Search results

The study sought to assess and evaluate the information literacy experiences and competencies of nursing students at Aga Khan University, Uganda. A review of information literacy (IL) programs was done to establish the competencies students acquired from the library staff and examine the contribution of IL competencies to the effective utilization of library information resources.

A qualitative descriptive research design was used to describe the participants' experiences regarding IL competencies. The study population included 35 nursing students pursuing a diploma of science in nursing in the second year of study. Purposive sampling was utilized to identify only second-year diploma students who had undertaken the IL training. The study utilized individual interviews and open-ended questionnaires.

The study found that nursing students who attained some IL competencies could easily locate the required information; IL was not integrated into the curriculum as a stand-alone course unit, but rather a few elements were embedded in some of the nursing course units like research, nursing informatics and academic writing. Furthermore, there was no well-developed IL curriculum used for teaching the subject. The study also noted that there was a minimum collaboration between the faculty and librarians in teaching IL at AKU. Findings showed there was a gap in the IL program delivery.

This study extends the literature on the subject by bringing together current views and opinions of the three populations involved to present a more comprehensive view of the challenges academia faces regarding teaching and student acquisition of IL skills.

This paper seeks to advance the case for designing an information and knowledge management curriculum (IKMC) to produce information and knowledge management professionals (IKMPs) in the Standing Conference of Eastern, Central and Southern Africa Library and Information Associations (SCECSAL) region. It highlights challenges and solutions and proposes a model IKMC.

The paper is based on the analysis of literature on Library and Information Science (LIS) curriculum design, implementation and review; research findings by renowned LIS curriculum experts; discussions and sharing experiences with colleagues in LIS education institutions – Eastern African School of Library and Information Science and LIS departments at the Uganda Christian University and Kyambogo University in addition to the author's research and publications on curriculum design and management.

The paper posits that the SCECSAL region is already in the Information and Knowledge Society (IKS) and that appropriate information and knowledge (IK) are pre‐requisites to the promotion and sustainability of democracy and good governance (Gg). It emphasises that information and knowledge management (IKM) are the corner stones of the IKS, because they constitute the framework of theory and competencies vital in managing information and knowledge. Furthermore, effective IKM is the pillar of producing the IKMPs themselves, a product of appropriate and well managed IKMC. The paper proposes an IKMC Model capable of producing IKMPs in the SCECSAL region.

The proposed curriculum model should be the framework to be adopted by the LIS education and training institutions in the SCECSAL region to produce IKMPs with theory and competencies to manage the IKS towards enhancing democracy and Gg.

This paper aims to present recently published resources on library instruction and information literacy (IL). 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 researchers wishing to learn about IL in other contexts.

This paper annotates 374 English-language periodical articles, dissertations, theses and reports on library instruction and IL published in 2023. 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 2023 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 adeptly.

The paper provides a brief description of 374 sources from 159 unique publications and highlights publications that contain unique or significant scholarly contributions. Further analysis of the sources and authorship are provided such as country affiliation and institutional Carnegie classification.

The information is primarily of use to academic librarians, researchers and anyone interested as a convenient and comprehensive reference to literature on library instruction and IL published within 2023.