Information Literacy Training Research Articles

Integrating information literacy training into an inquiry-based introductory biology laboratory

ABSTRACT Information literacy is an essential skill for biologists; however, most biology curricula do not intentionally integrate information literacy into classroom and laboratory exercises. There is evidence that developing information literacy skills in undergraduates improves their research skills, writing, and GPAs. Our objective was to integrate information literacy skills into a first semester introductory biology laboratory with a multi-week, inquiry-based module that leverages primary literature. Here we describe the module, which challenges students to develop and test a hypothesis related to parental care behaviour in birds. Students form hypotheses based on literature searching done during librarian-led information literacy sessions, produce an annotated bibliography, collect and analyse video data of barn swallows feeding their offspring, and present their findings. Analysis of students’ annotated bibliographies indicates that 83% of the referenced papers were appropriate for developing their specific hypotheses. The key elements ofa successful information literacy training plan include faculty-librarian collaboration, multiple classroom or laboratory sessions that introduce or utilize information literacy, and relevance ofthe information literacy training to an assignment. By introducing information literacy early inbiology curricula, departments can develop tiered information literacy plans that incorporate opportunities for students to use and refine these skills throughout their studies.

Disentangling the Jargon: Journalists’ Access and Utilisation of Climate Change Information in Tanzania

ABSTRACTThis quantitative and qualitative study investigated journalists’ access to and use of climate change information in Tanzania. It used snowball and purposive sampling methods to identify journalists from the local media. In all, 75 journalists took part in the study. Key findings indicate that conferences and researchers are information sources mostly consulted by the journalists when accessing climate change information. Results reveal journalists’ increased internet use and yet low (N = 27 [37.5%]) usage of social media to access climate change information. Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp were the most used social media platforms. Convenience and timely access to information sources influenced the journalists’ internet usage. The study also found journalists’ insufficient analytical skills, limited awareness of information sources, improper co-ordination, language, reading culture, inadequate training and insufficient information search skills as key challenges to accessing and using climate change information. Challenges to access and use signify low coverage of climate change information in Tanzania. The study concludes that journalists’ specialisation, access to conferences, researchers, internet, and relevant and reliable resources can increase quantity, quality and coverage of climate change information. The study recommends regular information literacy training for journalists to promote their online search skills, reading culture and understanding of climate change.

Using information literacy to teach medical entrepreneurship and health care economics.

ObjectiveEntrepreneurship and innovative product design in health care requires expertise in finding and evaluating diverse types of information from a multitude of sources to accomplish a number of tasks, such as securing regulatory approval, developing a reimbursement strategy, and navigating intellectual property. The authors sought to determine whether an intensive, specialized information literacy training program that introduced undergraduate biomedical engineering students to these concepts would improve the quality of the students’ design projects. We also sought to test whether information literacy training that included active learning exercises would offer increased benefits over training delivered via lectures and if this specialized information literacy training would increase the extent of students’ information use.MethodsA three-arm cohort study was conducted with a control group and two experimental groups. Mixed methods assessment, including a rubric and citation analysis, was used to evaluate program outcomes by examining authentic artifacts of student learning.ResultsStudent design teams that received information literacy training on topics related to medical entrepreneurship and health care economics showed significantly improved performance on aspects of project performance relevant to health care economics over student design teams that did not receive this training. There were no significant differences between teams that engaged in active learning exercises and those that only received training via lectures. Also, there were no significant differences in citation patterns between student teams that did or did not receive specialized information literacy training.ConclusionsInformation literacy training can be used as a method for introducing undergraduate health sciences students to the health care economics aspects of the medical entrepreneurship life cycle, including the US Food and Drug Administration regulatory environment, intellectual property, and medical billing and reimbursement structures.

The role of libraries in teaching doctoral students to become information-literate researchers

PurposeThis paper aims to review current literature pertaining to information literacy and digital literacy skills and practices within the research workflow for doctoral students and makes recommendations for how libraries (and others) can foster skill-sets for graduate student research workflows for the twenty-first century scholarly researcher.Design/methodology/approachA review of existing information literacy practices for doctoral students was conducted, and four key areas of knowledge were identified and discussed.FindingsThe findings validate the need for graduate students to have training in information literacy, information management, knowledge management and scholarly communication. It recommends empirical studies to be conducted to inform future practices for doctoral students.Practical implicationsThis paper offers four areas of training to be considered by librarians and faculty advisers to better prepare scholars for their future.Originality/valueThis paper presents a distinctive synthesis of the types of information literacy and digital literacy skills needed by graduate students.

