By Muhammad Farooq and Aisha Shafi A framework for implementing Information Literacy program: A case of Riphah International University

Outline Introduction Need and Importance Information Literacy in Higher Education Information Literacy Program Impact on Services Future horizons Findings References

Introduction Due to information explosion and ICT advancements, the flood of information is on the move in diverse formats. Obtaining basic information is much easy at present but getting required and authentic information from this flood is a challenging task. Information literacy skills are essential for an individual to get required information from authentic resources within minimum time limit. Information literacy skills help an individual prepares to become independent lifelong learners.

Need and Importance Development of Information Literacy competencies among the society has become a vital requirement for transforming the culture in knowledge based society. Information literacy is the only way to move forward and accept the challenges of the 21st century. Information literacy skills and knowledge are essential in current global information environment where technology and innovation make drastic changes and the information is available in huge amounts and in variety of formats. "Information literacy forms the basis for lifelong learning. It is common to all disciplines, to all learning environments, and to all levels of education. It enables learners to master content and extend their investigations, become more self-directed, and assume greater control over their own learning."

Information Literacy in Higher Education In the era of information overload, developing information literacy skills in students is a vital component of higher education. “Students at all levels of education need to possess information literacy skills; however, for those students leaving high school, IL skills may be a critical component of their education and one that may affect their success in higher education or the workplace”. (2) Educationalists face difficulties in preparing students for higher education, especially for conducting research activities. Collaboration between librarians, faculty members and administration is important for implementing information literacy program for students. Role of librarians is vital at this stage. They should come forward to launch effective Information literacy programs to make their users lifelong learners and critical thinkers. However it’s important that these programs become successful only if the library staff succeed in gaining the co-operation of the faculty and administration.

Information Literacy Program “Information Literacy Programs of the department aim to equip the Riphah community with the skills and knowledge needed to effectively identify, find, evaluate and ethically use information to support academic excellence and lifelong learning. The goal of the Information Literacy Program is to help students/faculty members in mastering information skills that will enrich their academic and personal lives and enable them to become independent lifelong learners.”

The practice of conducting library orientation for new students was observed in the beginning. Workshops and training sessions were also conducted for faculty members and students infrequently. However, the journey towards information literacy begins with the series of library orientation sessions and training sessions of online databases were conducted in year 2009, for students and faculty members. The department already planned and implemented number of ICT based services including Riphah Information Portal. The ICT based services enhanced the image of the department but still observed under the boundaries of library. Further the image of the department enhanced through celebrating Information Week during April 5-9, 2010 “to enhance information literacy and virtual learning environment among the students, faculty and knowledge seekers. It was a unique activity comprising series of events including Information Expo, National Essay Writing Competition, Renewable Energy Conference and Lecture on "Role of Information in Public Police relationship" etc.” (4) The event changed the whole scenario and the department came out of the library box. The department gained very much reputation in university through this exceptional event. Background

The department is working since 1996 under the title of “Department of Libraries and Learning Resource Centres”. The department strived hard for the excellence and improved its resources and services through effective use of ICT. Riphah International University has multiple campuses and each campus’ library was working under the local administrative control. “In 2010, it was restructured as “Information Services Department” to enhance its scope and services. In Information Services Department the library is only one element in a dynamic totality. The restructuring not only raised the status of library professionals as well as distributed administrative control of the campus libraries were transferred to the centralized control of the Information Services Department.” (5) Following are the major outcomes of the restructuring: Information Services Department became the part of academia and independent Strategic Unit (SU) in the University. Position profiles/Designations of staff members were also changed. Local campus authorities used to control all campus libraries and now the centralized administrative control has been shifted to Information Services Department. The department is working under direct supervision of the Vice Chancellor. Restructuring of the Department

Preparations for Information Literacy Because of restructuring the department became the part of academia and LIS professionals achieved the status of faculty but the most important thing is to prove this status and sustain the achievement. For this purpose the department started work on preparing framework of an information literacy program. The design of the program was developed in the semester Spring During the first year of IL-Program, a lot of planning took place Training of Faculty and Researchers: “Information Services Department, Riphah International University conducted series of workshops on “Bibliography and Referencing Made Easy: Hands on Practical Workshop for Library Professionals and Researchers (End-Note Software)” during March-April More than 189 professors, associate professors, assistant professors, lecturers and researchers participated in these sessions.” (4) The series of these workshops enhanced the role of the library professionals as teacher of the teachers.

