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1 – 10 of over 1000Amos Shibambu and Samuel Maredi Mojapelo
In today’s information and knowledge society, it is indispensable for citizens to acquire the requisite digital and information literacy (IL) skills to search information…
Abstract
Purpose
In today’s information and knowledge society, it is indispensable for citizens to acquire the requisite digital and information literacy (IL) skills to search information independently to meet their multiple and diverse information needs. As a result of digitalisation in the world, development and acquisition of digital and information skills is critical even for students and learners to retrieve digitised and online information to meet or achieve their curriculum-related accomplishments. The purpose of this study is to investigate the status of the digital and information literacies in South Africa from 2016 to 2022.
Design/methodology/approach
This qualitative study used a scoping review approach to collect data from research articles, conference articles and textbooks on digital literacy and IL – published in the years ranging between 2016 and 2022 from Google Scholar.
Findings
The major findings revealed that majority of the citizens especially students and learners lack digital and IL skills to recognise when information is needed, to find, locate, evaluate and use the retrieved information to meet an information need in a particular situation or context. Practical implications of this study include the alignment of curricula towards information and communication technologies to face the everchanging digital information technologies.
Originality/value
The study used scoping literature review research where empirical studies were retrieved and selected to address the objectives. This study provided significant approaches regarding promoting information and digital literacies in developing countries such as South Africa.
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Albert D. Ritzhaupt, Angela Marie Kohnen, Christine Wusylko, Xiaoman Wang, Kara Dawson and Max Sommer
The purpose of this study is to explore the role skepticism plays among adolescents’ online information literacy skills.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore the role skepticism plays among adolescents’ online information literacy skills.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors provide the conceptual grounding to operationalize and measure the notion of skepticism in an online information literacy context. Inspired by an existing measure known as the Skepticism Scale (Hurtt, 2010), the authors made substantial revisions to the scale to target middle school and high school students’ skepticism in six distinct, but related factors: questioning mind; search for knowledge; suspension of judgment; self-esteem; interpersonal understanding; and autonomy. The authors provide preliminary evidence of validity and reliability of the revised Skepticism Scale using Exploratory Factor Analysis and performed multiple linear regression using the Skepticism Scale measures to predict an adolescents’ online information literacy skills.
Findings
The Skepticism Scale was found to produce internally consistent constructs for all six measures. Three of the six measures were related to online information literacy skills, including the search for knowledge, interpersonal understanding and questioning mind.
Originality/value
This paper attempts to examine the potentially positive role of skepticism in information literacy skills among adolescents.
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Sarah Amber Evans, Lingzi Hong, Jeonghyun Kim, Erin Rice-Oyler and Irhamni Ali
Data literacy empowers college students, equipping them with essential skills necessary for their personal lives and careers in today’s data-driven world. This study aims to…
Abstract
Purpose
Data literacy empowers college students, equipping them with essential skills necessary for their personal lives and careers in today’s data-driven world. This study aims to explore how community college students evaluate their data literacy and further examine demographic and educational/career advancement disparities in their self-assessed data literacy levels.
Design/methodology/approach
An online survey presenting a data literacy self-assessment scale was distributed and completed by 570 students at four community colleges. Statistical tests were performed between the data literacy factor scores and students’ demographic and educational/career advancement variables.
Findings
Male students rated their data literacy skills higher than females. The 18–19 age group has relatively lower confidence in their data literacy scores than other age groups. High school graduates do not feel proficient in data literacy to the level required for college and the workplace. Full-time employed students demonstrate more confidence in their data literacy than part-time and nonemployed students.
Originality/value
Given the lack of research on community college students’ data literacy, the findings of this study can be valuable in designing and implementing data literacy training programs for different groups of community college students.
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Despite the ever-increasing importance of cultivating information, communication and technology literacy skills among college students, they have yet to be related to…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite the ever-increasing importance of cultivating information, communication and technology literacy skills among college students, they have yet to be related to comprehensive measuring instruments. A glance at the empirical literature reveals that most pertinent scales have been confined to measuring Internet literacy skills, whereas educators in the 21st century advocate an inclusive conceptualization of ICT literacy. Such a comprehensive conceptualization embodies technical, critical, cognitive and emotional competencies. Additionally, more empirical evidence is needed to indicate gaps in testing measurement invariance of ICT literacy scales across genders or cultures. To that end, the current study aims to adapt and cross-validate an ICT literacy self-efficacy scale across gender by testing the measurement invariance using a multiple-sampling confirmatory factor analysis (MCFA). Furthermore, the current study aims to verify the ICT literacy self-efficacy scale's psychometric properties to establish its construct validity and understand the scale's underlying factorial structure.
Design/methodology/approach
The current study has administered the scale to a cross-sectional sample of 3560 undergraduate students enrolled in six universities in the Sultanate of Oman.
