Chapter 19. Impacting Information Literacy through Alignment, Resources, and Assessment

List of Contributors. Editorial Advisory Board. Preface. Introduction - Information Literacy and Information Behaviour, Complementary Approaches for Building Capability. Transforming Information Literacy for Higher Education in the 21st Century: A Lifelong Learning Approach. Curriculum and Curriculum Integration of Information Literacy in Higher Education. The Construction of Information and Media Literacy in Education Policy: A Study of Singapore. Information Literacy in Higher Education: Research Students' Development in Information Search Expertise. Mediating Culture: Media Literacy and Cultural Awareness The Representation of Race and Ethnicity in Maya and Miguel. Empowering Professional Practices of a Community of e-Learners: Special Education Teachers in Alaska and their Information Literacy Conceptions. Information Literacy of Undergraduate Students in Thailand: A Case of the Faculty of Arts, Silpakorn University, Thailand. Building Partnerships for Information Literacy among HE Institutions in African Universities: Opportunities and Challenges - A Case Study. Perspectives on Legal Education and the Role of Information Literacy in Improving Qualitative Legal Practice. Information Literacy in the Business School Context: A Story of Complexity and Success. Workplace Reflections of Information Literacy Training: The Case of the Agriculture and Health Sectors in Tanzania. Workplace Information Literacy: It's Different. Diversifying Information Literacy Research: An Informed Learning Perspective. The Use of Participatory Techniques in the Communication of Information for Communities: Information Literacy and Collaborative Work for Citizenship Development. About the Authors. Developing People's Information Capabilities: Fostering Information Literacy in Educational, Workplace and Community Contexts. Library and Information Science. Developing People's Information Capabilities: Fostering Information Literacy in Educational, Workplace and Community Contexts. Copyright page. Index.

PurposeInformation and digital literacy have recently received much interest, and they are being viewed as critical strategic organisational resources and skills that employees need to obtain in order to function at their workplaces. Yet, the role of employees' literacy seems to be neglected in current literature. This paper aims to explore the roles that information and digital literacy play on the employees' perception in relation to usefulness and ease of use of digital technologies and consequently their intention to use technology in the practices they perform at the workplace.Design/methodology/approachThis paper builds a conceptual model with key constructs (information literacy and digital literacy) as new antecedents to the technology acceptance model and aims to establish that information literacy and digital literacy are indirect determinants of employees' intention to use digital technologies at the workplace. The data set used in this paper comprises of 121 respondents and structural equation modelling was used.FindingsThe findings reveal that both information literacy and digital literacy have a direct impact on perceived ease of use of technology but not on the perceive usefulness. The findings also show that both literacies have an indirect impact on the intention to use digital technology at work via attitude towards use.Practical implicationsManagers and decision-makers should pay close attention to the literacy levels of their staff. Because literacies are such an important skillset in the digital age, managers and chief information officers may want to start by identifying which work groups or individuals require literacy training and instruction, and then provide specific and relevant training or literacy interventions to help those who lack sufficient literacy.Originality/valueThis is one of the first studies to consider information literacy and digital literacy as new antecedents of the technology acceptance model at the workplace environment.

In today's interconnected world, the ability to access and critically analyze information is essential for fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion. This proposal seeks to explore challenges and strategies related to information literacy amidst political and policy confrontations to continuously achieve fundamental principles. Objectives:•Highlight the importance of information literacy in promoting diverse perspectives and combating bias.•Discuss strategies for equitable access to accurate information, particularly for marginalized communities.•Explore the role of media and education in shaping inclusive narratives and fostering informed dialogue.•Address the impact of misinformation and polarization on efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. Panel Topics:Understanding Information Literacy: Define information literacy and its significance in empowering individuals to navigate complex information landscapes. Promoting Diverse Perspectives: Examine how access to diverse sources and viewpoints contributes to a more inclusive understanding of societal issues. Equitable Information Access: Discuss barriers to access reliable information, particularly in underserved communities, and propose solutions for greater equity. Expected Outcomes:•Increased awareness of the importance of information literacy in promoting diversity and inclusion.•Identification of actionable strategies for improving information access and combating bias in media.•Inspiration for collaborative initiatives aimed at fostering inclusive dialogues and empowering marginalized communities. Audience:Our target audience includes educators, media professionals, community organizers, policymakers, and individuals passionate about promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion through enhanced information literacy.