New Barristers’ Information Literacy Challenges as They Transition from Education to the Workplace

AbstractThe aim of this qualitative study is to explore new barristers’ information literacy (IL) experiences during their transition from education to the workplace. New barristers are defined as individuals currently doing pupillage or who qualified as professionals in the last two years. Although the transition into work constitutes an important period in new barristers’ legal careers during which they face many IL challenges, so far neither new barristers’ perspectives on their IL experiences nor their transition experiences have been examined in detail. The study employed semi-structured interviews to explore the IL experiences of six new barristers.* This thesis finds that new barristers face a variety of IL challenges and thus have different transition experiences. For them, legal research has emotional implications. As professionals, they have IL needs and experiences that are dissimilar from the ones they developed during their education. This impacts on the content and delivery of IL training for new barristers. The study broadens our understanding of legal IL and new legal professionals’ IL needs. It has implications for law librarians and legal educators as it throws the complexity of new barristers’ workplace IL into relief. Finally, the study offers some recommendations for IL training.

Re-visioning library support for undergraduate educational programmes in an academic health sciences library

McMaster University’s Health Sciences Library (HSL) began to transition to a new liaison service model in early 2018. One of its librarians sought to understand how an academic health sciences library can optimise its support for academic undergraduate programmes. This scoping review of the literature was pursued with the aim to submit an informed recommendation to HSL’s new Education and Lifelong Learning team, so the library could shift its approach to information literacy instruction in a manner that would optimise its outcomes for students and improve relationships with faculty staff. The author searched seven databases: Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts (LISTA), ProQuest ERIC, OVID Embase, EBSCO CINAHL, OVID Medline, Web of Science and PapersFirst. She developed a robust and comprehensive search strategy that used a combination of subject headings and keywords to describe information literacy, metaliteracy, libraries and health sciences education. The author also hand-searched bibliographies of seminal publications to broaden her search for relevant literature. The findings in this review indicate that metaliteracy as a concept has not been intentionally implemented into information literacy training at academic health sciences libraries. The review finds that it is preferable to integrate information literacy skills directly into course or programme curricula and align those skills with the evidence-based practice skills undergraduates are already learning. Further, establishing a programme that builds on these skills gradually throughout the duration of the academic programme, rather than one-shot library instruction, is also preferred. To achieve success, libraries must build strong collaborative relationships with faculty staff. The author provides recommendations for practice that reflect the findings of this review. Other academic health libraries may benefit from this review by taking into consideration its findings and subsequent recommendations.

Teachers and information literacy:

Building on our 2017 article focussing on school library staff perceptions of teachers’ information literacy, this article reports on the information literacy (IL) understandings and skills of teachers in post-primary schools (the age range for pupils in post-primary schools is 11–18) throughout Northern Ireland. Results of a comprehensive online teacher survey (n=426) indicated that, despite misplaced confidence in their own skills, teachers’ IL understandings and skills were underdeveloped. The majority of respondents had neither received IL training nor included IL instruction in their teaching. The significance of these findings for theory, practice and policy relating to the teaching of IL skills, which are intended to equip young people to become active citizens and members of a skilled workforce, is discussed.

PENGUATAN MUTU JASA MELALUI PELATIHAN LITERASI INFORMASI PERPUSTAKAAN DALAM MENDUKUNG SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

