Personal knowledge and information management – conception and exemplification

Abstract

Personal knowledge and information management (PKIM) as an integrated approach of three concepts – personal knowledge management, personal information management and information literacy – is an appropriate and comprehensive approach to these issues with overlapping and supplementary areas of interests. The theoretical basis and results of pioneering empirical studies in the PKIM field, carried out in an academic environment, are presented in this exploratory study. The development and validation of the PKIM scale are characterized. An analysis of the subject literature, discussions with experts and students, and statistical methods used in creation of the PKIM scale, which is an original instrument for measuring a self-assessment of knowledge and information skills of students, are reported. The PKIM self-assessment of Polish students of information science majors and related specializations was high, but not as high as expected. Master’s students reported higher level of PKIM self-assessment than Bachelor’s students.