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Journal of Information Literacy
Journal Prestige (SJR): 0.495  Citation Impact (citeScore): 1 Number of Followers: 967  Open Access journalISSN (Print) 1750-5968 Published by Loughborough University Library  [1 journal]
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- Working it
Authors: Alison Hicks
Pages: 1 - 3
PubDate: 2021-06-08
DOI: 10.11645/15.2.3010
Issue No: Vol. 15, No. 2 (2021)
- Information literacy of Polish state administration officials in the
context of the concept of "good governance"
Authors: Zbigniew Osiński
Pages: 4 - 25
Abstract: The article presents the results of research on information literacy (IL) of employees of selected state administration offices, those in which the concept of improving the quality of work, named "good governance", has been implemented. The first aim of the study was to determine the components of IL necessary for state administration employees and the deficiencies occurring in this respect. Another goal was to develop research methods and techniques which would be useful to achieve the first aim and to identify challenges of this study. The research was conducted in two stages. The first of them, carried out at the Lublin Provincial Office in Poland, was aimed at determining the information needs of individual official positions, identifying the IL essential for officials and the shortcomings in this regard. At this stage, the following research methods have been used: analysis of cards describing individual job positions in the office, the method of mapping knowledge in the office and the method of focused group interview. The second stage of the research was carried out in five provincial offices. This time, the main goal was to check whether the questionnaires developed by Polish researchers to study the information culture (the system of human attitudes towards information) of various social groups could be effectively used to study the IL of officials. It was assumed that the information culture of staff determined their ability to undertake information activities, including untypical ones, expected from them in line with the concept of "good governance". The conclusion reached was that IL of employees was underestimated in the current practice of state administration. A set of components of the information skills useful for working in various office job positions have been developed. It was reported that the information culture of the studied group was characterised by an optimistic perception of their own skills and their professional usefulness. Studies have shown that obtaining conclusive results indicating the level of specific information skills in the office environment is often not possible for reasons beyond the control of a researcher. Traditional IL testing methods are assumed to fail there. This is due to the Dunning-Kruger effect (Kruger & Dunning, 1999), as well as constraints imposed by the way offices function and decisions of the management of the office. It seems that achieving more precise results requires establishing close cooperation with the management of an examined group. Undertaking such research is necessary in the context of implementing the concept of "good governance" and a model of one of the methodologies has been presented in the article.
PubDate: 2021-06-08
DOI: 10.11645/15.2.2778
Issue No: Vol. 15, No. 2 (2021)
- Workplace information literacy
Authors: Gunilla Widén, Farhan Ahmad, Shahrokh Nikou, Bruce Ryan, Peter Cruickshank
Pages: 26 - 44
Abstract: This paper focuses information literacy (IL) from a methodological perspective, addressing quantitative IL measures, suitable for evaluating the role of IL in supporting work activities. So far, IL in workplace contexts has mostly been studied using qualitative methods, designed for studying situational and context-dependent practices. Therefore it is important to explore how quantitative measures could be used to bring forward the relation between IL and organisational outcomes, that is the assessment of the impact of IL in workplace contexts. Quantitative research into IL is not unknown, but has been mainly developed in higher education, in order to measure students’ abilities to make use of information. This paper brings forward three separate studies, conducted by the authors, highlighting different workplace contexts: small and medium enterprises; universities; and community councils. The common approach is that survey instruments were used to measure IL and its impact in these organisational contexts. The methodological implementations and insights are presented and combined, and methodological strengths and challenges are discussed, with the aims of (1) building knowledge about IL measures in workplace settings that is currently lacking, (2) finding additional measures for the complex IL construct, and (3) considering the scope of the practices that can be measured. The paper highlights the complexity of studying the impacts of IL in workplace contexts, and the importance of using multiple methods. It constitutes an important step towards a more unified understanding of how to study workplace IL.
PubDate: 2021-06-08
DOI: 10.11645/15.2.2812
Issue No: Vol. 15, No. 2 (2021)
- Exploring effective information use in an insurance workplace
Authors: Charles Inskip, Sophia Donaldson
Pages: 45 - 77
Abstract: As employability has become a more visible graduate attribute, it is becoming recognised that a better understanding of information practices in work may enable a smoother transition from university to employment. This paper discusses the current state of workplace information literacy and presents the findings of research into staff experiences of information use in a City insurance firm. A framework previously developed out of phenomenographic research into nursing is employed to draw parallels and highlight differences between insurance workplace and university student terminology. Context-specific hierarchical statements using the language of the participants are developed from coded interview texts. These statements, which are drawn together in illustrative personae, provide a rich and detailed view of the participants’ experience of effective information use. It is suggested that a better understanding of language use in communities of practice would facilitate transition both between and within the communities.
PubDate: 2021-06-08
DOI: 10.11645/15.2.2818
Issue No: Vol. 15, No. 2 (2021)
- Knowing and doing
Authors: Ellen Nierenberg, Torstein Låg, Tove Irene Dahl
Pages: 78 - 123
Abstract: This study touches upon three major themes in the field of information literacy (IL): the assessment of IL, the association between IL knowledge and skills, and the dimensionality of the IL construct. Three quantitative measures were developed and tested with several samples of university students to assess knowledge and skills for core facets of IL. These measures are freely available, applicable across disciplines, and easy to administer. Results indicate they are likely to be reliable and support valid interpretations. By measuring both knowledge and practice, the tools indicated low to moderate correlations between what students know about IL, and what they actually do when evaluating and using sources in authentic, graded assignments. The study is unique in using actual coursework to compare knowing and doing regarding students’ evaluation and use of sources. It provides one of the most thorough documentations of the development and testing of IL assessment measures to date. Results also urge us to ask whether the source-focused components of IL – information seeking, source evaluation and source use – can be considered unidimensional constructs or sets of disparate and more loosely related components, and findings support their heterogeneity.
