Measuring Information Literacy Core Competency of Social Science Researchers in National Capital Region, India

This study aims to empirically measure the Information Literacy Core Competency (ILCC) levels of social science researchers on ACRL’s Standards. The core concepts identified from standard I to V are: ‘Information Need’, ‘Information Access’, ‘Information Evaluation’, ‘Information Use’ and ‘Information Use Ethics’. The study was conducted on a sample of 520 researchers enrolled for Ph.D. in select central universities in National Capital Region, India. These researchers hail from different parts of the country and provide a pan India representation. The questionnaire schedule was developed translating each identified concept into a set of ten questions and 2 marks were allotted to each correct answer. Various techniques of descriptive statistics including frequency distribution, percentage, bar graph and tools of inferential statistics like One-way ANOVA, F-ratio and Post-Hoc test using LSD were applied for data analysis. A Performance and Competency Scale was used to measure the ILCC levels. The study indicates that on Standard I, 77.7% of the respondents comprising 15.8% from Economics, 14% from Sociology, 13.7% from Political Science, 12.3% from History and 11% from both Geography and Law were having ILCC to determine the extent and articulate information need. The ILCC level of the respondents on Standard II was found low as only 53.8% of the respondents including 12.1% from Economics, 9.4% from Law, 9.0% from Political Science, 8.5% from History, 7.5% from Sociology and 7.3% from Geography were identified competent in ILCC to access needed information effectively and efficiently. On the competency scale maximum 13.8% of respondents from Economics, followed by 13.4% from Sociology, 11.5% from Political Science, 9.6% from Law and 9.2% from both History and Geography constituted 66.9% of the respondents competent in ILCC on Standard III to evaluate information and its sources critically for its authenticity and reliability. As many as 76.2% of the respondents (16.2% from Economics, 14.4% from Sociology, 12.3% from History, 12.1% from Political Science, 10.8% from Geography and 10.4% from Law) have shown ILCC on Standard IV to use information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose. On Standard V, maximum 16.5% of respondents from Economics, followed by 15% from Political Science, 13.1% from History, 12.7% from Sociology, 11.3% from Law, and 11.0% from Geography constituted 79.6% of the respondents competent in ILCC to use information ethically and legally. Thus, on the competency scale, maximum 46.2% of the researchers for \u27Information Access\u27, followed by 33.1% for \u27Information Evaluation’, 23.8% in ‘Information Use\u27, 22.3% on \u27Information Need\u27 and 20.4% for \u27Information Use Ethics\u27 have shown incompetency in ILCC. The study also aims to identify and establish the ILCC levels of researchers within and across different subjects. The findings are supposed to be of great help to all the stakeholders to plan, organize and participate in various information literacy activities and ultimately enhance the IL competency of researchers

Information Access Skills in Social Science Researchers: Assessment of Competency

The study assesses levels of Information Access Skills (IAS) in social science researchers at select central universities in Delhi. Questionnaire was used to collect relevant data on skills like information browsing, use of information search tools, and information search strategy consisting of natural language search, keyword search and Boolean search. The descriptive and inferential statistical tools like ANOVA, Post-hoc test using LSD were used to analyze and interpret the collected data. On the competency scale, a big total of 46.2% of researchers were found incompetent in IAS. Suggests measures to enhance the IAS levels of information privileged researchers

Smart Street Light System using Embedded System

In today’s world energy saving has become a major factor and need. This project is developed keeping this problem in mind. The huge amount of electrical power of many countries is consumed in lighting the streets. However, there are stages of time when there is less vehicle density during night time or even no vehicles during late night time. The main principle of this system is object detection and then triggering the respective circuit and to provide light only at that part of road where it is needed. Logically, this system may save a large amount of the electrical power. This paper focuses on the proposal of different possible architectures of this system

Measuring Information Literacy Core Competency of Social Science Researchers in National Capital Region, India

