Information-seeking Skills Research Articles

54: EVALUATING THE EXTENT OF AJUMS LIBRARIANS AWARENESS AND ATTITUDE TOWARD EBL

Background and aims:evidence-based librarianship (EBL) is the incorporation of scientific research into the professional practices of librarianship. In other words, EBL attempts to apply the best existing evidence topromotelibrary services...

5: A SURVEY ON INFORMATION DERIVATION TECHNIQUES OF POST-GRADUATE STUDENT OF TABRIZ UNIVERSITY OF MEDICAL SCIENCE IN 2015

Background and aims:The purpose of this study was to identify the information derivation techniques of medical and allied health sciences' postgraduate students.Methods:The study was a cross sectional descriptive survey. The...

Abstract A14: Digital health information access among Asian Americans

Abstract Background Access to health information is essential to patient-centered healthcare. Healthy People 2020 recommended three key strategies for improving health outcomes and narrowing health disparities. One of the key strategies is to provide equitable access to health information. Digital technology holds great promise in helping to reduce health disparities. In fact, recent studies indicate that the “digital divide” is narrowing between racial/ethnic minorities and the general population. The question remains, however, on whether or not all groups have equal access to digital health information. Asian Americans (AAs) are the fastest growing minority group in the U.S. More than 65% of AAs are foreign-born, and greater than 30% have limited English proficiency. Non-English speaking AAs were not specifically targeted in previous digital technology ownership and usage surveys. However, such information is important to ensure equal access to digital cancer control information and other health information. Objective The purpose of this study was to examine (1) the most common channels that AA immigrants use to obtain health information, and (2) factors predicting the ownership and usage of computers, as well as the use of the Internet to obtain health information. Methods This study used a cross-sectional design and quota sampling. Participants were recruited through seven community-based organizations and from six Asian subgroups (Cambodian, Chinese, Filipinos, Korean, Laotian, South Asians and Vietnamese) . Participants were asked where they usually received helpful health information. They were also asked whether they had a computer at home and knew how to use it, as well as whether they used the Internet to obtain health information. Surveys were conducted in participants' native language. Only data from participants who were foreign-born were used in the statistical analysis. Results 403 participants completed the survey and 395 (98%) were foreign-born. 49% had family income <$20,000/year, 36% had <9 years of education, 45% reported less than average English proficiency. 26% were less than 50 years old (mean age = 56). 27% in the U.S. less than 10 years (mean years = 20). Overall, 78% of participants had a computer at home and 65% knew how to use it. However, only 14% of participants who did not have a computer at home knew how to use a computer. The most common channels to obtain helpful health information were: doctor (61%), family (38%), friends (37%), newspaper (32%), Internet (30%), ethnic television (29%), and community events (25%). However, there were significant differences across AA subgroups. 29% participants whose family income <$20,000/year did not have a computer at home, compared to 5% of participants whose family income >$20,000/year (p <.0005). Nearly half of the participants (47%) whose family income <$20,000 did not know how to use a computer, compared to only 14% participants whose family income >$20,000/year (p < .0005). Participants who did not have a computer at home were less likely to use the Internet for health information (OR = 0.14, 95%CI: .06-.33, p <.0005), so did participants who did not know how to use a computer (OR=.14, 95%CI: .08-.27, p <.0005). Participants who had less than average English proficiency were less likely to use the Internet to obtain health information (OR=.36, 95%CI: .23-.29, p <.0005), so did participant who had less than 12 years of education (OR=24, 95%CI: .11-.54, p =.001). Conclusion Despite a narrowing racial/ethnic “digital divide”, disparities still exist, particularly among Asian immigrants with low social economic status, less years of education and limited English proficiency. New interventions are needed to target underserved AA subpopulations and help them to gain access to digital health information and develop information seeking skills. Citation Format: Helen Lam, Michael Quinn, Edwin Chandrasekar, Karen Kim. Digital health information access among Asian Americans. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Ninth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2016 Sep 25-28; Fort Lauderdale, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2017;26(2 Suppl):Abstract nr A14.