Cont…… Capacity Building of Staff Members: Number of departmental training workshops on various topics were conducted for Information Services team to enhance their competencies and they were also encouraged to participate in workshops/trainings organized by other departments of the university and other organizations/institutions Nomination of Information Advisors: The most important aspect of information literacy program is nomination of department’s team members as Information Advisors. Dedicated team members have been nominated as Information Advisors for all faculties. The Information Advisor serves as a bridge between ISD and the relevant faculty. He/she has the responsibility to conduct information literacy sessions in the relevant faculty and to fulfill all requirements of the students, faculty members and researchers.

4.3.4 Duties of Information Advisors: The first task of Information Advisors was to collect complete information about relevant faculty so that they can effectively serve the responsibility. At this stage they have to gain knowledge of the relevant faculty and create expertise in the relevant field. Some of the prominent tasks are mentioned below: Information about faculty members and their research areas Information about programs offered by the faculty and detail of courses being offered in each program Information about course contents and reading material i.e. recommended text books, reference books, journals etc. Information about accreditation bodies and their requirements i.e. HEC (Higher Education Commission), PEC (Pakistan Engineering Council), PMDC (Pakistan Medical and Dental Council) Information about reading material available in print and electronic format to serve the requirements of the users i.e. print books, online databases, free resources etc. Cont…….

Development & Circulation of the informative material User statistics and faculty need assessment Recommendation for improvement of ISD website and Information Portal Establish and develop subjects guides in print and electronic format Awareness about the subject terminologies & synonyms / antonyms Meetings with faculty members to create contacts especially with program coordinators Training of Information Advisors: Training of the Information Advisors prior to launching the program is the key for success of the program. The department focused on team members training so that they may conduct the literacy sessions confidently and face all the challenges. Numbers of training workshops for Information Advisors were conducted including the demonstration sessions where ISD team members were the speakers and participants as well so that they can learn from each other and know about the mistakes they made in demo session. Cont…….

Information Services Department started information literacy program from Semester Fall In this phase two information literacy classes were conducted in each month at each campus. The overall responsibility was assigned to campus incharges to make sure the implementation of information literacy program in collaboration with information advisors and relevant Deans/Program Coordinators. To keep an eye on the ground situation and remove shortcomings/difficulties, 02 training sessions for Information Advisors were organized. Further training sessions were conducted for Information Advisers to overcome their deficiencies. Meetings of Director-ISD and Deans were also arranged to fill communication gaps and to remove hurdles faced by the Information Advisors. Following is the detail of workshops/sessions conducted for the training of information Training Sessions for Information Advisors S.NoDateDescriptionParticipantsLocation 1Oct 18, 2011 Training Workshop for Information Advisors (All IOs & Above) 13Mian Campus 2Dec 01, 2011 Training Workshop for Information Advisors (All IOs & Above) 12Main Campus Program (Phase-1)

4.4.1 Summary of IL-Sessions: Information Advisors conducted information literacy sessions for the students and faculty members to enhance information literacy and virtual learning environment. The summary is as under: 21 information literacy sessions were conducted during September- December students and faculty members attended the sessions during September- December Feedback of IL-Sessions: Feedback of the participants regarding effectiveness of the information literacy session was collected by all Information Advisors through ‘Participants Feedback Form’ and feedback reports were compiled. Overall feedback of the participants was very encouraging and motivational that provides basis for continuity and further enhancement of the program. Cont …….

4.4.3 Query Management System: The department recorded user queries to study the information seeking behavior of the students. The objectives of the query management are: To find out the information seeking patterns of patrons. To understand problems faced by the patrons in seeking information. To determine the use of information resources and services. This system is helpful to reshuffle the resources keeping in view the utility and effectiveness. Cont…….