This chapter aims to explore representations of information literacy and media literacy in Singapore’s educational discourse as part of its 21st century skills framework. Currently, information literacy and media literacy co-exist in Singapore’s education discourse but there is no related work attempting to clarify these two concepts in Singapore or to bridge them to propose an overarching framework. In what ways are these two terminologies identical or different in the local education context? We try to answer this question through reviewing relevant official documents. We start with a review the literature on the global scale regarding information literacy and media literacy. Then, we focus on Singapore to explore how various governmental agencies defining information literacy and media literacy. This chapter, in other words, is a result from a pilot study to understand how information literacy and media literacy is defined and understood in Singapore’s education system.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze the confluence of data literacy with information literacy in an experimental one‐unit course taught in the UCLA Department of Sociology, and present the literature on, rationale for, and future of integrating these interrelated literacies into social science courses.Design/methodology/approachThe course was co‐taught twice by a librarian and a data archivist using a syllabus and assignments that reflect sociological research problems and tools and information literacy competencies in the social sciences.FindingsThe need for information and data skills in sociology is well‐established, and their integration into a sociology course (rather than in a stand‐alone information literacy course) would produce more opportunities for students to apply what they learn and for the instructors to assess learning in the context of doing sociology coursework.Research limitations/implicationsThe class sizes were too small for full‐scale assessment and pre‐tests/post‐tests were not given. Assessment of student learning was based on work produced in and outside class and on course evaluations.Practical implicationsIt is suggested that librarians and data archivists work with faculty to innovate curricular approaches based on recommendations and outcomes in key documents on learning sociology from professional library and sociology organizations. Attaching the lab to an existing course and promoting the data literacy modules for faculty to adopt in other courses are also suggested.Originality/valueThis paper invites social science librarians to examine the value to students and faculty of collaboration with professional data services staff to teach and merge information and data literacy within the social sciences curricula.

Information literacy has become more important as more information is produced and communication has become easier. Better information skills are vital for individuals working in governmental organizations as well as in the business sector. Employees are expected to be confident and competent in interacting with information in their workplaces in order to deliver better service to customers and to the public. This study examines the differences in information literacy skills (ILS), computer literacy skills (CLS), and frequencies of use of information sources (FIS) among police officers, based on their socio-demographic characteristics, namely education, departmental affiliation, ranks, and experience. Information literacy process models developed in an educational environment are combined to explore information literacy process in the workplace. Bivariate and multivariate analyses indicated significant differences of ILS and CLS based on education, departmental affiliation, and ranks but no difference for experience. In addition, there were differences of FIS for all demographic variables except departmental affiliation. The findings of the study may guide both future researchers in the process of developing new models in understanding information literacy process and the managers in police organizations in planning better training programs by considering information and computer literacy skills and use of information sources of police officers.

This paper is primarily concerned with self‐efficacy in the context of information literacy. The focus is first on the concept of self‐efficacy, followed by attainment of self‐efficacy beliefs. Finally, findings of the research, the aim of which was to explore students’ (who enrolled in the Department of Information Management, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey) perceived self‐efficacy for information and computer literacy, are scrutinized. Results of the research indicate no significant year‐to‐year changes, although the students have a positive perceived self‐efficacy for information literacy. Students’ self‐efficacy beliefs regarding information literacy and computers are correlated.

Information literacy (IL), media literacy (ML), and information communication and technology literacy (ICT Literacy: ICTL) are some of the most important skills for 21st century learning and which help promote other skills, including life and career skills and learning and innovation skills. This kind of learning allows students to connect as a learning network without barriers or borders. It fully supports the use of equipment and technology to develop the skills necessary for life. The purpose of this research study is two-fold: first, to develop a research-based Open Online Assessment Management System (OOAMS), and second to develop the standardized measurement for an assessment of IL, ML, and ICTL for higher education learners. The sample group consists of 2,300 higher educa-tion learners and the methodology was divided into 3 phases: (1) developing the conceptual framework, definition, and features of IL, ML, and ICTL for higher education learners; (2) examining requirements, designing wireframes, and de-veloping an OOAMS for higher education students; and (3) testing the quality of OOAMS for IL, ML, and ICTL using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmation factor analysis (CFA) statistical methods. The research result found that, first, the specific features of the system included development using PHP and MySQL database and the design to interact with users with a responsive UI framework. The system is compatible with MOOCs and the Open edX platform, or can be used as a stand-alone application. It can create, share, copy, and extend both Likert scales and rubrics evaluation forms. It can also generate reports in both CSV and PDF formats. Secondly, the results of this research provided a standardized measurement for assessing IL (49 items), ML (63 items), and ICTL (69 items). Also, it can be improved or enhanced for online learning in a ubiqui-tous learning context such as e-learning, blended learning, virtual learning and MOOCs effectively.