Measuring Psychology Students’ Information-Seeking Skills in a Situational Judgment Test Format

Abstract. Three studies were conducted to develop a test for academic information-seeking skills in psychology students that measures both procedural and declarative aspects of the concept. A skill decomposition breaking down information-seeking into 10 sub skills was used to create a situational judgment test with 22 items. A scoring key was developed based on expert ratings (N = 14). Subsequently, the test was administered to two samples of N = 78 and N = 81 psychology students. Within the first sample, the scale reached an internal consistency (Cronbach’s Alpha) of α = .75. Scale validity was investigated with data from the second sample. High correlations between the scale and two different information search tasks (r = .42 to .64; p < .001) as well as a declarative information literacy test (r = .51; p < .001) were found. The findings are discussed with regard to their implications for research and practice.

What are parents' perspectives on psychological empowerment in the MMR vaccination decision? A focus group study

ObjectivesMost developed countries do not have compulsory immunisation requirements, but instead issue recommendations. Although parents are expected to make an informed, autonomous (ie, empowered) decision regarding their children's vaccinations, there...

Conceptions of scientific knowledge influence learning of academic skills: epistemic beliefs and the efficacy of information literacy instruction

The present article investigates the effects of epistemic beliefs (i.e. beliefs about the nature of knowledge and knowing) on the effectiveness of information literacy instruction (i.e. instruction on how to search for scholarly information in academic settings). We expected psychology students with less sophisticated beliefs (especially multiplicistic students viewing psychological knowledge as inherently subjective) not to recognize the value of differentiated information searches and of the respective instructional courses. In a first intervention study with 67 psychology students, multiplicism was shown to reduce information-seeking skills students gain throughout the intervention. In a second intervention study with 64 psychology students, students with higher multiplicistic beliefs subjectively benefited less from the information searches carried out during instruction (in terms of reduced increases in subjective topic-specific knowledge). In conclusion, we recommend including elements from epistemic belief instruction into information literacy instruction.

Assessment of Pre and Final Year Undergraduate Veterinary Students Information Literacy Competencies and Attitude towards e-Learning

The study was conducted to assess the information literacy competencies of pre and final year undergraduate v eterinary students and their attitude towards e-learning. The 120 pre-final and final year v eterinary students studying at Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana were selected randomly and data was collected with the help of a structural q uestionnaire consisting of 25 items with respect to concept identification, search strategy, document types, search tools, use of results and e-learning. The study revealed that only 12.5% of the veterinary students belonged to high knowledge level category whereas majority of them 68.3% (P<0.01) possessed low knowledge towards information literacy competencies. A high percentage of v eterinary students lacked the necessary knowledge and skills to identify main concept and significance of words (52.5%), to opt appropriate search strategy (83.1%), to select req uired document types (42.1%), to utilize efficient search tools (73.8%) and to evaluate and use results (68.8%). Only 18.3% students had ability to use computer as experts. About 62.5% respondents used search engines as e-learning tool. About 87.9 and 89.7% male and female respondents possessed fav ourable attitude towards use of e-learning tools. Gender and OCPA had no significant association with knowledge lev el as well as e-learning attitude of veterinary students. The study revealed notable gaps among students towards information literacy competencies and e-learning, hence, teaching of credit bearing Information L iteracy courses is imperative to enhance undergraduate veterinary students ’knowledge and information seeking skills.

A qualitative study of older adults seeking appropriate treatment to self-manage their chronic pain in rural North-East Thailand.

BackgroundMany older adults suffer from chronic pain which decreases their functional capacity and reduces quality of life. Health behaviours and self-care during chronic illness and chronic pain can exert an important influence on health outcomes. The aims of this study were to (a) understand how older adult Thai individuals seek appropriate treatment to self-manage their chronic pain, and (b) to identify factors that contribute to effective pain self-management.MethodsQualitative interviews were conducted with 32 older adults living in villages in north-east Thailand. Observations were also conducted with consenting individuals. Most interviews were audio-recorded and transcripts were coded and analysed using a grounded theory approach.ResultsSix contextual determinants affected the way participants choose to self-manage their chronic pain, including: priority accorded to pain management; information and resource seeking skills; critical appraisal skills; access to pain-related information; access to treatment; and satisfaction and preferences for practitioners. Participants used several strategies to inform and develop their self-management plans: accessing and responding to information, sourcing resources, trial and error, evaluating treatment and evaluating practitioners.ConclusionsAttempts to increase accessibility, affordability and acceptability of pain treatment can promote pain self-management in older Thais. These findings have important implications for health professionals and government organisations seeking to enhance the self-management of pain and quality of life in this population.