From semester Spring-2012 the numbers of sessions were further increased from two sessions per month per campus to two sessions per month for each faculty. Details of sessions and participants are as under: 66 Information Literacy Sessions were conducted during January- December students and faculty members attended the sessions during January- December Following is the detail of workshops/sessions conducted for the training of information advisors during 2012: Training Sessions for Information Advisors S.NoDateDescriptionParticipantsLocation 1.Mar 15, 2012Training Workshop for Information Advisors (All IOs & Above) 14Main Campus 2.Jun 28, 2012Training Workshop for Information Advisors on citations management and EndNote software (All IOs and Above) 14Main Campus IL-Program (Phase-2)

Numbers of basic and advanced level topics are added in the list of information literacy program to strengthen the program. As much of the students and faculty members already attended literacy sessions on general topics so at this phase the focus is to avoid duplication of session topics so that no participant get bored and learn something new every time. Currently 40 information literacy topics are available on the list that is divided in following 05 major categories:Information portal 1.Online resources 2.Online databases 3.Information literacy skills 4.Citation tools and indexes 28 Information Literacy Sessions are conducted during January-June 2013 in which 573 students and faculty members participated. Three training workshops have also been conducted for training of Information Advisors. Details are as under: IL-Program (Phase-3)

Training Sessions for Information Advisors S.NoDateDescriptionParticipantsLocation 1.Jul 02, 2013 Training Workshop for Information Advisors (All IOs & Above) 14Main Campus 2.Sep 05, 2013 Training Workshop for Information Advisors (All IOs & Above) 15Main Campus 3.Nov 27, 2013 Training Workshop for Information Advisors (All IOs & Above) 12Main Campus Cont…….

Statistical summary of the program is as under: Fig-1. Summary of Sessions IL-Program (at a glance)

Fig-2. Summary of Participants Cont…….

Information Literacy Program puts very positive impact on services of the department. The confidence of users has been achieved by the department and patrons not only more willing to get benefit from the resources and services as well as show keen interest to participate in the sessions/events organized by the department. Following is the statistical summary and charts of some of the services to show the impact of IL-Program (6, 7, 8, 9): Services Books Issued to Patrons Research Papers Provided to Researchers Reference Queries by Patrons Collection Development (Books) Impacts on Services

Fig-3. Books Issued to Patrons Cont…….

Fig-4. Research Papers Provided to Researchers Cont…….

Fig-5. Reference Queries Asked by Patrons Cont…….

Fig-6. Collection Development of Library Books Cont…….

Findings All services have been improved. The role of librarians as teaches has enhanced. Profile of information professionals have been strengthen & accredited. Scope and use of library resources have been maximized. Information queries, library visits, article requests, circulation of library material have increased gradually since 2010 – University libraries should adopt this model to improve their services.

Recommendations LIS Professionals at university level must enhance their capabilities and they must be confident enough to conduct IL-Sessions for faculty members and research scholars. User Education is a vital component of higher education and without information literacy skills students and researchers remain just like blind in the treasure of information. LIS professionals should create opportunities for students and researchers to develop information literacy competencies for learning and research. Information literacy courses need continual improvement. Innovations in user education and diversity in topics make IL-Program attractive for the users. Use of technologies that support students' research and collaboration skills, Internet Search Engines, Online Tools for Evaluating, Web-Based Information, Web Sites That offer collaborative activities are useful.

1.The Association of College and Research Libraries (2000). “Information literacy competency standards for higher education”. Chicago, IL: The Association of College and Research Libraries. Retrieved November 30, 2013, from Burhanna, Kenneth J., and Mary Lee Jensen. (2006). “Collaborations for Success: High School to College Transitions.” Reference Services Review 34 (4): 509–19. 3.Information Services Department (2012). “Information Literacy Report Oct Jun. 2012”. Riphah International University. Islamabad. 4.Farooq M. (2012), “From library to information services: A model of restructuring” National Conference on Career Development of LIS Professional and Overall Improvement of Libraries in Pakistan; November 12-14, 2012; Islamabad. 5.Information Services Department (2010). “Structure, Information Services Department”. Riphah International University, Islamabad. 6.Information Services Department (2010). “Annual Report; Information Services Department 2010”. Riphah International University. Islamabad. 7.Information Services Department (2011). “Annual Report; Information Services Department 2011”. Riphah International University. Islamabad. Information Services Department (2012). “Annual Report Information Services Department 2012”. Riphah International University. Islamabad. 8.Information Services Department (2013). “Semester Report; Information Services Department 2013” Riphah International University. Islamabad. References

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