Educational institutions included in service providers the category. The services usually includes scholarships, assessments, providing guidance to the students, parents, and sponsors. As the heart of the university, library has an important role in strengthening the academic quality of students. In addition to providing quality resources for students, many libraries had implemented training programs for information literacy for university academic community. The literacy training program intended for the academic community to literate with the information , seeking the valid information and use the information based on the needs. The need for valid information makes education as agent of change and sustainable development naturally be a key part that integrates the 17 points of SDG's which is the goal of sustainable development. Therefore, information literacy program implemented by the library is one effort in supporting the realization of SDG's in education. UMM library has run several functions such as education, research, and the information set forth in a form of information literacy training with the aim to educate, guide students in doing research, and information sharing. UMM library has also implemented a literacy program which is considered very important for the academic community. That is because the density of the material provided in this training is expected to increase the competence of the academic community in the face of the information era. The information literacy training has been followed by many students and lectures at the University of Muhammadiyah Malang. Students who attend this training average wending towards the thesis and thesis writing. While the lecturers usually groups and individuals participated in this information literacy training. A lot of knowledge and skills acquired by the participants of this information literacy training. And along the communication with the participants, the participants were very enthusiastic and happy to gain experience and new abilities through this literacy training.

Programa de formação em competência em informação: redes de cooperação entre os sujeitos que atuam em espaços de informação, educação e cultura

Diante daquilo que tem sido registrado no Brasil pela Ciência da Informação sobre competência em informação e perante a escassez de programas de formação de competências em Universidades, apresenta-se como objetivo compartilhar um processo de planejamento desse tipo de programa compreendendo bibliotecários, docentes e discentes envolvidos em ações universitárias. Para tanto, realizou-se um levantamento de artigos científicos em bases de dados de periódicos online, considerando a importância da competência em informação e competência leitora em diferentes espaços de (in)formação e educação, como bibliotecas universitárias, escolares e públicas. Como considerações iniciais e não apenas finais, percebeu-se a importância de envolver em programas de formação profissionais que atuam em diferentes espaços de formação da competência em informação, como bibliotecas universitárias, públicas e escolares. A Universidade torna-se, por conseguinte, uma instituição importante em um contexto de formação de redes colaborativas, ao receber a contribuição de profissionais de diversas áreas que possibilitem o planejamento, implementação e execução de programas de competência em informação que também incluam a competência leitora, possibilitando o desenvolvimento de habilidades informacionais e capacidades de leituras mais especificamente, em estudantes e docentes, de modo a fortalecer os processos de ensino, pesquisa e extensão com a comunidade interna e externa.

Information Literacy Level at Tumkur University: A Comparative Study Among Students of Social Science and Sciences

University Library plays a pivotal role in academic excellence, research and extension activities in the Higher Education. Information usage for all-round development is more essential at the Higher Education level. Literacy of using information complexity is becoming more and more important and up-dating is a continuous process. This comparative study is on Information Literacy level among the Post-graduate Social Science and Science students of the Tumkur University. A total of 300 sample units was identified and among those 222 students were randomly selected who responded to the questionnaire, the study showedthat students used E-Resources for reading, research and independent learning; preferred one for improvement and training in Information Literacy is hands-on experience and frequent seminar programme.

Information Literacy: Accessibility and Skills among Indian LIS Professionals

The radical change in provision of information through the use of Information Communication and Technology (ICT) in this age requires a lot of skills, knowledge and strategies to ensure maximum utilization of information. Beside, varied systems used by libraries and information providers across the world to classify, catalogue and make information available require special skill to access information. Information is very important and critical to every individual especially research students. Today information literacy has become an important academic product and the user should be educated apart from their day-to-day needs. In this context we have highlighted the importance of the information literacy skills among LIS professionals and how the institution will be benefited by implementing the information literacy skills. Traditional information seekers expect instant help this puts tremendous demands on the librarians and information professionals to upgrade their tools and techniques. Hence information literacy and continuous professional education and training programmes are needed for working library professionals. This study shows that most of the respondents belonging to ‘PhD in LIS’, ‘MPhil in LIS’ and ‘UG in LIS’ qualifications felt that lack of knowledge on availability is the prime problem to obtain information literacy. Most of the respondents belonging to ‘UGC NET/SET’ and ‘PG in LIS’ qualifications felt that lack of technical skills is the prime problem to obtain information literacy.

