Conference Agenda

This paper describes how the Czech National Library of Technology in Prague (NTK) maps the information needs of its patrons and how it addresses the gaps in information literacy (IL) that (re-)appear in successive educational stages. In the past five years, NTK information specialists have provided individual consultations to 644 students and researchers and organized 230 IL workshops/webinars attended by 5,396 students and researchers. By combining qualitative and quantitative content analyses of these activities, we managed to identify structural IL gaps that extend from high school students to doctoral researchers:

• insufficient knowledge of searching tools and suitable search engines;

• insufficient ability to evaluate information found online;

• misapprehension of the main principles of referencing sources;

• lack of knowledge about citation managers;

• and difficulties with writing academic texts as such.

These findings point to the benefits of closing the IL gap earlier rather than later, as already suggested by other examples of best practice (Dolničar, Podgornik, Bartol & Šorgo, 2020; McPherson & Dube, 2016). We will illustrate this by presenting case studies dealing with the transition from high school to university and from Master to doctoral work. IL interventions earlier in the education cycle, in our case, appear to provide benefits later in life, but we have not yet performed a longitudinal study confirming this. Nevertheless, while the Czech education system does not yet require independent research and academic writing outputs in its high school curriculum (Výzkumný ústav pedagogický v Praze, 2007), our efforts to date (Razím & Chodounská, 2021; Martinová & Tassanyi, 2018; Tvrdá & Martinová, 2017) developed in cooperation with instructors, are in high demand. This anecdotally points to a need for more comprehensive IL interventions that systematically encompass the entire public educational cycle, as previously identified by Martinová & Tassanyi (2018).

The goal of our contribution is to show what structural IL gaps should be filled at the high school level and why, and how libraries could contribute to achieving this. Aside from continuing the aforementioned instructional services, we plan to extend our services to more schools and to resume our cooperation with the National Pedagogical Institute, with the hope that we can provide evidence-based data to the Czech Ministry of Education on the effectiveness of IL interventions and, perhaps in the form of a future longitudinal survey tracking student success over the long-term, show how IL leads to benefits such as better preparation for university-level work and/or civic engagement.

References

Dolničar, D., Podgornik, B. B., Bartol, T., & Šorgo, A. (2020). Added value of secondary school education toward development of information literacy of adolescents. Library & Information Science Research, 42(2), 101016.

Martinová, O., & Tassanyi, P. (2018). Navigating the maze: Collaborating with teachers to meet information literacy challenges. In S. Špiranec et al. (Eds.), The Sixth European Conference on Information Literacy (ECIL): Abstracts, September 24-27, 2018, Oulu, Finland (p. 131). Oulu: University of Oulu.

McPherson, H., & Dube, M. (2016). Reducing the information literacy gap in high school students: An action research study. Knowledge Quest, 45(2), 48–55.

Razím, T. & Chodounská, A. (2021). Podpora výuky chemie v Národní technické knihovně. Chemické Listy, 115(10), 547–549.

Tvrdá, P., & Martinová, O. (2017). Partners in class: A needs-based approach to high school curricular support at the National Library of Technology in Prague. In S. Špiranec et al. (Eds.), The Fifth European Conference on Information Literacy (ECIL): Abstracts, September 18-21, 2017, Saint-Malo, France (p. 195). Saint-Malo: Information Literacy Association.

Výzkumný ústav pedagogický v Praze. (2007). Rámcový vzdělávací program pro gymnázia. Retrieved January 9, 2023 from https://www.edu.cz/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/RVPG-2007-07_final.pdf

I completed a PhD in Information Literacy (IL) at UiT The Arctic University of Norway in November, 2022. Two of my research questions were:

1. How can we measure students’ IL knowledge (know), skills (do), and interest in being or becoming information literate (feel)?

2. In which ways do students develop as information literate individuals over their first three years as undergraduates?

I developed four tools to quantitatively measure students’ IL knowledge, skills, and interest. In addition, I interviewed students to gain insight into their perceptions of their development as information literate individuals. The use of mixed methods allowed me to better explore the totality of their growth. I paid special attention to possible transformative IL learning or changes in their identity as information literate people. In this presentation, I briefly introduce the IL tools and present main findings from my research.

