Users' trust in information resources in the Web environment: a status report

This study has three aims; to provide an overview of the ways in which trust is either assessed or asserted in relation to the use and provision of resources in the Web environment for research and learning; to assess what solutions might be worth further investigation and whether establishing ways to assert trust in academic information resources could assist the development of information literacy; to help increase understanding of how perceptions of trust influence the behaviour of information users

Should We Flip the Script?: A Literature Review of Deficit-Based Perspectives on First-Year Undergraduate Students’ Information Literacy

This mixed method systematic review considers recent literature on the information literacy (IL) skills of first-year undergraduate students. The review uncovers the following themes: faculty and librarians perceive first-year students as lacking IL skills; students have varying perceptions of their IL skills; assessment studies yield conflicting findings on first-year students\u27 IL; communication between high school and college librarians is challenging; and some IL researchers emphasise and leverage first-year students\u27 prior knowledge and experience in IL instruction. These themes emerge from extensive searches in four research databases for scholarly and professional articles written in English within the past ten years. With the exception of a few articles, studies reviewed consistently express their findings in terms of students’ gaps or deficits. We question whether this is the most productive basis for developing effective IL programs. Instead, we call for further investigation of students’ existing knowledge and skills as a basis for implementing constructivist and strengths-based pedagogies

Librarians as Teachers: A Qualitative Inquiry into Professional Identity

This study explores the development of ???teacher identity??? among academic librarians through a series of semi-structured interviews. Drawing both on the idea of teacher identity from the literature of teacher education and on existing studies of professional stereotypes and professional identity development among academic librarians, this study explores the degree to which academic librarians think of themselves as teachers, the ways in which teaching has become a feature of their professional identity, and the factors that may influence academic librarians to adopt a ???teacher identity??? as part of their personal understandings of their role on campus.published or submitted for publicationis peer reviewe

Exploring behaviour in the online environment: student perceptions of information literacy

The aim of this paper is to show how information literacy can be conceptualised as a key learning process related to discipline and academic maturity, rather than as a generic skill. Results of a small-scale study including questionnaires and observation of student behaviour are reported and analysed in relation to Bruces 'seven faces of information literacy' framework. The findings illustrate that information literacy is a highly situated practice that remains undeveloped through mandatory schooling. Some methodological issues are considered in relation to researching information literacy, including the limits of the Bruce model as a framework for analysis. We also show how decontextualised courses can foreground and privilege certain behaviours that are beneficial but that developing higher-level information literate attitudes is likely to be an iterative and contextualised process

Is there an information literacy skills gap to be bridged? An examination of faculty perceptions and activities relating to information literacy in the United States and England.

Surveys of faculty were conducted at two higher education institutions in England and the United States to ascertain their perceptions of information literacy. Faculty were also asked about the extent to which they incorporated information literacy skills into their courses. Similarities were found across the two institutions both in the importance that faculty attached to information skills and what they actually did to incorporate the skills within curricula. The results reflect an information literacy skills gap between what faculty (and librarians) want for their students and the practical reality. Librarians and faculty should work collaboratively together to bridge this gap

Effectiveness of academic writing activities and instruction in an academic literacy writing course at the University of Botswana

The purpose of this paper is to report on the University of Botswana undergraduate students’ and lecturers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of academic writing activities and instruction given in Communication and Academic Literacy Skills (COM112) academic writing module. Students (n= 46) and lecturers (n=2) who have taught the course were probed through a questionnaire adapted from (Krause, 2001) on their instruction and assessment of the course. Fifteen (n= 12) Students were also interviewed in a focus group. The data obtained indicated that students and lecturers held different perceptions about the effectiveness of the academic writing activities and instruction. These results have implications for classroom pedagogy in that lecturers need to consider the perceptions and needs of students (Nunan, 1989) if they are to fully adopt a learner centred approach to learning and teaching that is suggested by the University of Botswana (UB) Learning and teaching policy (2008)

Never On A Sunday: The Sabbath And The Christian Academic Library - Part 1

The article will appear in two parts. Part One examines the biblical basis for the positions taken and makes a general application. Part Two, in the next issue, will look at the application of Scripture to the world of Christian higher education and its libraries

The unseen and unacceptable face of digital libraries

The social and organisational aspects of digital libraries (DLs) are often overlooked, but this paper reviews how they can affect users' awareness and acceptance of DLs. An analysis of research conducted within two contrasting domains (clinical and academic) is presented which highlights issues of user interactions, work practices and organisational social structures. The combined study comprises an analysis of 98 in-depth interviews and focus groups with lecturers, librarians and hospital clinicians. The importance of current and past roles of the library, and how users interacted with it, are revealed. Web-based DLs, while alleviating most library resource and interaction problems, require a change in librarians' and DL designers' roles and interaction patterns if they are to be implemented acceptably and effectively. Without this role change, users will at best be unaware of these digital resources and at worst feel threatened by them. The findings of this paper highlight the importance of DL design and implementation of the social context and supporting user communication (i.e., collaboration and consultation) in information searching and usage activities. © Springer-Verlag 2004

The onus on us? Stage one in developing an i-Trust model for our users.

This article describes a Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC)-funded project, conducted by a cross-disciplinary team, examining trust in information resources in the web environment employing a literature review and online Delphi study with follow-up community consultation. The project aimed to try to explain how users assess or assert trust in their use of resources in the web environment; to examine how perceptions of trust influence the behavior of information users; and to consider whether ways of asserting trust in information resources could assist the development of information literacy. A trust model was developed from the analysis of the literature and discussed in the consultation. Elements comprising the i-Trust model include external factors, internal factors and user's cognitive state. This article gives a brief overview of the JISC funded project which has now produced the i-Trust model (Pickard et. al. 2010) and focuses on issues of particular relevance for information providers and practitioners

Evaluating empowerment and control of HE e-learning in a secure environment

With the increased spread of HE distance learning into a wide variety of contexts it is important for us to understand the factors involved in its successful deployment for students. E-learning has a great potential to support effective and empowering HE distance learning (Wilson, 2007; Adams, 2005; Hughes, 2005). However, within two secure environments, prisons and health service, the factors involved are complex. This paper reviews HE e-learning technology perceptions within these two contrasting contexts from 225 students' and stakeholders' perspectives. Previous research has detailed literature limitations on obtaining students' perspectives of e-learning (Conole et al, 2006). These limitations are compounded when other stakeholder perceptions are not integrated (Sun et al, 2007; Adams et al, 2005; Millen at al, 2002). This paper developed and applied an e-learning framework for student and stakeholder perceptions. This social psychological framework, is based on previous practice based e-learning studies and is used here to synthesise two large-scale case studies. The framework focuses on three concepts learner Access (e.g. learning design, technology design, physical access), Awareness (e.g. of resources, their usage and support for e-learning tasks) and Acceptability (e.g. trust, privacy, aesthetics, engagement). Students' and stakeholders' perceptions identified high levels of students' empowerment through e-learning whilst still requiring a further pedagogical tailoring and an awareness of support. However, serious problems within these contexts have identified blocks to e-learning through stakeholders perceptions and fears of acceptability (i.e. issues of risk and trust). Ultimately, through understanding competing perceptions and needs within these complex environments we can support the effective technological development, pedagogical design and deployment of e-learning systems