Workplace Information Literacy: Current State of Research Published from South-Asia

This paper intended to provide and critical and analytical review of research on workplace information literacy published form South-Asia with a view to inform policy and practice. Library, Information Science and Technological Abstracts (LISTA) was searched to identify the key studies published in the proposed research area using multiple keywords. The search process resulted in 384 citations which was screened for duplication and relevance. As a result, 375 citations were excluded due to duplication and non-relevance. Only nine citations remained to deal with for review. The reference lists of these citations were also examined to identify more related citations which resulted in 3 more citation to be included. Thus, there were only 12 citations included in this review. The results indicated the dearth of studies on workplace information literacy in South-Asia. Most of these studies focused on library and information professionals, followed by scientists, and university teachers using survey research design. There was only a single study that addressed information literacy in visually impaired teachers. The respondents of the reviewed studies were competent to basic levels of information literacy where they were less comfortable in advanced levels of information literacy. There was a critical necessity for a need-based IL curriculum for workplace environments. These results indicated the need for more research on workplace information literacy in South-Asia to information policy and practice. This study would be a great contribution to the existing literature as it can be used a foundational study for workplace information literacy in South-Asia

Health Literacy of University Students in Covid-19 Pandemic and Infodemic: A Pakistani Perspective

This research investigated the levels of health literacy among Pakistani university students in the Covid-19 pandemic and infodemic. The university students were surveyed using an online questionnaire at two public sector universities and one private sector university in Punjab-Pakistan. The administration of the data collection instrument was completed with permission from concerned authorities. A total of 374 responses received which were imported to SPSS and analyzed by applying descriptive as well as inferential statistics. The results revealed that the health literacy of university students in the Covid-19 pandemic and infodemic was not at an optimal level as these participants expressed difficulty for half of the items of the health literacy scale. A large majority of these students had health literacy from low to moderate levels. Besides, the students\u27 age, sex, study program, and Covid-19 testing did not appear to predict their health literacy. However, the geographical background of these students predicted their health literacy indicating that urban had students had higher literacy as compared to rural students. The results of this study indicated the need for health education and promotion among the general public in Pakistan especially university students as they serve as a change agent for people around them. The program for health literacy related to Covid-19 would be a great step to respond proactively to the pandemic and infodemic situation. Hoping, these results would be helpful for not only policymakers, healthcare providers, health information professionals especially engaged in health promotion but also for library staff to play their role in the health emergency related to Covid-19. This study would be a worthy contribution to the existing research on health literacy as a limited amount of research appeared from developing countries like Pakistan

Modeling Information Anxiety

This paper traces the historical developments using selected literature related to ‘library anxiety’, ‘information seeking anxiety’ and ‘information anxiety’. These concepts existed independently and parallelly and attracted much attention from the researchers of their respective fields. The existing literature lacked a study establishing a relationship among these three concepts which led to the idea of a general model of information anxiety to inform researchers as well as professionals dealing with policy and practice. This model represents information anxiety as the general and broader concept nesting information seeking anxiety as its sub-set and library anxiety as a further sub-set. It highlights the development of library anxiety, information seeking anxiety, and information anxiety over time. It also outlines the theoretical and practical implications of information anxiety for information services, especially information literacy (IL) instruction, as previous research reported it as a potential determinant of lower levels of information anxiety. The researchers emphasize the necessity for a need-based IL curriculum for the alleviation of users’ anxiety related to information related tasks. The future directions for research on the proposed area considering the contemporary information environment have been discussed towards the end

Evidence on Psychometric Properties of Scales Assessing Information Related Anxieties: A Systematic Review

