Effect of Information Literacy Skills on the Use of Digital Resources by the Faculty Members of Engineering Colleges: A Study

Abstract

One of the great truths about modern society is that “information is everywhere”. Information is a pervasive and essential part of our society and our lives. The information helps in decision-making, increases our knowledge base, improves our mental thinking, and also an overall change in the societal status of a nation. It is considered as the lifeblood of human beings and it is the currency of the 21^st century. On the other hand, Information literacy is a “set of abilities requiring an individual to recognize when information is needed and have an ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information”(ALA 2000). Information literacy is also significantly important in the contemporary environment of rapid technological change and proliferating of digital information resources. Without the knowledge of information literacy skills, it is very difficult to manage with the vast amount of information. Many Studies reported that there is high positive correlation was found between the use of resources and information literacy skills. An attempt has been made, to study the influence of information literacy skills on the use of digital resources among the faculty members of engineering colleges. For the present study ACRL standard of information literacy of higher education is used for the design of the study. Later structured questionnaire was designed and distributed to the target population.  Further, the Stratified random sampling method was used to select the target population for the study. Three variables namely Gender, Type of branch and Information Literacy Skills have been considered as Independent Variables, while the extent of use of Digital Resources is considered as a Dependent Variable. Multiple Regression Linear Model was applied to see their interaction effect between the Independent variables and dependent variables. It is found that three independent variables, all together have contributed almost 25.60% on the use of Digital Resources by the faculty members of engineering colleges.  In which, Information Literacy Skills (X3)  has alone contributes a highest i.e21.70%of the total contribution.