Just in case, just in time, or just don't bother? Assessment of one-shot library instruction with follow-up workshops

This article examines if the timing of library instruction courses is an important part of how students experience library instruction as a means of developing information literacy skills. Two student groups, belonging to different academic subjects, have received the same training and the same assessment questionnaire afterwards. One of the groups was in the middle of writing their student thesis as a part of their final year of their bachelor degree work, the other group consisted of different subjects within the humanities and they were not working specifically with an assignment. Research shows that student’s information seeking skills have not significantly changed over the last some 25 years. One may argue that information literacy skills are so practical that they cannot be taught in a classroom with a theoretical approach. One may also wonder how timing of library instruction affects the learning outcome for students.

An examination of information literacy instruction on the information-seeking skills of primary school children in Jamaica

This article outlines an assessment of the impact of information literacy (IL) instruction on grade six students’ information-seeking skills. It was the view of the researcher that if students were actively taught IL at the early stages of their natural and cognitive development, they would acquire skills that would not only be fruitful but life-changing. The quasi-experimental method was used in carrying out this research. The findings presented were those of a pre-test and then a post-test done after intense IL instructions were given to grade six students (children aged 11-12 years). The results showed that there were marked improvements in the quasi-experimental group’s use of reference resources and in their overall research skills. The recommendation is made that greater emphasis should be placed on IL instruction at the primary level in Jamaica in order for students to be more efficient information-seekers as they move up the education system within the country.

Tacit Information Literacies in Beginning College Students: Research Pedagogy in Geography

Whereas instruction on how to conduct original research can build on beginning college students' tacit information literacies, the explicit articulation of existing processes for information gathering is rarely elicited by instructors prior to students' submission of a final research paper. In this essay, authors Nicholas Bauch and Christina Sheldon introduce surf maps and concept ladders as potential assignments to guide beginning college students in producing original scholarship in their Cultural Geography course. They find that these tools help novice researchers realize their information-seeking patterns and skills as well as potential gaps in their current practices. For students, a key outcome of harnessing their tacit information literacies is that it offers broader disciplinary relevance to their research projects, introducing them to the complexities of making claims and, most generally, the production of knowledge. For educators, identifying students' tacit information-seeking skills and shortcomings helps in the creation of assignments that further advance students' research skills.

Executive MBA Students’ Information Skills and Knowledge: Discovering the Difference Between Work and Academics

This study explores Executive MBA (EMBA) students’ information-seeking skills and knowledge in academic and workplace environments to improve on library instruction. The authors’ research consisted of a survey and 12 qualitative interviews, sampled from two University of New Mexico EMBA cohorts. The themes that emerged included EMBA's specific skills and knowledge of their own industry's information, difficulty in finding new information, several barriers, and lack of transferability. By discussing adult learning theory and focusing on transferability, we can help students acknowledge and transfer their information skills and knowledge between academics and work.

Training Needs of School Librarians in India

In India situation of schools, school libraries, and school librarians is in a poor condition as compared to other advanced countries in the world. Most of the schools do not have libraries, and wherever libraries are available, the properly trained manpower is not available to manage those libraries. There are many reasons for this problem including budget, space, resources, manpower, lack of national policies, and standards. One of the problems is lack of proper training to school librarians in Indian library school. The paper reviews the need for school library, UNESCO manifestation of school library, national and international scenarios, school library standards & guidelines, roles, and responsibility of school librarians, and impact of school libraries on students, and teachers. The school library plays an important role on the overall development of the students to transform them into knowledgeable persons. Their reading skills, information seeking skills, and the knowledge about the library resources can be improved due to the school library and the school librarian. So, the need for professionally trained manpower to man these libraries is also discussed. DESIDOC Journal of Library & Information Technology , 2014, 33(5), pp. 367-377. http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/djlit.33.5100

Distance Learners' Self-efficacy and Information Literacy Skills

This study investigates distance learners' information literacy skills in using digital library resources and the factors (online learning and information manipulation) that correlate with learners' information seeking self-efficacy. In addition, distance learners' preferences with regard to digital resources selection and interests of developing information seeking skills were examined. 3517 students enrolled in one or more distance education courses were invited to participate in the online survey; 219 students completed the survey, for a response rate of 6.2%. The results revealed that distance learners who have higher self-efficacy for information seeking and proficiency in information manipulation exhibited higher self-efficacy for online learning. Moreover, students with high self-efficacy demonstrated superior knowledge of digital resources selection. Students who have low self-efficacy with regard to information seeking were more likely to express interest in learning how to use the library resources, although learning techniques for database searching was the exception.