This systematic review examined the evidence of psychometric properties of scales available in studies reporting surveys measuring information related anxieties such as library anxiety, information seeking anxiety, and information anxiety. A systematic search in four databases such as Web of Science, Scopus, LISA, and LISTA was carried out using the keywords \u27library anxiety\u27, \u27information anxiety\u27, \u27information seeking anxiety\u27, and \u27information seeking\u27 AND \u27anxiety\u27. This review included those studies reporting the use of any scale measuring information related anxiety published in the English language and included all type of documents (e.g. journal articles, conference papers, book chapters, theses/dissertations, research reports). The screening process resulted in 45 studies meeting the eligibility criterion. The extracted data included author names, year of publication, type of scale used, scale title, background, type of construct assessed, number of items in the scale, scale origin, studies reporting use, studies contributing psychometric information, scale availability, and psychometric properties reported. The results indicated nine instruments assessing information-related anxieties. The classical test theory was applied for eight instruments. No psychometric properties were reported for a single instrument. Most psychometric instruments were developed in the United States. Face/Content validity through experts, construct validity through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and internal consistency reliability through Cronbach alpha was the most commonly used psychometric analysis. None of these studies applied the Rasch model of modern item response theory for psychometric examination. This review has serious implications on the inferences drawn by the practitioners and researchers based on the earlier assessment of information related anxieties. It suggests the development of standards for not only designing new psychometric tests but also for the use and reporting of such tests. This study contributes to the existing research on information-related anxieties by systematic reviewing the evidence of psychometric properties as no such study available so far

Investigating Organizational Commitment of Information Professionals working at University Libraries in Pakistan

This study investigated the organizational commitment of information professionals working at university libraries in Pakistan. Survey method was adopted using a questionnaire to collect data from 329 information professionals of Punjab and Islamabad. The questionnaire contained 18-items measure of organizational commitment, developed by Meyer, Allen and Smith (1993), along with certain demographic variables. Each statement was measured on 5-point Likert scale (e.g. 1=Strongly Disagree, 2=Disagree, 3= Neutral, 4=Agree, 5= Strongly Agree). The collected data were analysed by applying descriptive as well as inferential statistics in SPSS. Results indicated that information professionals were slightly committed to their organizations and most of these had emotional attachment with the organization. There were no significant mean differences in the index of organizational commitment based on age, gender, sector, area, and continuing education. However, the qualification, designation, experience, employment nature, and salary of the participants appeared to be predictor of organizational commitment. These results are important for university administration especially human resource department who work for retention of productive and committed employees and ensure strategic human resource development. This study would make worthy contribution in the existing research on organizational commitment in general and information professionals in particular

Foliar boron spray for improved yield, oil quality and water use efficiency in water stressed sunflower

Boron (B) is a mineral considered essential for improving sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) resistance to drought. B supplements (0, 15-, 30- and 45 mg L-1) under well-watered and variable water deficit levels (64 and 53 mm irrigation depths) were evaluated for their effects on growth, oil quality and water use efficiency (WUE) in a field study for two consecutive years (i.e. 2011 and 2012). The duration of 50% inflorescence emergence, 50% flowering and 50% maturity stages were reduced with increasing moisture stress. All B application rates improved sunflower growth compared to no B control treatment. The moisture deficit treatments of 64 and 53 mm irrigation depths significantly (p<0.05) reduced the yield-related components. Achenes/head, achenes weight and achene yield under water stress conditions were considerably improved by foliar application of B at 30 mg L-1. An increase in protein contents and a decrease in oil contents were observed with B foliar application under moisture deficit treatments. Foliar application of B (30 mg L-1) on water stressed plants also resulted in increased WUE. The highest net benefits were achieved with B concentration of 30 mg L-1 under well-watered and mild deficit water level of 64 mm irrigation depth. The highest application rate of B (45 mg L-1) gave the best results at the most severe water deficit level. In conclusion, the B rates of 30 and 41 mg L-1 performed best for improving drought tolerance in terms of higher sunflower productivity under mild and higher water deficit conditions

Impact of Health Literacy on Fear of Covid-19, Protective Behavior, and Conspiracy Beliefs: University Students’ Perspective

Health literacy is an essential to respond proactively to pandemic situations like Covid-19. It helps the general public to reduce the spread of infectious diseases, prevent from over-reactions, reduce carelessness, adopt health protective behavior. The purpose of this research was to examine the impact of health literacy on fear of Covid-19, protective behavior, and conspiracy beliefs of university students in Pakistan. A cross-sectional survey using an online questionnaire was conducted at two public sector universities in Punjab with permission. A total of 271 received responses were analyzed by applying both descriptive and inferential statistics in SPSS. The results indicated students\u27 gender had a relationship with their health protective behavior indicating that female students were more likely to adopt health protective behavior as compared to male students. Besides, the students\u27 health literacy did not predict their fear of Covid-19 and conspiracy beliefs. However, the health literacy of university students predicted their health protective behavior which meant that the students with better health literacy likely to adopt health protective behavior related to Covid-19 infection. There was a need for promotion of health literacy related to Covid-19 to fight not only the current pandemic situation but also an infodemic associated with it. These results are useful for policymakers, health professionals, university and library administration for promoting health and creating awareness related to Covid-19 pandemic. It would also be helpful in developing useful directions for health literacy programs promoting health education and protective behavior to avoid and management Covid-19 infection. This research would make a worthy addition to existing research on health literacy as limited empirical studies have been conducted so far