I evaluated the tools I developed for this research for reliability and validity; the tools are freely available for others to use. To measure IL knowledge (knowing), I used the 21-item test, TILT (Nierenberg, Låg, & Dahl, 2021). TILT measures students’ knowledge of three main facets of IL: finding, evaluating, and using information sources. To assess students’ IL skills in practice (doing), I employed two assignment-based measures. One measure assesses the ability to evaluate sources and the other measures the ability to use sources correctly when writing. I developed the questionnaire, TRIQ, to measure students’ interest in being or becoming information literate people (feeling) In developing TRIQ I was informed by Hidi and Renninger’s (2006) four-phase model of interest development (Dahl & Nierenberg, 2021). TRIQ is composed of several subscales, including the Meaningfulness and Competence level, and I designed it to measure how interest changes over time.

I utilized this suite of four tools to measure students’ knowing, doing, and feeling at several points during the first three years of their undergraduate education. Results revealed that their IL knowledge and skills increased with time, as expected, while findings from TRIQ’s interest subscales showed varied results. Interestingly, correlations between knowing, doing, and feeling scores also increased with time, possibly indicating an integration of knowledge, skills, and interest, and thereby a deeper kind of learning.

Regarding the second research question, students’ perceptions of themselves as information literate people clearly evolved during their three years of higher education. Interview findings indicate that some students experienced glimmers of transformative IL learning and changes in identity as information literate individuals (Nierenberg, 2022). By employing mixed methods, where quantitative and qualitative findings are integrated, I found the evidence for transformative learning was strengthened. This research lays the foundation for subsequent research by identifying specific qualities of the student experience in capturing IL growth, transformation, and identity change.

References

Dahl, T. I., & Nierenberg, E. (2021). Here’s the TRIQ: The Tromsø Interest Questionnaire based on the four-phase model of interest development. Frontiers in Education, 6(402), 1–17.

Hidi, S., & Renninger, K. A. (2006). The four-phase model of interest development. Educational Psychologist, 41(2), 111–127.

Nierenberg, E. (2022). Understanding the development of information literacy in higher education: Knowing, doing, and feeling [article-based thesis, UiT The Arctic University of Norway]. Tromsø, Norway. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10037/27245

Nierenberg, E., Låg, T., & Dahl, T. I. (2021). Knowing and doing: The development of information literacy measures to assess knowledge and practice. Journal of Information Literacy, 15(2), 78–123.

Over 85% of students doing their Masters’ degree in Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences are over 30 years old (Education Statistics Finland 2022), usually meaning that some time has passed since their first degree. When returning to studies, their information literacy (IL) skills need updating to help them use the current databases and search portals effectively. Together with the teachers from the health faculty, academic librarians worked on finding the best information literacy guidance tools for Masters’ degree students in LAB University of Applied Sciences.

Scoping the Needs with Service Design

A service design process was initiated in early 2022 to find ways to enhance the information retrieval skills of the Master’s Students. Information was gathered using mixed methods, including observation, interview, survey and scoping to form a versatile view of the current situation.

Customer profiles were created for three different student types based on the collected data. The student types showed differences in their need for guidance and support – one being a super achiever and needing just a little push in the right direction, the other needing more structured and personalized help, and the third looking for individualized support. Solution ideas most beneficial for all student types were a step-by-step guide for updating and refreshing the information retrieval skills and an entry-level skills test which allows the students to reflect on and evaluate their IL skills.

Useful Tools for Adult Learners

The step-by-step guide that emphasized search skills and tools was created in summer 2022. This guide was designed to work with the already existing comprehensive information retrieval guide. The new guide was tested with a pilot group of summer course students. According to the course lecturer, the students had less difficulties finding and identifying academic sources with the help of the new guide.