 La competencia informacional y derechos de autor en las bibliotecas de instituciones de educación superior de Brasil. (Information Literacy Competencies and Copyright in Brazilian Higher Education Institutions)

Information literacy (IL) is the natural evolution of the old “user training” in libraries, adapted to the new times where technology plays an important role. Legal and ethical use of information is one of the competencies incorporated in important international standards of IL. In order to know the impact of the ethical and legal use of information within these training plans in libraries of higher education entities in Brazil, a brief online questionnaire was designed and executed. The questionnaire aimed to research the existence of plans for IL and/or user training , the ethical and legal use of information, copyright, what kind of information they show, and the availability of staff members at libraries to address concerns on these issues. The results show that libraries of higher education entities in Brazil still have a lot of work to do in our area. Not all of them have adequate education plans for their users and those who do have them, and also include some information about copyright, the discourse focuses on disciplinary aspects, without training authors nor users about their rights, how to use the work of others, how to share their own work, amongst others.

Need of Information Literacy in Higher Education

The knowledge economy is based primarily on the production and strategic use of information and knowledge. The ability to produce and use information effectively is thus a vital source of skills for citizens of the world. As India is moving towards information and knowledge-based society, it must be necessary for university students, research scholars and faculty members to possess competencies and information literacy skills to accomplish their research goals. Information literacy(IL) is becoming an increasingly important component of the higher educational curriculum, with many disciplines incorporating elements of information literacy training within their traditional teaching. This article will highlight on necessity and importance of information literacy in higher education.

Kemampuan literasi informasi peneliti dalam penulisan karya ilmiah di Loka Litbangkes Pangandaran

The productivity of scientific papers in disseminating research results, mastering basic tasks and competencies in functional positions does not necessarily make the researcher a literate person. Researchers at the Loka Litbangkes, Pangandaran still indicated the existence of issues related to the mastery of information literacy especially in writing scientific papers. The information literacy capabilities of researchers are not yet known comprehensively and deeply, so research is needed to uncover it. This study used a descriptive qualitative approach. The purpose of the study was to obtain a clear picture of the information literacy abilities of researchers, especially in scientific writing. The conceptual research framework to study the information literacy skills of researchers used the SCONUL Seven Pillars Information Literacy Research Lens. Informants were three researchers and colleagues at the Loka Litbangkes, Pangandaran who were determined based on purposive sampling. Results showed that researchers did not master information literacy skills yet. First-level researchers indicated that they did not fully master the Plan, Gather and Evaluate competencies. Middle-level researchers were indicated that they did not master the competencies of Plan, Gather, Evaluate and Present. Whereas the high-level researchers were indicated that they did not fully master the Plan, Gather, Evaluate, Manage and Present competencies. In conclusion, the researcher's information literacy skills are constrained by the lack of participation in information literacy training, limitations and irregularities in library collections, unavailability of access to Scopus indexed international journal databases, lack of science communication networks motivations and limited English proficiency.

Ambientes de aprendizagem, tecnologias digitais e formação inicial de professores

Technological advances require a flexible curriculum adapted to the new realities and challenges imposed to society and to education, in particular to current and future teachers. The initial teachers training constitutes an initial opportunity for socialization with the teaching profession and, in this sense, has to meet the profile of the student of the XXI century. However, there is a mismatch between the approach and contents of digital technologies and the needs for integrated, comprehensive and articulated training, as referred to in the ICT competency framework (UNESCO, 2011), and the curriculum for teacher training in media literacy and information literacy (Wilson et al., 2013). The aim of this exploratory article is to contribute to the state of the art about learning environments using digital technologies in the initial teacher training (methodological options, resources, theoretical reference, ...) based on a systematic literature review of 17 recent articles (2016-2017) from different countries. The main results point to a tendency to value the "testing" and application of theoretical models and the use of certain new or innovative digital technologies through observations, open questionnaires and pre-defined scales. At the same time, it was verified that the personal and professional development aspects of the future teachers, as well as the pedagogical relation, are not the research paper’s privileged focus. This work allows to conclude that the research follows the trend of the contexts of practice of initial teacher training, in which there is a disarticulation between theory and educational practices using digital technologies in a contextualized and meaningful way.

Delivering information literacy within a global health care degree: reflections from a health information specialist.

Higher education institutions (HEIs) have a growing interest in establishing International joint degree programmes in developing countries. A Master's degree in global health care is an international joint degree programme run by two Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences and one Kenyan University. To provide students and staff members who live in Finland with an authentic experience of the circumstances in the developing countries, part of the programme involves delivering a two-week intensive course in Kenya. Health library services and information literacy training have a significant presence during this intensive course. In this paper, guest writer Marketta Fredriksson describes and reflects on the involvement of the health care library team in the development and implementation of this degree and delivery of the intensive course in Kenya.H.S.

