Information Literacy in Ghana, Bulgaria, Germany and Dubai

One paper from the WLIC conference that tool place in Busan, South Korea, last week and two papers from the IFLA Information Literacy Section satellite meeting to the WLIC conference (they are all short full-text papers): 
- A Case Study of Public Libraries in Ghana: Equipping Students with Critical Information Literacy Skills in the Age of AI and Misinformation by Ugne Lipeikaite and Ramune Petuchovaite https://repository.ifla.org/handle/20.500.14598/7250 
- AI, Misinformation, and Trust in Higher Education: Information Literacy Approaches of University Librarians in Germany and Bulgaria by Munazza Jabeen, Claudia Lux and Marina Encheva. https://repository.ifla.org/handle/20.500.14598/7249 
- Using 360° Tours and AI-Generated Media to Support Inclusive Discovery and Information Literacy by Sayed Mahmoud
Photo by Sheila Webber: no rain on Blackheath for many weeks, August 2026

Recent articles: One-shots; Students and AI; Teaching referencing

The latest issue of the Journal of Academic Librarianship (vol 52 issue 4) includes the following (priced, unless it says they are open access):
 - Exploring alternative approaches to the one-shot by Elizabeth Borges, Faith Rusk (open access)
- Teaching citation in the age of generative AI: Rethinking research literacy, academic integrity, and epistemic responsibility by Dag Øivind Madsen, Emmanuel Sirimal Silva (open access)
- ‘I shouldn't be saying this’: Library-based student confessions about AI, cheating, and academic integrity by Sarah T. Zipf, Tiffany Petricini, Steve Borrelli
- University libraries in the age of generative AI: Perceptions and usage among students in developing countries by Bolaji David Oladokun, Diana Atuase, Gloria Tachie-Donkor, Tshepho Lydia Mosweu, Panorea Gaitanou
Go to https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/the-journal-of-academic-librarianship/vol/52/issue/4 
Photo by Sheila Webber taken in Second Life, July 2026

Recent articles: Digital literacy; Mobile information literacy; Data Literacy; AI literacy; Conterfeit citations

Volume 51 issue 3 (2025) of the Journal of Academic Librarianship (a priced publication) includes the following:
- Toward a conceptual framework on mobile information literacy in higher education by Maria Pinto, Alicia Segura (open access)
- A scoping review of digital literacy, digital competence, digital fluency and digital dexterity in academic libraries' context by Lesego Makhafola, Martha J. van Deventer, Marlene A. Holmner, Brenda van Wyk (open access)
- What's in a name? Exploring how voluntary library data literacy workshop titles and descriptions affect learner motivations to enroll by Michelle Kelly Schultz (open access) (there is also a correction to one of the tables in issue 4 of the journal)
- Scaffolding AI literacy: An instructional model for academic librarianship by Katherine A. LaFlamme
Go to https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/the-journal-of-academic-librarianship/vol/51/issue/3 

Volume 51 issue 4 (2025) of the Journal of Academic Librarianship includes the following:
- Enhancing library discovery: An approach to understanding user access to electronic resources by Patricia M. Dragon, Janet L. Mayo, Ann Carol Stocks, Rebecca Tatterson (open access)
- Towards digital information literacy guidelines for African libraries: a survey of the relationship between digital and information literacy of university students in Ghana by Martin Gameli Akakpo, Dorothy Owusuah Ahardy, Sita Sarpong Kumankumah
- The citation catastrophe: Propagation of AI-generated counterfeit citations in scholarship by Nathan T. Camp, Jason A. Bengtson, John C. Sandstrom
- Faculty opinion of subject librarians survey by Duane Wilson, Nate Cox, Emily Rodriguez
Go to https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/the-journal-of-academic-librarianship/vol/51/issue/4
Photo by Sheila Webber: hydrangea, June 2025

New articles: IL & the body; faculty-focused model; bias; teaching IL; IL in COVID

There is a new issue of open access Journal of Information Literacy (vol 16 no. 2). It includes four reports from the LOEX (US information literacy) conference, book reviews and these articles:

