An assessment of information literacy skills among fourth year library and information science students at the University of Zambia

Abstract

In every institution, organization and the world at large, information is vital for decision making, reduction of uncertainty and question answering. Therefore, it is cardinal that an individual possesses information literacy skills that will enable him or her to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use the needed information effectively as indispensable skills for the 21st Century and beyond. Therefore, this study was designed to assess information literacy skills among fourth year Library and Information Science students at the University of Zambia. Areas of focus of the study were to determine the level of knowledge on information literacy skills among fourth year Library and Information Science students, as well as to identify the commonly used information search strategies and finally to identify the student’s areas of strength and weakness in information literacy skills. Data was collected from 80 conveniently sampled or selected fourth year library and information science students for the 2018/2019 academic year using self-administered questionnaires. Out of the 80 questionnaires distributed, 73 questionnaires were returned giving a response rate of 91%. The results showed that most of the fourth-year library and information science students at the University of Zambia had an idea of what information literacy is about. However, upon examination of the students by giving them questions, it was observed that the majority had poor information literacy skills. On the search strategies the respondents indicated that they were most familiar with open-ended searching and over half of the students were also able to check for the accuracy of information they retrieved. Most of the respondents had problems in organising information, a few said that they had problems in presentation and identifying when information was needed. Therefore, the study concluded that presentation and identification of information were the respondent’s possible areas of strength because only a few acknowledged having challenges in these skills. Finally, the study recommended that the library and information science faculty should re-introduce LIS9045, a purely information literacy course as a compulsory course from second year to fourth in order to advance students information literacy skills.