy competencies in the context of subject courses. Students and professors from different departments participated in the surveys and interviews. The results show that both the professors and the students are aware of the students’ insufficient competencies and that the professors consider these competencies to be important. The students believe that the Information Literacy course could help them with their coursework. The professors are willing to collaborate with librarians in order to improve their own courses. It can be concluded that the Information Literacy course itself is insufficient - but can be a significant first step in developing cooperative programs of information literacy education.