- Information literacy and the body in the Kente-weaving landscape by Franklin Gyamfi Agyemang, Nicoline Wessels
- The faculty-focused model of information literacy by Jane Hammons
- Teaching and its discontents by Heidi Julien, Melissa Gross, Don Latham - Breaking down bias by Joel M. Burkholder, Kat Phillips
- Students, academic reading and information literacy in a time of COVID by Jane Secker, Elizabeth Tilley
Go to https://ojs.lboro.ac.uk/JIL/issue/view/238
Photo by Sheila Webber: More apples at the farmers market, November 2022

Recent articles: Health literacy as vaccine; fact checking in Sweden; Information behaviour in COVID19; Health information behaviour; IL in Ghana; Citizen science

- Okan, O. et al. (2022). Health literacy as a social vaccine in the COVID-19 pandemic Health Promotion International, daab197, https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daab197 
- Ahmadinia, H., Eriksson-Backa, K. and Nikou, S. (2022), Health-seeking behaviours of immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees in Europe: a systematic review of peer-reviewed articles, Journal of Documentation, 78(7), 18-41. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-10-2020-0168
 - Dreisiebner, S., März, S. and Mandl, T. (2022), Information behavior during the Covid-19 crisis in German-speaking countries, Journal of Documentation, 78(7), 160-175. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-12-2020-0217
- Juneström, A. (2022), Discourses of fact-checking in Swedish news media, Journal of Documentation, 78(7), 125-140. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-03-2021-0061
- Ozor, A. & Toner, J. (2022) Information Literacy Behavior and Practice: An Assessment of Undergraduate Students at Ada College of Education, Ghana. Journal of Library Administration, 62(1), 132-151. https://doi.org/10.1080/01930826.2021.2006992 (open access) " The results from this survey present an overview of the College’s current approach to information literacy instruction, resource accessibility, as well as students’ information literacy comprehension and application. A series of recommendations are presented for the College to consider in improving its approach to supporting information literacy skills development."
- Ekström, B. (2022), A niche of their own: variations of information practices in biodiversity citizen science, Journal of Documentation, 78(7), 248-265. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-07-2021-0146
- Multas, A.-M. and Hirvonen, N. (2022), “Let's keep this video as real as possible”: young video bloggers constructing cognitive authority through a health-related information creation process, Journal of Documentation, 78(7), 42-64. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-02-2021-0027
- Graminius, C. (2022), Fast-food information, information quality and information gap: a temporal exploration of the notion of information in science communication on climate change, Journal of Documentation, 78(7), 89-105. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-03-2021-0072 "In their discussion of the concept of information, Capurro and Hjörland (2005) tentatively ask what else we might need to know about information. Perhaps there is room for more research on the concept of information and temporal issues since this study shows how notions of information come into being in the contextual intersections of time, actions and materials." 
Photo by Sheila Webber: sign of spring, February 2022

New articles: COVID information seeking; Telecentre initiatives; Machine translation literacy; Assistive technology; Inclusions strategies

The latest issue of open-access The International Journal of Information, Diversity, & Inclusion (IJIDI) (volume 5 no. 3)includes:
- Sources of COVID-19 Information Seeking and their Associations with Self-Perceived Mental Health among Canadians by Yanli Li
- Minding the Design Reality Gap: An Empirical Evaluation of Telecentre Initiatives in Rural Ghana by Daniel Azerikatoa Ayoung, Pamela Abbott
- Promoting Linguistic Diversity and Inclusion: Incorporating Machine Translation Literacy into Information Literacy Instruction for Undergraduate Students by Lynne Bowker
- Assistive Technology in Education: Conceptions of a Socio-technical Design Challenge by Vanesa Ayon, Andrew Dillon
- Digital Equity & Inclusion Strategies for Libraries: Promoting Student Success for All Learners by Jacqueline Frank, Meghan Salsbury, Hannah McKelvey, Rachelle McLain
- Learning from Pandemic Mode to Create a Sustainable Digital Future: Using a Tripartite Model of Information Access and Digital Inclusion with a Richland Library Case Study by Kim M. Thompson, Amanda Reed
Go to https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/issue/view/2437
Photo by Sheila Webber: autumn rose, September 2021