This study aims to empirically measure the Information Literacy Core Competency (ILCC) levels of social science researchers on ACRL’s Standards. The core concepts identified from standard I to V are: ‘Information Need’, ‘Information Access’, ‘Information Evaluation’, ‘Information Use’ and ‘Information Use Ethics’. The study was conducted on a sample of 520 researchers enrolled for Ph.D. in select central universities in National Capital Region, India. These researchers hail from different parts of the country and provide a pan India representation. The questionnaire schedule was developed translating each identified concept into a set of ten questions and 2 marks were allotted to each correct answer. Various techniques of descriptive statistics including frequency distribution, percentage, bar graph and tools of inferential statistics like One-way ANOVA, F-ratio and Post-Hoc test using LSD were applied for data analysis. A Performance and Competency Scale was used to measure the ILCC levels. The study indicates that on Standard I, 77.7% of the respondents comprising 15.8% from Economics, 14% from Sociology, 13.7% from Political Science, 12.3% from History and 11% from both Geography and Law were having ILCC to determine the extent and articulate information need. The ILCC level of the respondents on Standard II was found low as only 53.8% of the respondents including 12.1% from Economics, 9.4% from Law, 9.0% from Political Science, 8.5% from History, 7.5% from Sociology and 7.3% from Geography were identified competent in ILCC to access needed information effectively and efficiently. On the competency scale maximum 13.8% of respondents from Economics, followed by 13.4% from Sociology, 11.5% from Political Science, 9.6% from Law and 9.2% from both History and Geography constituted 66.9% of the respondents competent in ILCC on Standard III to evaluate information and its sources critically for its authenticity and reliability. As many as 76.2% of the respondents (16.2% from Economics, 14.4% from Sociology, 12.3% from History, 12.1% from Political Science, 10.8% from Geography and 10.4% from Law) have shown ILCC on Standard IV to use information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose. On Standard V, maximum 16.5% of respondents from Economics, followed by 15% from Political Science, 13.1% from History, 12.7% from Sociology, 11.3% from Law, and 11.0% from Geography constituted 79.6% of the respondents competent in ILCC to use information ethically and legally. Thus, on the competency scale, maximum 46.2% of the researchers for \u27Information Access\u27, followed by 33.1% for \u27Information Evaluation’, 23.8% in ‘Information Use\u27, 22.3% on \u27Information Need\u27 and 20.4% for \u27Information Use Ethics\u27 have shown incompetency in ILCC. The study also aims to identify and establish the ILCC levels of researchers within and across different subjects. The findings are supposed to be of great help to all the stakeholders to plan, organize and participate in various information literacy activities and ultimately enhance the IL competency of researchers

Information Literacy Competency Levels of Social Science Researchers: A Diagnostic Study

The present study is a diagnosis of Information Literacy Competency (ILC) levels of social science researchers. The data was empirically collected from 520 researchers and analyzed using differential and inferential statistical techniques. The Information Literacy (IL) competent researchers were maximum 79.6% in ‘Information Use Ethics’, followed by 77.7% in ‘Information Need’, 76.2% in ‘Information Use’, 66.9% in ‘Information Evaluation’ and 53.8% in ‘Information Access’. The study has identified IL deficiencies on different parameters and suggests necessary improvements in the current practices for further enhancement of ILC among researchers

Information literacy competency of researchers in social sciences: An assessment from diverse perspectives

Information literacy (IL) provides essential proficiency for academics and research in the networked digital information landscape. The present study is an empirical assessment of information literacy competency (ILC) levels of researchers in social sciences from varied frames of reference i.e. gender, age groups, periods of research, subjects and universities. The data collected from 520 researchers were processed and analyzed using various techniques of descriptive and inferential statistics to identify IL competent and incompetent researchers on different variables. The descriptive statistics included frequency distribution, percentage distribution, etc. and was aided by computing mean, standard deviation, and range. Inferential statistics consisted of various tools like One-way analysis of variance, F-ratio, and Post-Hoc test using a list of significant differences (LSD). On the competency scale around 81.5% of the total researchers consisting of 9.6% ‘Outstanding’, 26.5% ‘Excellent’, 25.0% ‘Very Good’ and 20.4% ‘Good’ were found IL competent and rest 18.5% of researchers comprising 11.2% ‘Baseline’, 5.0% ‘Minimal’ and 2.3% ‘Very Low’ lacked similar competency. The study suggests measures for improvement in current IL practices to further improve researchers’ ILC