Measuring Health Literacy Regarding Infectious Respiratory Diseases: A New Skills-Based Instrument

BackgroundThere is no special instrument to measure skills-based health literacy where it concerns infectious respiratory diseases. This study aimed to explore and evaluate a new skills-based instrument on health literacy regarding respiratory infectious diseases.MethodsThis instrument was designed to measure not only an individual’s reading and numeracy ability, but also their oral communication ability and their ability to use the internet to seek information. Sixteen stimuli materials were selected to enable measurement of the skills, which were sourced from the WHO, China CDC, and Chinese Center of Health Education. The information involved the distribution of epidemics, immunization programs, early symptoms, means of disease prevention, individual’s preventative behavior, use of medications and thermometers, treatment plans and the location of hospitals. Multi-stage stratified cluster sampling was employed to collect participants. Psychometric properties were used to evaluate the reliability and validity of the instrument.ResultsThe overall degree of difficulty and discrimination of the instrument were 0.693 and 0.482 respectively. The instrument demonstrated good internal consistency reliability with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.864. As for validity, six factors were extracted from 30 items, which together explained 47.3% of the instrument’s variance. And based on confirmatory factor analysis, the items were grouped into five subscales representing prose, document, quantitative, oral and internet based information seeking skills (χ2 = 9.200, P>0.05, GFI = 0.998, TLI = 0.988, AGFI = 0.992, RMSEA = 0.028).ConclusionThe new instrument has good reliability and validity, and it could be used to assess the health literacy regarding respiratory infectious disease status of different groups.

The associations between health literacy, reasons for seeking health information, and information sources utilized by Taiwanese adults

Objective: To determine the associations between health literacy, the reasons for seeking health information, and the information sources utilized by Taiwanese adults. Method: A cross-sectional survey of 752 adults residing in rural and urban areas of Taiwan was conducted via questionnaires. Chi-squared tests and logistic regression were used for data analysis. Results: Health literacy was found to be lower among adults who were older, with lower educational attainment, with lower household income, with blue-collar occupation, and living in rural areas. After socio-demographic characteristics were controlled for, adults with adequate health literacy were significantly more likely than adults with inadequate or marginal health literacy to report desires for health-related information, autonomous medical decision making, and finding information on their own, as reasons for seeking health information. Adults with inadequate or marginal health literacy were more likely to cite recommendations from medical professionals and hesitation to ask medical professionals questions as their reasons for seeking health information. Adults with adequate health literacy were significantly more likely than those with inadequate or marginal health literacy to obtain health information from the Internet, books, newspapers, and magazines, and were less likely to seek health information from alternative care providers. Conclusion: The findings suggest the need to consider target groups’ health literacy when developing health education programmes. More attention must be focused on providing interventions that motivate information seeking and improve information-seeking skills for adults with limited health literacy.

Patterns of Undergraduates' Use of Scholarly Databases in a Large Research University

Authentication data was utilized to explore undergraduate usage of subscription electronic databases. These usage patterns were linked to the information literacy curriculum of the library. The data showed that out of the 26,208 enrolled undergraduate students, 42% of them accessed a scholarly database at least once in the course of the entire semester. Despite their higher levels of learning and expected sophistication in information seeking skills, juniors and seniors used databases proportionately less than freshmen and sophomores. The University Library conducts a variety of introductory seminars that introduce freshmen to databases in the Fall semester. There was no evidence that this momentum is sustained in the subsequent years when higher-level more sophisticated skills are needed.