Recent articles: Health literacy; Nurse evaluation skills; IL education in Pakistani universities; Information access in Ghana

- Naughton, J., Booth, K., Elliott, P., Evans, M., Simões, M. and Wilson, S. (2021), Health literacy: The role of NHS library and knowledge services. Health Information and Libraries Journal, 38, 150-154. https://doi.org/10.1111/hir.12371 [open access]
- Schvaneveldt, N, Diekema, AR, Hopkins, E, Patterson, B. (2021). New nurses apply only basic source evaluation criteria but realize their skills are lacking: More sophisticated approaches to teaching evaluation skills are required. Health Information and Libraries Journal. [Early online publication: Priced] https://doi.org/10.1111/hir.12395 "A questionnaire asked recently graduated nurses from four institutions in the Intermountain West (USA) to rate their confidence in evaluating information and to provide examples of evaluation criteria they typically applied. The quality of these criteria was rated by nursing librarians, then compared with reported confidence in evaluation, years employed as a nurse and highest degree level.... While nurses’ self-reported confidence levels about source evaluation largely matched their ability, their evaluation criteria showed a low level of sophistication and did not match the recommended criteria by professional organizations. Graduate education, not years of work experience, was predictive of the quality of criteria used by nurses, suggesting the importance of more instruction on source evaluation for nursing students."
- Iqal, S. & Idrees, H. (2021) The Current Status of Information Literacy Instruction in University Libraries of Pakistan. New Review of Academic Librarianship, https://doi.org/10.1080/13614533.2021.1964547 [Priced publication.] "The purpose of this study was to explore the current practices of information literacy instruction in the libraries of universities in Pakistan. The research method consisted of a quantitative approach using a structured questionnaire for empirical data collection, which was sent to the universities and degree awarding institutions recognized by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan. The collected data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences software ... The findings of the study show that 63% of the responding university libraries offer information literacy (IL) education mostly to new students and this ranges from basic to advanced skills. Face-to-face delivery is the most popular IL delivery method. The IL instruction appears to take place in library training rooms."
- Adjoa Yebowaah, F., & Sanche, S. (2021). Information Literacy, an Investigation into Students’ Access and Use of Information in an Academic Institution in Ghana. Open Journal of Educational Research, 1(1). https://www.scipublications.com/journal/index.php/ojer/article/view/109 [Open access.] The authors administered a questionnaire to students in (mainly) departments in the faculty of Education, studying at the University for Development Studies in Tamale, Ghana. They investigate students’ access to, and use of, information and the library, including their use of information literacy training. [not sure how reliable this journal is - this is the only article so far - but I still thought the article was worth noting]
Photo by Sheila Webber: One white rose, August 2021.

New articles: Digital stewardship; Information behaviour; Wikipedia assignments; #DataLiteracy ; IL and WeChat

Volume 46 issue 1 (2019) of the priced Journal of Academic Librarianship includes the following articles:
- Integrating digital stewardship into library instruction: An argument for student (and librarian) success by Elizabeth Blackwood
- Almost in the Wild: Student Search Behaviors When Librarians Aren't Looking by Sarah P.C. Dahlen, Heather Haeger, Kathlene Hanson, Melissa Montellano
- A perspective on Wikipedia: Approaches for educational use by Laurie M. Bridges, Meghan L. Dowell
- A Different Ball Game: Physical Education Students' Experiences in Librarian-led Wikipedia Assignments by Emily S. Kingsland, Marcela Y. Isuster
- Shaping scholarly communication guidance channels to meet the research needs and skills of doctoral students at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology by Esther White, Lizette King
- The effects of subtitles and captions on an interactive information literacy tutorial for English majors at a Turkish university by Leanna Fry Balci, Peter J. Rich, Brian Roberts
- Examining authority and reclaiming expertise by Laura Saunders, John Budd
- Exploring data literacy via a librarian-faculty learning community: A case study by Theresa Burress, Emily Mann, Tina Neville
- Information literacy education in WeChat environment at academic libraries in China by Jinchi Guo, Jie Huang and
- The repository, the researcher, and the REF: “It's just compliance, compliance, compliance” by Carolyn Ten Holter (an article based on her dissertation research here at Sheffield University iSchool!)
Go to https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/the-journal-of-academic-librarianship/vol/46/issue/1
Photo by Sheila Webber: Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, February 2020 (seeing this)