OVERVIEW OF INFORMATION LITERACY PROFICIENCY AMONG FIRST YEAR STUDENTS OF BIOLOGY EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM IN UNIVERSITAS TIDAR

Developments in all fields demand changes in learning, including at university level. Various skills for successful life in the future must be trained in students, including information literacy. This study aims to get an overview of students’ information literacy proficiency based on their experience during high school, the main source of information ever used, and the students’ perception of information literacy capacity. This study used a survey method, with an information literacy questionnaire distributed to 89 first-year students of the Biology Education Study Program, Universitas Tidar. The collected data were analyzed descriptively. Based on the results of the study it was found that students already had the experience of accessing information for completing assignments during high school. Information obtained by students is mainly obtained from Google and books. However, the use of Google as a search engine has not been directed towards finding quality sources. Students are still have low capacity in information literacy skills, especially those relating to the use of information effectively and ethically. The results of this study are expected to be the basis for establishing information literacy training programs in Biology Education Study Program Universitas Tidar, both integrated in the subjects and on their own.

Attitudes, perceptions and prospectings on mobile information literacy training: Design and validation of the MOBILE-APP questionnaire

The basic aim of this paper is to outline the process of designing and validating an instrument for measuring teachers’ perceptions regarding the importance of using mobile technologies in the teaching-learning of information competencies (MOBILE-APP). Validation was carried out by administering the instrument to a pilot group of teachers, all of whom were experts in new technologies selected from the Information and Communication, Business and Education degrees, together with a rubric to analyse the quality and relevance of the content, as well as the wording of the items. Quantitative and qualitative methodologies were combined (statistical and descriptive analyses). The results from the quantitative-qualitative analysis of the evaluation rubric and the psychometric analysis of the items show the strengths of the questionnaire and the possible improvements that could be made to optimise it, which were focused on small adjustments to some of the categories and the reordering of several items. The quantitative analysis shows a high degree of internal consistency, thus ensuring the usefulness and applicability of the instrument for evaluating teachers’ perceptions regarding the use of mobile technologies in the teaching-learning of information competencies. The validity and reliability of the instrument mean that it can be transferred to other academic settings as a platform for future diagnostic studies that allow advances to be made in teaching innovation using mobile technologies, while at the same time permitting it to be reviewed and updated. The innovative element of the MOBILE-APP questionnaire lies in the interrelation between the mode of learning (mobile learning) and the information literacy competencies.

Developing Information Services for Visually-Impaired Students in Indonesia

This study aims to acknowledge the information needed by visually-impaired students in Indonesia. The results of this study will be used as a basis to develop library services that can be useful for visually-impaired students. The research was conducted in Foundation for Blind Handicapped Persons (YPAB) in Surabaya and involved 30 visually-impaired students ranging from 11-20 years of age. The research was conducted using questionnaires and interviews at YPAB. From the results it can be known that all students regularly visit the library 1-4 times a week, they know about the library services in the school from the teachers and the most widely used service is the general collection service in braille format. The most frequent activities done by students are chatting and discussing, whereas browsing is rarely because there is no internet connection and the number of computers is limited. Information available in the library includes information for completing schoolwork and fiction books in the form of braille. The recommendations from research results include: improving information services through teacher librarians and provide information and internet literacy training for students and teachers.

Complementary Information Literacy Training Practices in University Teaching and Academic Libraries

Students now have information processing behaviors characterized by rapid shifts in attention, less reflection and failure to deploy metacognitive processes, preferring activities that bring immediate rewards for their information needs, even if the quality of the information they obtain is low. Consequently, they run into significant difficulties in the selection and critical evaluation of the information they find during university learning activities. This article presents two information literacy training initiatives addressing these issues at the University of Padova (Italy): one in a course in educational technologies offered as part of a second-cycle degree program, and the other in two of the university library system's training facilities. The training workshops sought to be complementary, covering both the search engine and the library OPAC approach to information seeking.