Background and purpose: Faculty members are the most important assets and resources of each country and information literacy refers to a set of capabilities that enable people to recognize the need for information and after placement and access to information needed, they evaluate and effectively use them, and since scientific production is one of the important indicators of faculty members’ performance, a study that would determine the role of information literacy in scientific products using its results is necessary to create development and prosperity in scientific production. The aim of this study is to determine the relationship between information literacy and scientific products of faculty members of KUMS during the years of 2005 to 2010. Methods: This study was a cross-sectional study. The study population was all full-time faculty members of KUMS in the census. A valid and reliable questionnaire was used to collect data which had two parts, the first part had 21 sections and included demographic information and scientific products and the second part was the information literacy questionnaire and consisted of 87 questions and 100 sections. In this study, the independent variable was information literacy and the dependent variable was scientific products and data was analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics and SPSS software version 19. Results: The total mean of information literacy of KUMS faculty members was above average and 50% had information literacy and there was a significant relationship between information literacy and scientific products of KUMS faculty members. Conclusions: The findings indicate the relationship between information literacy and scientific production, and since only half of the faculty members had information literacy, the necessity of planning to enhance information literacy is justified. Keywords: INFORMATION LITERACY, SCIENTIFIC PRODUCT, FACULTY MEMBERS

Purpose: In law libraries in the Republic of Croatia, only a small number of information literacy programmes have been recorded. This indicates the need to strengthen and promote more effective teaching of information literacy in the field of law. The aim of this paper is to analyse the published literature to gain insight into the existing knowledge regarding information literacy in the field of law over the past 30 years in the Republic of Croatia. This analysis aims to determine possible directions for development and to find more effective teaching methods for information literacy. Methodology/approach: The methodology used included a qualitative research approach, specifically content analysis of works published in the last 30 years concerning information literacy at the academic level in the field of law in the Republic of Croatia. Results: The development of information literacy at the academic level in the field of law can be observed in parallel with the development of information literacy at the broader academic level in the Republic of Croatia. The most significant changes can be seen over the past five years, both at the theoretical and practical level of law school library work. Research on information literacy in the field of law, initially primarily focused on user education, is deepening and expanding, both in terms of methodology and content, because of intense and dynamic changes in the information and educational environment. As a result, further directions of development should be guided by the need for more research on the essential literacy skills of the 21st century for all stakeholders in the educational process. Such research would contribute to a greater understanding of the most relevant content and methods to be included in information literacy programmes tailored to the specifics of the legal discipline. Research limitation: A literature analysis revealed numerous different terms related to information literacy at the academic level in the field of law, especially in works published in the 1990s, when the term “information literacy” was not established in the Republic of Croatia. Therefore, there is a possibility of unintentional oversight of specific works. Another limitation of the research is the role of one evaluator/researcher in implementing the content analysis of the publications due to possible subjectivity in the analysis. Originality/practical implications: This study is one of the first to offer detailed insights into the current trends in information literacy development at the academic level in the field of law over the past 30 years. On a practical level, the author aims to encourage academic librarians to create and implement formal information literacy programmes within the realm of law and its related libraries.

PurposeThis study aims to examine the instruction of basic information literacy (IL) skills taught to the socio‐economically disadvantaged students in the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) at Rider University in summer 2011. The study set out to determine how the beginning IL levels of EOP freshmen differ from those of other freshmen, their learning outcomes, and retention of IL as a means to improve future research instruction.Design/methodology/approachFaculty of a speech communication class and two librarians collaborated in integrating IL in the class assignments of the 2011 summer EOP program. The assessment tools include identical pre‐ and post‐tests, a second post‐test with different multiple correct answer questions, a survey about students' perceptions of their IL training, and the teaching faculty's observations of EOP students' research skills.FindingsEOP freshmen are equivalent to the peer freshmen in their low levels of IL skills. The findings suggested that EOP freshmen complete IL instruction with stronger IL skills. The second post‐test revealed that many students were confused about some basic IL concepts. Faculty's observation of students' information literacy skills concurs with the pre‐ and post‐tests.Originality/valueThis study fills a void in the literature on recent research of information literacy skills of socio‐economically disadvantaged college students. The multi‐correct answer questions employed are valuable but rarely employed in studies or discussed in the literature. The collaboration of faculty and librarians in assignment design is valuable as an increasing number of faculty are utilizing librarians to teach the necessary IL skills needed in today's curricula.

The 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.