Congratulations to graduates @InfoSchoolSheff #phdsuccess

Today is graduation day for Masters and PhD students from the Information School at the University of Sheffield. I particularly want to congratulate my PhD student Dr Joseph Essel (pictured with me today) who completed his PhD thesis on Ghanaian trainee teachers' conceptions of the information literate teacher, using the phonomenographic approach.
Photo by Prof Peter Bath

Recent articles: Curriculum mapping; Engineering students; pre-university students; Ghanaian youth

Firstly, an open access version of
Archambault, S. and Masunaga, J. (2015) Curriculum Mapping as a Strategic Planning Tool (post-print proof) Journal of Library Administration. 55(6) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/susan_gardner/19
"Curriculum mapping is a procedure for documenting and visualizing student learning at the programmatic level. The process allows libraries the opportunity to record where information literacy skills are taught across the curriculum in order to locate gaps and redundancies within a library instruction program. It also allows for alignment of the library’s learning outcomes with the learning outcomes important to the institution. This paper presents a review of the history of curriculum mapping, followed by a case study of how Loyola Marymount University (LMU) used the process to support information literacy in a new core curriculum."

Secondly, recent items from the priced publication International Information and Library Review (2015, not yet allocated to an issue at time of writing)  http://www.tandfonline.com/action/showAxaArticles?journalCode=ulbr20#.Vb0j6kZOOZM
- Perceptions of Faculty about Information Literacy Skills of Postgraduate Engineering Students by Mamoona Kousar and Khalid Mahmood
- Perceptions and Knowledge-Sharing Behavior of Pre-University Students by Shaheen Majid and Chitra Panchapakesan
Abstract extracts: "Knowledge sharing is an essential element of a collaborative learning process. The purpose of this study was to investigate students' knowledge-sharing behavior with their classmates, frequency and type of knowledge shared, preferred communication channels, and the factors likely to motivate or inhibit knowledge sharing. A pre-tested questionnaire was used for data collection and 220 higher secondary students (equivalent to “A” levels) from India participated in this study. ... It was found that the top three sources for seeking study-related information were the internet, teachers, and classmates. The primary motives of sharing knowledge were to improve understanding of concepts discussed in the class and to build good relationship with classmates. For group assignments, more knowledge sharing occurred within the group members than with other groups. The major barriers to knowledge sharing were the lack of time, lack of a sharing culture, and inadequate depth in relationships"
- Everyday Life Information-Seeking Behavior of Marginalized Youth: A Qualitative Study of Urban Homeless Youth in Ghana by Evelyn Markwei and Edie Rasmussen
Abstracts extracts "Forty-one homeless youth, ages 15 to 18 years participated in this qualitative study. Participants were identified by snowball sampling and data was collected by field observations, an adaptation of the critical incident technique and in-depth interviews. The results show that (1) information needs of the homeless youth in the study relate to basic needs following Maslow's hierarchy of needs; (2) their information sources are primarily interpersonal and comparatively limited in range; and (3) the most important information-seeking behavior is a community approach, characterized by free sharing of information among their social network of friends. The results further revealed that participants relied on their social network of friends to meet 8 of the 11 information needs identified in the study."
Photo by Sheila Webber: plums, Farmers Market, August 2015

Conceptions of the Information literate teacher by teacher trainees at a Ghanaian University #i3rgu

