Law Students’ Information Literacy Skills and Attitudes Towards Environmental Protection and Environmental Legislation

Abstract

AbstractThis paper presents the findings of a small-scale pilot study on law students’ information literacy skills and their ability to find information on environmental protection. Environmental issues are a growing concern today and numerous associations, organizations and individuals are waging an active world preservation campaign. The aim is to demonstrate social responsibility and consideration for future generations by reducing the “ecological footprint.” The aim of the research was to ascertain the law students’ attitudes towards environmental protection and the level of their information literacy skills regarding e-environmental laws and regulations. The survey was conducted in March 2015 on a sample of 110 students. The results show that students are fairly concerned about the protection of the environment but do not feel adequately informed about the issue. Students also believe that Croatia has poor environmental laws and should improve the environmental legislation within the European legal framework. Seventy per cent of the students were ignorant about the law library’s resources on environmental protection and sustainability. This is the first research about the information literacy skills of law students in Croatia regarding green information, the findings of which will serve for preparation of course materials for the credited course on information literacy offered by the library. It is of particular importance for the Osijek Law Faculty library because the library is involved in numerous projects regarding environmental protection (both at the national and the EU level).