Findings
The results have revealed that the ICT literacy self-efficacy exhibits satisfactory indices of construct validity. On the other hand, the results of MCFA demonstrate that the differences in the goodness of fit indices between the nested models and the baseline model were below the cut-off criterion of 0.01, indicating invariance. Therefore, the scale has proved to be amenable for comparing genders on their ICT literacy self-efficacy using an one-way multivariate analysis of variance.
Originality/value
The study has several implications for research and pedagogical practices. The study provides empirical evidence for establishing ICT literacy self-efficacy as a distinct high-domain construct of task-specific self-efficacy beliefs.
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Haleema Saadia and Muhammad Asif Naveed
This research examined the effects of information literacy on lifelong learning, creativity, and work performance among journalists in Pakistan.
Abstract
Purpose
This research examined the effects of information literacy on lifelong learning, creativity, and work performance among journalists in Pakistan.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey research design was applied to conduct this research. The participants were recruited through a stratified convenient sampling process from the press clubs of four provinces (e.g. Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Baluchistan) and the federal capital Islamabad with the consent of relevant authorities for data collection. An online questionnaire was distributed among these journalists and a total of 1,089 responses were received. The data were analyzed by applying descriptive and inferential statistics in SPSS.
Findings
The results revealed that these journalists perceived themselves as information literate. The information literacy (IL) skills of journalists appeared to have a direct and positive effect on their lifelong learning, creativity, and work performance. In other words, the lifelong learning, creativity, and work performance of journalists increase as their levels of IL skills increase.
Practical implications
These results generated useful insights for academicians and organizations about the importance of IL in the workplace and its influence on organizational effectiveness and performance in gaining a sustainable competitive advantage. This knowledge might be crucial for media employers to initiate training programs for journalists to impart IL education.
Originality/value
This research would be a worthwhile contribution to the existing research on workplace IL, particularly in the context of journalists' workplace as no such comprehensive study using these variables appeared so far.
Peer review
The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-06-2022-0345.
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Pritika Reddy, Bibhya Sharma, Kaylash Chaudhary, Osaiasi Lolohea and Robert Tamath
The purpose of this study is to evaluate student visual literacy skills using the newly designed visual literacy framework and visual literacy (VL) scale.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to evaluate student visual literacy skills using the newly designed visual literacy framework and visual literacy (VL) scale.
Design/methodology/approach
It includes a newly designed framework, a self-reporting questionnaire and a scale to evaluate an individual's VL skills and overall competency. The self-reporting questionnaire consists of 13 items with a five-point Likert scale.
Findings
The newly developed VL skill scale assessed the Fiji students’ competency (i.e. identify, understand, evaluate and communicate using visuals). The mean for the 13 items on VL skills showed average results, but 46.33% recorded high visual literacy competencies. The multiple linear regression analysis outcomes showed all 13 skills demonstrated significant contributions to becoming visually literate.
Research limitations/implications
The limitation of this study is that the questionnaire is self-reporting, so the evaluation can be highly rated. The implications are that relevant stakeholders will be able to devise strategies and content to improve visual literacy in Fiji.
Practical implications
Images are playing an important role today, especially after COVID-19, which forced the education system to go online. Online learning involves a lot of visuals, and as such, visual literacy is important to students so that they can successfully learn online. This paper brings out the important aspects of visual literacy, which needs to be understood by the students.
Social implications
In society, everything involves visuals. This paper introduces a visual literacy scale and a visual literacy tool to measure the visual competencies of individuals. If people understand the components of visual literacy, then visual competencies of the people will also improve.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first one on evaluating visual literacy competencies in Fiji and also in the South Pacific. The visual literacy tool is also new to the world.
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Theo J.D. Bothma and Ina Fourie
Needs for information literacy, disparities in society, bridging digital divides, richness of information sources in electronic (e-)environments and the value of dictionaries have…
Abstract
Purpose
Needs for information literacy, disparities in society, bridging digital divides, richness of information sources in electronic (e-)environments and the value of dictionaries have often been propagated. To improve information sources and information literacy training, information behaviour must be understood (i.e. all information activities). This paper conceptualises new opportunities for information sources (e.g. electronic dictionaries) to all society sectors, dictionary literacy and research lenses such as lexicography to supplement information literacy and behaviour research.
Design/methodology/approach
A scoping review of information literacy and behaviour, lexicography and dictionary literature grounds the conceptualisation of dictionary literacy, its alignment with information literacy, information activities and information behaviour and lexicography as additional research lens.
Findings
Research lenses must acknowledge dictionary use in e-environments, information activities and skills, meanings of information and dictionary literacy, the value of e-dictionaries, alignment with information behaviour research that guides the development of information sources and interdisciplinary research from, e.g. lexicography – thus contextualisation.