This issue of Libellarium includes papers from the invited speakers who gave lectures at the Summer School in User Studies (SSUS) organized by the Department of Information Sciences and held at the University of Zadar, 11. - 14. April, 2012. The SSUS is associated with the Knowledge Society and Information Transfer PhD programme at the Department of Information Sciences at the University of Zadar. This programme is designed for Croatian and international doctoral students in the field of theories and studies of information needs and use, as well as the field of reading and learning concepts and strategies in digital environment. The main goal of the Summer School 2012 was to introduce the participants to the most recent research, the latest developments and the newly emerged concepts in the fields of users’ information behaviour, learning and education in the digital age, information literacy theories and concepts, as well as the reading paradigms. In the recent times the information society changes rapidly which influences processing and the approaches to information while it changes the existing paradigms of learning and education. New literacies emerge and reading, as the key competency necessary to access the information, changes its forms and practices. The SUSS organized the above mentioned issues in three segments: Users’ information behaviour, Literacy and reading in the digital environment, and Learning and education in the digital age. In the Users’ information behaviour segment this issue of Libellarium contains articles from two invited speakers and two doctoral students who discuss the subject from different viewpoints. Paul Sturges starts with the assumption that people are much more dependent than they realise on information and ideas that are acquired and processed by areas of the brain, not always immediately accessible to the conscious mind. Polona Vilar discusses information behaviour of scholars and scholarly practice influenced by increased accessibility of digital resources and tools. Doctoral students Dora Rubinic and Darko Lacovic base their literature reviews on the specific context of university students’ information behaviour. The former review deals with information behavior of university students in general, while the latter one deals with university students’ information behaviour in relation to the role of academic libraries. Four invited speakers discuss literacy and reading in the digital environment. Livija Knaflic presents literacy as a complex phenomenon and focuses her work toward psychological aspects of literacy. Sonja Spiranec investigates information literacy in the context of Web 2.0 which transformed information environments into complex and unstructured places so the contexts of information literacy are being re-examined and reshaped respectively. Ivanka Kuic writes about the postmodern theoretical approaches to the reader and the validity of these approaches in the digital environment while emphasizing that existing concepts of the reader and reading adapt to electronic environment, because the electronic text deconstructs the printed one and it changes the way of reading. Vita Mozuraite discusses these rapid changes in the reading paradigm in the age of e-book to which the young readers are especially susceptible considering their frequent use of the internet. The changes in information environment influence learning. This fact demands careful consideration from education experts in order to achieve the maximal degree of the rich media environment contribution to the quality of education. Hence, Milan Matijevic writes about the influence the e-environment has on the new curriculum paradigms. These papers are the starting point for the new directions of thought about the changes in the digital environment that reflect on information behaviour, learning and the related practices. The papers were received in 2012/2013 and were peer reviewed in 2013/2014. * Department of Information Sciences, University of Zadar, Croatia e-mail: istricev@unizd.hr

Purpose: The aim of the study is to determine how people process information in the digital contexts in terms of information seeking behavior, their use in libraries and information literacy practices. It aims to analyse the impact of cognitive, social, and technological factors on the user behaviour on the way the old models of information-seeking between Wilson (1999), Kuhlthau (1991), and Savolainen (1995) are applicable in a digital environment. Design/Methodology/Approach: The paper was a qualitative research design that was exploratory and intended to offer a thorough insight on human-information interface, especially user seeking, receiving and exploiting of information within digital and library settings. Exploratory research design is suitable since HII relates to intricate social, cognitive, and contextual procedures that involve amorphous inquiry and interpretation as opposed to hypothesis testing (Creswell and Creswell, 2023). In general, this approach was used to produce a context-driven knowledge of human behavior concerning dealing with information in modern digital and library environments Findings: The research concluded that interaction between human information and the digital age depends on the cognitive capacity of the user, his/her digital literacy and the socio-cultural issues. A majority of them find it easy to use online platforms yet they still access libraries to get credible and clear information. The seeking-information behavior was identified to be non-linear and iterative as the information overload and the inability to judge the information sources tended to interrupt the process of information-seeking. Implication: The observable in the research is that libraries need to pursue user-focused digital service and enhance information literacy initiatives to guide users on how to cope with complex webbased applications. It underlines the necessity of putting into consideration socio-cultural and contextual aspects in the formulation of inclusive information systems and literacy programs. As well, it is implied that human-information interaction will work well with balancing technology efficiency with critical thinking and active user engagement as the strategically vital role of libraries and educators in achieving an informed, digitally literate population. Originality/Value: The paper provides a comprehensive perspective of Human-Information Interaction by connecting the conventional theories of information behavior and modern digital practices. It gives new knowledge into the way cognitive, social and technological aspects influence user behaviour and library use. Keywords: Human–Information Interaction; Information-Seeking Behavior; Digital Libraries; User Behavior; Information Literacy; Library Engagement Paper type: Exploratory research

2 - Information literacy in the networked academic learning environment