There is less research about information literacy in further education than there is about IL in higher education, so I thought I'd highlight this article (not free, I'm afraid) which summarises results to do with further education, drawing on two major UK studies (JUBILEE and JUSTEIS):Urquhart, C. et al. (2005) "Student use of electronic information services in further education." International journal of information management, 25 (4), 347-362.
"... Information skills and experience develop across work, home and study. There is a growing use of EIS in curriculum, but practice varies between institutions and disciplines. Tutors express concern about student's ability to evaluate and use the information that they find. Assignments can promote EIS use. The main categories of EIS used by students are search engines and organisational web sites. Search engines are the preferred search tools and search strategies are basic. Information skills are acquired through a variety of routes, with peer instruction, surfing and personal experience, instruction from tutors, and LIS induction and training all making an important contribution. The solutions to improving students’ information skills may include use of the Virtual Training Suites, but librarians need to adopt different roles in promoting and evaluating use of such tools. "
Photo by S. Webber: Man & dog on Blackheath, London, with the Paragon in the background.