Research limitations/implications
Research implications – information behaviour and information literacy research can be enriched by lexicography as research lens. Further conceptualisation could align information behaviour, information literacy and dictionary literacy.
Practical implications
Dictionary training, aligned with information literacy training, can be informed by this paper.
Social implications
The value of dictionary literacy for all sectors of societies can be improved.
Originality/value
Large bodies of literature on information behaviour and lexicography individually do not cover combined insights from both.
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Carolyn Caffrey, Hannah Lee, Tessa Withorn, Elizabeth Galoozis, Maggie Clarke, Thomas Philo, Jillian Eslami, Dana Ospina, Aric Haas, Katie Paris Kohn, Kendra Macomber, Hallie Clawson and Wendolyn Vermeer
This paper aims to present recently published resources on library instruction and information literacy. It provides an introductory overview and a selected annotated bibliography…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present recently published resources on library instruction and information literacy. It provides an introductory overview and a selected annotated bibliography of publications organized thematically and detailing, study populations, results and research contexts. The selected bibliography is useful to efficiently keep up with trends in library instruction for academic library practitioners, library science students and those wishing to learn about information literacy in other contexts.
Design/methodology/approach
This article annotates 340 English-language periodical articles, dissertations, theses and reports on library instruction and information literacy published in 2022. The sources were selected from the EBSCO platform for Library, Information Science and Technology Abstracts (LISTA), Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), Elsevier SCOPUS and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. Sources selected were published in 2022 and included the terms “information literacy,” “library instruction,” or “information fluency” in the title, subject terms, or author supplied keywords. The sources were organized in Zotero. Annotations were made summarizing the source, focusing on the findings or implications. Each source was then thematically categorized and organized for academic librarians to be able to skim and use the annotated bibliography efficiently.
Findings
The paper provides a brief description of 340 sources from 144 unique publications, and highlights publications that contain unique or significant scholarly contributions. Further analysis of the sources and authorship are provided.
Originality/value
The information is primarily of use to academic librarians, researchers, and anyone interested as a quick and comprehensive reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy published within 2022.
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Information literacy (IL) is clearly important for academic performance, as evidenced by literature. It could be defined as a set of abilities, attitudes and experiences that…
Abstract
Purpose
Information literacy (IL) is clearly important for academic performance, as evidenced by literature. It could be defined as a set of abilities, attitudes and experiences that enable people to recognize when they need information to solve an issue. The importance of investigating students’ IL competencies cannot be overstated. This study therefore aims to look into the IL development and competencies of high school students in Accra, as there appears to be a dearth of systematic study on this in Ghana.
Design/methodology/approach
To investigate this phenomenon, the study used a survey research design with a mixed-methods approach and a post-positivist research paradigm. A total of 454 high school students, 3 librarians and 3 heads of ICT departments from three senior high schools in Accra participated in this study. This study used two methods: an audit of the IL programmes and practices available at the selected schools as well as IL literacy assessment through the use of a standardized test instrument. The data collection tools used were a semi-structured interview schedule and a questionnaire.
Findings
This study found that high school students in Accra had low IL competencies. Again, the findings of this study revealed that inadequate infrastructure and lack of formalized IL instructions in schools hindered the IL development of students.
Originality/value
The author considers the study original both in conceptualization and design. The main question being interrogated stems from identified gaps in the literature and this study intends to fill these knowledge gaps. This study’s originality also stems from the fact that there is a paucity of information on the subject of study in the context of Ghana. This study recommends the need to integrate IL in the school curriculum to ensure effective and efficient IL instructions in high schools.
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Effective use of data is critically important for the provision of health services. A large proportion of employees in health organisations work in non-clinical roles and play a…
Abstract
Purpose
Effective use of data is critically important for the provision of health services. A large proportion of employees in health organisations work in non-clinical roles and play a major part in organisational information flows. However, their practice, data-related capabilities and learning needs have been rarely studied. The purpose of this paper is to investigate issues of capabilities and learning needs related to employees' interactions with data in non-clinical work roles.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used a mixed-method approach. Qualitative methods were used to explore issues, and survey was administered to gather additional data.
Findings
Data use and related capabilities at the workplace are highly contextual. A range of general, core and data-specific capabilities, underpinned by transferable skills and personal traits, enable successful interactions with data. Continuous learning is needed in most areas related to data use.
Research limitations/implications
The study was conducted in a large public-health organisation in Australia, which is not representative of unique organisations elsewhere. The study has implications for the provision of health services, workplace learning and education.
Practical implications
Findings have implications for organisational decisions related to data-use and workplace learning, and for formal education and lifelong learning.
Originality/value
The study contributes to closing a research gap in understanding interactions with data, capabilities and learning needs of employees in non-clinical work roles. Capabilities continuum presented in this paper can be used to inform education, training and service provision. The workplace-based results contribute to theoretical considerations of capabilities required for work in technology-rich environments.
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