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Information and technological skills instruction has been a lingering challenge for librarians and information professionals. Even though undergraduate incoming students to colleges and universities are a technology-savvy generation, evaluation of their Information Literacy (IL) and Technology Literacy (TL) skills might reveal a different situation. This research evaluates the familiarity and skills of the incoming class of undergraduate students of the College of Social Sciences at Kuwait University with Internet and other Social Media Networks (SMN). It seeks to investigate the relation to the educational background of the family and tries to ascertain the uses and means of accessing Internet and its various tools and practical implications on librarianship and the undergraduate curriculum.
The concept of Personal Knowledge and Information Management (PKIM) is based, among others, on two theories: Personal Information Management (PTM) and Personal Knowledge Management (PKM), which hitherto were both subjects of separate studies. Moreover, the concept of PKIM is related to IL, which is a concept of information skills and competences of individuals — a person who manages knowledge has to be information literate. Some of the empirical studies results in the field of PKIM, started in Poland and recently continued in Germany, are presented. As the research method an unstructured questionnaire with open questions was used.
Given the results of the survey as well as taking into account the subject literature, the concepts of PIM, PKM, and Information Literacy (IL) seem to be compatible and connected with each other. Our respondents perceive Knowledge and Information as well as knowledge management (KM) and information management (IM) in the context of learning and studying as integrated areas of interests. Although they do see differences between them, interconnections and relations seem more important. Furthermore, KM and IM are recognized as tools of coping with information overload. All aspects that have repercussions on KM and IM are related to three categories: personal characteristics, environment (macro and micro environment), and knowledge and information sources.
Health information systems (HISs) provide automated solutions for the clinical, informational, and managerial life of a hospital. These systems are optimally used when the knowledge workers are adequately equipped with the needed competencies. Three Kuwaiti hospitals have been engaged in adopting and using the same HIS. Jahra Public Hospital, one of the three, has been making progress in the use of HIS. It was hypothesised that capabilities and preparedness of knowledge workers are correlated with their extent of use of the HIS. Data were gathered from 124 healthcare knowledge workers using stratified random sampling. It was found that skills and abilities of these knowledge professionals are strongly correlated with their use of information and communication technologies (ICT) and HIS. Almost all the professionals used HIS, yet there was a wide variation in the use of HIS modules and applications. We also examined whether personal attributes of knowledge workers made any difference in their ICT and HIS skills and use. Results however revealed no such association. These professionals attached a great deal of importance with formal training, but urged that these knowledge workers had enhanced and involved role.
This paper assumes that the key to understanding successes and failures in knowledge creation (KC) by academic innovation teams in a scenario of university–industry relations is to identify and evaluate preconditions, needed for efforts to flourish. We examine the synergistic intervention of individual competence, information literacy, innovation culture and communication in academic project team work while KC occurs, resulting in technological innovation. Our in-depth research with 20 university project teams has led us to a more differentiated picture of KC in academic innovation projects. The qualitative technique of categorical content analysis was used. As the main contributions, we present in a four-dimensional perspective the resulting relationships between the knowledge created by the teams and the critical factors that influence its creation. Moreover, deriving from these relations, six patterns of behaviour were found in the study.
While information literacy in undergraduate programs has received considerable attention, few studies have explored graduate programs, with even fewer focusing specifically on library and information studies (LIS) programs. Accordingly, this study aims to assess the information literacy skills and knowledge of incoming students in an information studies graduate program at Kuwait University. By assessing students before and after they receive information literacy instruction, the study also aims to map a plan for developing graduate-level information literacy education. The study’s rationale is to provide empirical evidence of graduate students’ information literacy and research capabilities on commencing their studies, which are expected to be low, thereby encouraging educators and policymakers to engage in meaningful, informed discourse on investing in information literacy education. To collect data, the author administered a pre-test at the beginning of the semester, followed by a post-test at the end of the semester after students had attended a series of information literacy sessions. In addition, a faculty focus group was conducted to gain insight into their perceptions of students’ skills and their views and beliefs on information literacy education. Students’ overall mean score increased by almost 18% in the post-test. They performed better on questions related to knowledge of databases, search strategies, accessing sources, and some legal and ethical issues surrounding the information ecosystem. They also showed moderate improvement in critically evaluating information. However, they continued to perform poorly in defining an information need and understanding the nature and scope of the information paradigm. The findings informed the development of an information literacy education model. The study’s research design provides a format for other institutions interested in identifying students’ information and research needs with the aim of integrating information literacy instruction into graduate programs. The information literacy education model is dynamic and can be adapted to different learning environments.
