Page 5 - THE IMPLEMENTATION OF INFORMATION LITERACY PROGRAMME IN LIBRARIES

THE IMPLEMENTATION OF INFORMATION LITERACY PROGRAMME IN LIBRARIES

“IMPLEMENTATION OF INFORMATION LITERACY PROGRAMME IN

LIBRARIES”

CHAPTER 1:

INTRODUCTION

1.1 INTRODUCTION

As time goes by, the use of information becomes increasingly sophisticated and act as

indicator to measure level of knowledge of human being. Besides, in this era of
globalization and the arrival of internet, getting information is easy but getting the right

one can be difficult. According to American Library Association (2004), information
literacy is a set of abilities that require an individual who can identify when information

is needed and he or she has the ability to locate, evaluate and use effectively the needed

information. Armstrong (2005), stated that information literacy is knowing when and why
you need the information, where to find it and how to evaluate, use and communicate it in

an ethical manner.

What information literate is when someone capable to differentiate between good

or bad information, know how to use the information wisely and verify the information

before it is spread to others. Being information literate, people can improved their lives
where they can find relevant information, assess its quality and use it in order to make

better decisions or develop new knowledge.

Hence, the implementation of information literacy program in library is quite

essential in order to educate community become information literate. So, the

implementation of information literacy program in library comes into variant ways. As for
academic libraries, Szarina et al. (2006) concluded in their study where it is compulsory

to students who have attended a one semester to participate in information skills course
and library orientation and they have higher mean score at the advanced and intermediate

levels than those who have not. In Malaysia, Edzan and Zainab (2005) noted that about
nine public universities in Malaysia conduct form of information literacy course for their

undergraduate students using teacher-centred approach. All these programmes are

prepared, managed and delivered by the librarians with the help of library staff.

Kenya National Library Service (KNLS) act as public libraries where orientation

is offered mainly to users and many of them are unable to use the information resources

IMC 651: EVALUATION OF INFORMATION SERVICES 5