Customer Relationship Management Practices in University Libraries of Pakistan

The purpose of this study was to appraise the prevailing status of customer relationship management (CRM) practices in university libraries of Pakistan to increase strong and mutual beneficial relationship with user. Moreover, correlates of CRM practices with types, categories, and geographical locations of university libraries were also explored. This study adopted cross-sectional survey research design using a questionnaire. The survey questionnaire was emailed to the in-charge/head librarians of all 193 university libraries in Pakistan and response rate was 74%. The results were consolidated at the analysis stage. The results have demonstrated that current status of CRM practices (customer focus, organizational focus, customer feedback management) is in the adolescence phase, while information technology infrastructure is inadequate for absolute implantation of CRM programmes and strategies. The data indicate that CRM practices are linked with university libraries types and geographical locations private sector university libraries are concentrating more on organizational focus as compared to public sector while university libraries of Islamabad Capital Territory are having good IT Infrastructure from KPK Province and AJK region respectively. The study suggests that all academic institutions should formulate a clearly specified user care and satisfaction policy. In Pakistan, Information Management / Library & Information Sciences schools and library associations should conduct ongoing training, workshops, seminars, and conferences on CRM strategies, practices, programs, tactics and mechanism, defined in this study. University top management must encourage, provide financial resources and train staff for smooth running and implementation of CRM. Complete IT infrastructure, CRM software and models should be adopted as per market demand. CRM models may be developed for Pakistani university libraries or such models may be opted with some amendments from other pure business CRM models

Does Job Satisfaction Predict Organizational Commitment? An Information Professionals’ Perspective

This study examined the relationship between job satisfaction and organizational commitment among information professionals working at university libraries in Pakistan. A cross-sectional survey using a questionnaire was conducted. The questionnaire contained items related to job satisfaction and organizational commitment along with demographic variables. All the professionals working in university libraries of Punjab and Islamabad were considered as study population. It was decided to collect data from all these professionals. The questionnaire was administered either through personal visits or through email. A total of 329 questionnaires retuned which were used for data analysis. Descriptive and inferential statistics were applied for data analysis. The results revealed job satisfaction appeared to be a statistically significant but positive predictor of organization commitment among survey participants. The facets such as promotion, supervision, and job itself also appeared to be the positive correlative of overall organizational commitment. Conversely, the three facets of job satisfaction pay, fringe benefits and colleagues were not significantly correlated with overall organizational commitment as well as with all its facets. These results are useful for human resource departments of universities who work strategically for retention of satisfied and productive employees for their institutions. This study would make worthy contribution in the existing research on library management

Prevalence and Levels of Information Seeking Anxiety among Business Students

This research assessed the prevalence and levels of information seeking anxiety among business students at Lahore School of Economics, Lahore, Pakistan so that remedial measures could be taken to reduce anxiety. The data were collected from 283 students using a survey questionnaire, containing an Information Seeking Anxiety Scale along with certain demographic and academic variables, and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results indicated the prevalence of information seeking anxiety among these students across different dimensions and overall scale at mild to moderate levels. There was no significant relationship between nature of MBA program, gender, school background, geographical origin, ICT skills, English language competency, and information seeking anxiety. However, gender appeared to predict the dimension of search anxiety as female students were more anxious than males when searching for information. The results are very useful to inform policy and practice for development of information capabilities in the digital information landscape. These findings could be used as a guide for developing and designing information literacy programs aimed to reduce information seeking anxiety resulting in the improvement of students’ academic performance. This study has made a reasonable contribution to the existing literature on information seeking anxiety as a limited number of studies appeared focusing specifically on information seeking anxiety