Librarians’ Self-Efficacy in Digital Literacy Skills: An Investigation of Librarians Working in Libraries of Government-Aided Colleges in West Bengal

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study aimed to assess digital literacy skills possessed by academic librarians working in government-aided degree colleges in West Bengal, India. An online questionnaire was designed using Google Forms to gather data from 176 academic librarians practicing in government-aided degree colleges in West Bengal. The study revealed that the majority of librarians were assessed to be quite competent in subscribing electronic resources, searching and downloading information from several databases. This study also found that the technological adaptation into library management and services integrates e-mail conversations, uploading documents on online platforms, building digital collections, self-archiving, utilization of social networking sites for marketing library services and digital preservation of the library materials. Library website development skills, indexing electronic resources, ability to apply security firewalls and protecting the intellectual property were indicated as average and poor. This is the first study to assess the digital literacy skills of academic librarians working in government-aided degree colleges in West Bengal. The findings may be useful to develop strategies to acquire competent digital skills of LIS professionals.