Because of the threat of fake news, numerous efforts or activities have been initiated in terms of algorithm, fact-checking, platform scheme, and policy changes. However, the volume of fake contents distributed on social media has not decreased. Regardless of many discourses on the subject, we know little about what makes people susceptible to believing false news in an online context. This study examines the impact of central and peripheral cues to determine how each cue impacts on user’s belief or disbelief in false news on social media from the perspective of the elaboration likelihood model. Besides, the moderating effect of information literacy on the cues is investigated. Results indicate that users’ identification of the falsehood of messages is related with argument quality, however, topical relevance contributes to their susceptibility to believing in false news (BFN). Regarding the peripheral cues, source trustworthiness tends to make users vulnerable to BFN, nevertheless, no influence is found by image appeal and homophily. Information literacy has neither direct effect on BFN, nor moderating effect on any cues.
Information Literacy is still largely absent from the priorities of national information and education policies. A need for a systematic body of evidence on the strategic role of Information Literacy is recognised and leads to the identification of a set of variables, which can be useful to provide a first picture of the Information Literacy polices in Europe, with a particular focus on Higher Education. The set of variables constitutes the theoretical framework supporting the European Observatory on Information Literacy Policies and Research .
Information literacy and civic literacy intersect in ways that are important to society and that demonstrate the value of librarians and publishers. Librarians and publishers play an important role in cultivating information literacy in the populace so that citizens can carry out their civic responsibilities in an informed and responsible way. The spread of the Internet and the challenges it poses to traditional information providers creates new challenges for publishers and librarians.
This paper discusses the models of teaching information literacy at the University of Tartu. The library offers two general e-learning courses: Fundamentals of information literacy as an optional subject for baccalaureus and master's students and Introduction to information research as an elective subject for doctoral students. Based on the basic course, subject librarians offer discipline-specific online courses which are taught as a part of some subjects and are compulsory for students.
Information literacy is the key skill required for lifelong learning, however, acquiring information literacy skills is not enough by itself for success; individuals should also develop confidence in these skills. Low self-efficacy beliefs may be a significantly limiting factor for individuals to use their information literacy skills effectively. Determining the level of self-efficacy beliefs for information literacy will enable individuals 'at risk' to be identified. Therefore, it is suggested to use self-efficacy scales as additional assessment tools while mixing and matching assessment methodologies to gather usable information for the evaluation of information literacy instruction programs.
Recent developments have seen an interest in quantitative and qualitative measures in the field of information literacy now widely considered the trademark pedagogy of librarians (Kapitzke 2003 cited in Montiel-Overall 2007). International frameworks for assessing information literacy through which positive developments at both international and national levels can be demonstrated and future efforts can be better focused are being identified. This article reports on the Library Network Support Services (LNSS) project - a collaboration to implement and champion online information literacy initiatives across a consortium consisting of a university, a teacher education institution and two Institutes of Technology in the Republic of Ireland. The paper describes the origin and development of the LNSS, deals with the growing importance of information literacy - in the Republic of Ireland and internationally. We will describe the process and methodology for implementing online information literacy initiatives including information literacy teaching across the consortium and also suggest possibilities for measuring the impact of information literacy initiatives on learners for the development of knowledge societies.
In recent years, services provided from any organization are being evaluated in terms of their necessity for the aims of the organization and libraries can be no exception. Many library researchers have used marketing methods, such as quantitative and qualitative research.
The Central Library of the National Technical University of Athens conducted a quantitative research in order to evaluate the services provided within the concept of Information Literacy.
However, both qualitative and quantitative methods are necessary. In the case of the Central Library of the National Technical University of Athens, the need for evolvement in the existing Information Literacy services requires the use of a qualitative research method, using focus groups, in order to identify unexplored user needs and library shortcomings through the suggestions of the members of the institution.