Thinking in the Digital Era: A Revised Model for Digital Literacy

Introduction The proliferation of technologies during the digital era confronts individuals with situations that require the utilization of an ever-growing assortment of technical, cognitive, and sociological skills that are necessary in order to perform effectively in digital environments. These skills are termed in literature 'digital literacy' (Buckingham, 2003; Gilster, 1997; Hargittai, 2008; Lankshear & Knobel, 2008). As pointed out by Bawden (2001), digital literacy is more than just the technical ability to operate digital devices properly; it comprises a variety of skills that are utilized in executing tasks in digital environments, such as constructing knowledge during surfing the web, deciphering user interfaces, playing digital games, searching in databases, creating and sharing content on the web, chatting in chat rooms and communicating in social networks (Hargittai, 2008; Jones-Kavalier & Flannigan, 2006). In the modern era, digital literacy has become a survival skill--a key that helps users to work intuitively in executing complex digital tasks. In recent years, extensive efforts are made to describe and conceptualize the cognitive skills that users employ in digital environments (e.g., Hargittai, 2008; Marsh, 2005). Unfortunately, these efforts are usually local, focusing on a selected and limited variety of skills, mainly information-seeking skills (e.g., Bawden, 2008; Lankshear & Knobel, 2008; Zins, 2000), and, therefore, they do not cover the full scope of the term digital literacy. Eshet-Alkalai (2004) has established a holistic conceptual model for digital literacy, arguing that it covers most of the cognitive skills that users and scholars employ while working in digital environments and, therefore, providing researchers and designers of digital environments with a powerful framework and design guidelines. This framework was derived from the analysis of large volumes of empirical and qualitative data regarding the behavior of users in digital environments and was studied empirically by Eshet and Amichai-Hamburger (2004), who tested the performance of different groups of computer users with tasks that require the utilization of different digital skills. The publication of Eshet-Alkalai's model of digital literacy has led to an extensive debate within the community of instructional technology designers, researchers and educators, as to its validity and completeness. This debate (Aviram & Eshet, 2006) confirmed the validity and value of the model, but indicated that it lacked a sixth thinking skill: the Real-time thinking skill, which relates to the ability of users to perform effectively in advanced digital environments, mainly high-tech machines, multimedia games and multimedia training environments, that require the user to process simultaneously large volumes of stimuli which appear in real-time and at high-speed. The present paper presents an updated version of the holistic model of Eshet-Alkalai (2004). The real-time thinking skill is added to the model and its value in refining our understanding of how people interact with digital environments and communicate with others in the cyberspace, is discussed in light of the recent, knowledge on digital literacy. The digital thinking skills that are discussed in the paper are the photo-visual, reproduction, branching, information, socio-emotional and real-time thinking skills. It is argued that these six digital thinking skills exist in every learner, but their volume or magnitude depends on the situation and differ from person to person. In the following paragraphs, the revised holistic model for of digital literacy and its six thinking skills, are discussed in detail. Photo-visual Digital Skills The evolution of digital environments, from text-based, syntactic to graphic-based semantic environments (Nielsen, 1993; Shneiderman, 1998; Soffer & Eshet-Alkalai, 2009), requires users of modern digital environments to employ cognitive skills of Using Vision to Think (Mullet & Sano, 1995) in order to create an effective photo-visual communication with the environment. …

Study of Limited Value in Exploring Irish Hospital Clinicians’ Information Behaviour and Attitudes Towards the Clinical Informationist

Study of Limited Value in Exploring Irish Hospital Clinicians’ Information Behaviour and Attitudes Towards the Clinical Informationist

Evidence-based information-seeking skills of junior doctors entering the workforce: an evaluation of the impact of information literacy training during pre-clinical years

To investigate the extent to which junior doctors in their first clinical positions retained information literacy skills taught as part of their undergraduate education. Participants drawn from different training cohorts were interviewed about their recall of the instruction they had received, and their confidence in retrieving and evaluating information for clinical decision making. They completed a search based on a scenario related to their specialty. Their self-assessment of their competency in conducting and evaluating a search was compared with an evaluation of their skills by an experienced observer. Most participants recalled the training they received but had not retained high-level search skills, and lacked skills in identifying and applying best evidence. There was no apparent link between the type of training given and subsequent skill level. Those whose postgraduate education required these skills were more successful in retrieving and appraising information. Commitment to evidence-based medicine from clinicians at all levels in the profession is needed to increase the information seeking skills of clinicians entering the work force.