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ERIC Number: ED470182
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2001-Nov
Pages: 8
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Information Literacy in Higher Education: Is There a Gap?
Frier, Rebecca; Musgrove, Cindi; Zahner, Jane
This needs assessment investigated current and optimal levels of information literacy among faculty members at South Georgia College (SGC). Each faculty member was asked to complete a 10-question closed-ended survey to determine the overall information literacy of SGC's faculty based upon qualitative analysis. Then, six faculty members, two from each of the three major divisions on campus, were randomly selected and asked to participate in an in-depth interview to provide the qualitative analysis of the needs assessment. Data showed that, on average, faculty at SGC were performing at an acceptable level of information literacy. Both survey and interview data supported this. However, several intriguing results surfaced, as did a few problems in the design of the instruments. The survey produced the finding that faculty members still prefer traditional printed resources for gathering information, probably because most still use lesson plans that were developed before electronic resources were popular or available. However, the first place faculty would look today for finding supplemental information is not traditional printed resources but electronic resources. The survey findings also revealed that the majority of participants do not know the laws and ethical standards associated with copyright on the Internet. Furthermore, most faculty members surveyed believed that even if specific technology were made available, a teacher would continue to rely on traditional means of information gathering. The greatest design flaw in the survey was that several participants could not speculate on general questions that asked them to rate the information literacy of all faculty. The most surprising issue revealed by the in-depth interviews was that most participants were able to distinguish between technology literacy and information literacy, even though the interview did not discuss technology literacy. A majority of participants agreed that a teacher's use of technology in course instruction does not necessarily reflect his or her knowledge of information literacy. Only four of the Information Literacy Standards used to rate participants' responses were addressed in the interview questions, a huge oversight on behalf of the instrument designer. (Author/AEF)
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A