The teachers viewed the step-by-step guide as such an important part of the studies that they wanted to ensure and control that the students have familiarized themselves with the guide. The entry-level skills test was created in autumn 2022 for this purpose. Passing the test is a mandatory part of a research methods course. The test was piloted in spring 2023.

As Marquez and Downey (2015) state, using a service design process can help the library refine existing services to meet the needs of our patrons and ensure through collaboration that the services are effective and relevant. Customer profiles offer a good way to remind the librarians of the diverse customer base, and to make sure the adult learners’ specific needs are met.

References

Education Statistics Finland. (2022) University of applied sciences (UAS) education. Students and degrees. Retrieved January 20, 2023, from https://vipunen.fi/en-gb/polytechnic/Pages/Opiskelijat-ja-tutkinnot.aspx

Marquez, J., & Downey, A. (2015). Service design: An introduction to a holistic assessment methodology of library services. Weave: Journal of Library User Experience, 1(2).

Information literacy is extremely relevant in academic education for prospective researchers, teachers and future enterpreneurs. DigComp 2.2 ((Vuorikari, R. et al., 2022) offers many examples of knowledge, skills and attitudes desirable for information and data literate citizens and workers, many related to the retrieval and management of documents, both analogic and digital. Such competences should be part of the learning goals at the end of any academic path; they mark students’ individual growth and foster their future careers, especially if certified. Open badges are a useful assessment tool enabling students to spend those competences in the job market.

Academic libraries that contribute to building these competences may become more visible within their institutions, advocating for themselves.

The University of Trieste Library system took advantage of the pandemic-related closures in 2021 to build an online, self-paced and self-learning information literacy course for students. The project was run at no extra cost, employing the time of librarians during the lockdown. The final product was hosted on the institutional Moodle platform. The course goals aim at increasing information literacy skills, including the ability to “recognize information needs and to locate, evaluate, apply and create information” (IFLA, The Alexandria Proclamation, 2005) including “how to use it in an ethical way” (IFLA, MIL Recommendations, 2011). An expected side-effect of the course would be to enhance knowledge about and use of library services and resources of any format among students, for whom the library is not always the first port of call.

The first edition, developed by the Science and Technology Library in academic year (A.A.) 2021/22, was tailored to the needs of STEM students. In A.A. 2022/2023 the course underwent a restyling. The materials were reorganized and expanded to meet multidisciplinary needs.

Participants who pass the final test earn a digital Open badge, the international standard to valorize individual competencies. Open badges are easily shareable on individual portfolios, CVs, social media accounts, personal websites. Officially announced in October 2022, the second edition of the course, by the 8th of March 2023, had released 432 badges, the highest number among the 8 badges granted by the University of Trieste.

This report sets such experience within the information literacy framework: it describes the genesis of the course, its learning goals (compliant with UN SDGs 4,10,17), and analyses the progress from the first to the second edition. It reports how it became an open-badge course and the resources underlying its development. Analysing the feedback of the participants of the current edition, it discusses lessons learned and ideas for further improvements.

Moreover, the paper puts in question the limits of such experiences: how far are they able to produce a deep change? Can they be defined as “information literacy” or simply “library instruction”? Are they flagships to advocate for the role of libraries themselves?

References

IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions). (2005). Beacons of the Information Society: The Alexandria Proclamation on Information Literacy and Lifelong Learning. Retrieved June 15, 2023 from https://www.ifla.org/publications/beacons-of-the-information-society-the-alexandria-proclamation-on-information-literacy-and-lifelong-learning

IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions). (2011). IFLA Media and Information Literacy Recommendations. Retrieved June 15, 2023, from https://www.ifla.org/publications/ifla-media-and-information-literacy-recommendations

Vuorikari, R., Kluzer, S., Punie, Y., European Commission, & Joint Research Centre. (2022). DigComp 2.2: The Digital Competence framework for citizens: with new examples of knowledge, skills and attitudes. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. Retrieved June 15, 2023, from https://op.europa.eu/publication/manifestation_identifier/PUB_KJNA31006ENN