PubDate: 2021-06-08
DOI: 10.11645/15.2.2795
Issue No: Vol. 15, No. 2 (2021)
- Web 2.0 tools and information literacy instruction in UK university
libraries
Authors: William Shire, Pam McKinney
Pages: 124 - 149
Abstract: The literature reveals a clear debate around the use of Web 2.0 tools in information literacy (IL) instruction, with some commentators arguing that they effectively support pedagogy and others arguing that there is no sustained evidence for this. Instead, they argue that many librarians are reluctant to use the tools, hindering their overall adoption. This mixed-methods study incorporated a survey and interview to explore this debate. The aim of the study was to analyse the adoption and perception of Web 2.0 tools for IL teaching specifically within university libraries in the United Kingdom. The results revealed that there is initial evidence to suggest that a large proportion of librarians are actively using Web 2.0 tools to support IL pedagogy, but that there is also a smaller group that has a negative reaction to them and do not consider them beneficial. This study provides new knowledge for researchers around the use of technology in IL teaching and librarians’ perception of it, addressing a key gap in the literature around the UK university sector. Additionally, it is particularly useful for practitioners, as the issues it raises can improve the use of technology in IL teaching.
PubDate: 2021-06-08
DOI: 10.11645/15.2.2821
Issue No: Vol. 15, No. 2 (2021)
- Enhancing students’ professional information literacy
Authors: Angela Joy Feekery, Katherine Chisholm, Carla Jeffrey, Fiona Diesch
Pages: 150 - 165
Abstract: Creating information literate students and future employees is an expected outcome of a tertiary education. This paper shares insights from a successful collaboration between an academic and three university librarians to create an online learning module designed to develop students’ professional information literacy capability: identifying business information types, searching online databases, and evaluating quality using a new indigenous-informed evaluation approach. Student learning was measured using reflective tasks and assessments. The paper challenges teachers and librarians to consider ways they can collaborate to explicitly embed information literacy (IL) skills development into large disciplinary courses, particularly during the transition into tertiary learning, to enhance lifelong learning capability and meet future workplace IL demands.
PubDate: 2021-06-08
DOI: 10.11645/15.2.2856
Issue No: Vol. 15, No. 2 (2021)
- Getting to work
Authors: Alexandra Hamlett
Pages: 166 - 177
Abstract: This article discusses how following graduation, students often enter the job market unprepared to find, evaluate, and use information in the digital environment effectively. Essentially, there is a disparity between the skills students attain in college coursework, including information literacy (IL) skills, and those required in the workplace, which impacts graduates’ success as new members of the labour market. The article highlights how collaboration between a librarian and an instructor of a career centered course influenced instructional design for IL instruction in their courses. Librarians and instructors will benefit from practical examples from Guttman Community College’s innovative IL Program and the professional courses, get creative ideas for instructional design, and learn new and exciting ways to deliver IL instruction.
PubDate: 2021-06-08
DOI: 10.11645/15.2.2857
Issue No: Vol. 15, No. 2 (2021)
- Using Wikipedia to teach scholarly peer review
Authors: Paul Anthony Thomas, Matthew F Jones, Spencer G Mattingly
Pages: 178 - 190
Abstract: This paper outlines a creative Wikipedia-based project developed by the University of Kansas (KU) Libraries and the KU Biology Department. Inspired by the tenets of open pedagogy, the purpose of this project is to use Wikipedia as a way for students to learn about the scholarly peer review process while also producing material that can be shared and used by the world outside the classroom. The paper is divided into three sections, with the first summarizing pertinent related literature related to the paper’s topic. From here, the paper describes the proposed assignment, detailing a process wherein students write new articles for the encyclopedia which are then anonymously peer reviewed by other students in the class; when articles are deemed acceptable, they are published via Wikipedia. The parallels between this project and academic peer review are emphasized throughout. The paper closes by discussing the importance of this project, arguing that it fills a known scholarly need, actively produces knowledge, furthers the aims of the open access movement, and furthers scientific outreach initiatives.
PubDate: 2021-06-08
DOI: 10.11645/15.2.2913
Issue No: Vol. 15, No. 2 (2021)
- Book review of C. McGuinness. 2021. Academic teaching librarian's
handbook
Authors: Suzie Williams
Pages: 191 - 192
PubDate: 2021-06-08
DOI: 10.11645/15.2.2987
Issue No: Vol. 15, No. 2 (2021)
- Book review of S. Aston and A. Walsh (eds.). 2021. Library pedagogies:
Personal reflections from library practitioners
Authors: Priya Mehta
Pages: 193 - 194
Abstract: N/A
PubDate: 2021-06-08
DOI: 10.11645/15.2.2965
Issue No: Vol. 15, No. 2 (2021)
- Book review of S. Goldstein (ed.) 2020. Informed societies: Why
Authors: Rahman Marefat
Pages: 195 - 197
PubDate: 2021-06-08
DOI: 10.11645/15.2.2967
Issue No: Vol. 15, No. 2 (2021)