Liveblogging the second day of the i3 conference held this week at Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland. Joseph Essel (one of my PhD students, in the University of Sheffield Information School) talked about Conceptions of the Information literate teacher by teacher trainees at a Ghanaian University. This is a phenomenographic study, investigating the variation in conceptions of the information literate teacher of trainee teachers in Winneba Univerity, Ghana.
He started by talking about the background to the study, including the changing information and teaching landscape, and the need for teachers to be information literate in order to develop information literate students. He identified that information literacy (IL) may not be well understood in developing countries, and that the conception of the information literate teacher has not been studied. The University of Education Winneba does aim to develop their trainee teachers as information literates, but there had not been extensive work to achieve this at the time of the study. Joseph went on to explain the nature of phenomenography, a qualitative approach which gives insight into the different ways in which people experience or conceive of a phenomenon.
25 participants (trainee teachers) were interviewed. Ages ranged from 25 to 42 (with 11 females and14 males), with a varied amount of teaching experience and teaching 12 different subjects between them. Five different conceptions of the information literate teacher were discovered:
1. Linguistic conception: the information literate teacher (ILT) is seen as knowing and speaking English (since this allowed you to access information in thre first place, and you also needed English to function effectively as a teacher)
2. ICT and information retrieval conception: ILT conceived of as being aware of ICT tools and able to use them
3. Critical awareness conception - acquiring the mindset to be able to evaluate and filter the information
4. Knowledge building conception, with the ILT deepening knowledge to become well informed
5. Professional growth category, with the ILT applying information to develop professional skills and knowledge, and becoming a professional teacher.
This is an inclusive hierarchy, with the first category including the second, the top category (category 5) including all the previous ones.

Photo by Sheila Webber: through a window in Dunnottar Castle, Scotland, June 2015

IL at Ghanaian Universities

Dadzie, P. (2009) "Information Literacy in Higher Education: Overview of initiatives at two Ghanaian Universities." African journal of library archives and information science, 19(2), 165-175.
Another article on the same theme is: Dadzie, P. (2007) "Information Literacy: assessing the readiness of Ghanaian universities." Information Development, 23 (4), 266-277. and see also a previous post
Photo by Sheila Webber: Sunflower growing in my downpipe. This would be cute in Second Life, but is a bit more worrying when it's a real pipe.

Reports on UNESCO's Training the Trainers

International Information and Library Review, Vol. 41, issue 4 (December 2009) is devoted to reports about the UNESCO "Training the trainers" events. It is edited by Forest "Woody" Horton. I will highlight one short article which is a question and answer with a Ghanaian librarian (who studied here at Sheffield) about information literacy needs in Africa.
Stern, C. and Buer, V. (2009) "Viscount Buer's responses to Professor Caroline Stern's questions." The International Information & Library Review, 41 (4),297-299

It is a subscription journal, but you should find details about the issue from this home page: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/
journaldescription.cws_home/
622845/description

Photo by Sheila Webber: Blossom (plum, I think), Blackheath, April 2010

IL in developing countries

Yesterday I attended a SCONUL Working Group on Information Literacy meeting, and we had an interesting presentation from Peter Burnett, Head of Library Development at INASP (International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications), which works with librarians and librarian educators in developing countries. Part of their work involves supporting development of the library and information curriculum, and of training librarians in information literacy (although a larger amount is spent on supporting access/use/management of electronic information resources). The website is at http://www.inasp.info/

There are a number of publications, including a book with chapters on information literacy at universities in various developing countries:
Kiondo, E. and Msuya, J (Eds) (2005) User Information Literacy: Case studies from university library programmes in the SCANUL-ECS region. INASP and the Standing Conference of African National and University Libraries in Eastern, Central and Southern Africa (SCANUL-ECS). ISBN-10 1 902928 27 X; ISBN-13 978 1 902928 27 2. Cost - £12.00. To order a print copy of the book, email inasp@inasp.info (it isn't available in electronic form: their reports etc. can be downloaded freely)
The current issue of the INASP newsletter also focuses on information literacy: it has one article "Bridging the Digital Divide in Malawi: Is information literacy part of the equation?" and another from Perpetua Dadzie, Department of Information Studies, University of Ghana on "Promoting Information Literacy: The role of the librarian". This and previous newsletter issues can be downloaded from http://www.inasp.info/file/369/newsletter.html Additionally, there is material relating to a training course about developing an information literacy programme (look in the Training Activities section. To download material you need to register (free). You also may be interested in supporting INASP's work e.g. by twinning with a library or providing advice.

Photo by Sheila Webber: Great Keppel Island, June 2008