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Librarians Conceptions of Information Literacy in Three Federal Universities in South East Nigeria: Implications for Effective Implementations of Information Literacy Programmes

Introduction All professionals have their unique roles in contributing to societal progress. The evolving role of the librarian in the 21st century, demands that they should be involved in inculcating information literacy skills that will help users apply information for personal and human development. In line with this premise, discuss on information literacy have moved from a mere skills to locate and use information to a much more assuming ingredient for personal and societal developmental and for empowerment. Australian and New Zealand Institute for Information Literacy (ANZIIL) presented an all-embracing role definition of information literacy as a pre-requisite for participative citizenship, for social inclusion, for the creation of new knowledge, for personal, vocational, corporate and organisational empowerment, as well as for learning for life (Bundy, 2004). Library Associations in some countries that have recognized the pivotal role of information literacy for education and national development have formulated standards and frameworks for the implementations of information literacy in their academic institutions. Notably are Australian and New Zealand information literacy framework: principles, standards and practice 2001, The American Library Association Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education 2000 National Information Literacy Framework (Scotland), Information Literacy Framework for Wales 2011. These frameworks outline various information skills and modalities for implementation of the training. Information Literacy development in Nigerian academic institutions Unlike their counterparts in other countries, Library Associations in Nigeria are yet to formulate or adopt a national information literacy standard that will help the citizens develop information skill competencies that is required to survive in the knowledge society (UNESCO, 2005). The only official support for information literacy related activity is indicated in National Universities Commission (NUC) Benchmark Minimum Academic Standards for Undergraduate Programmes (National University Commission, 2007). In this policy document a two credit unit was assigned to Use of Library, Study Skills and Information Communication Technology (ICT). However universities are yet to fully implement this policy to develop formalized embedded information literacy education. Many librarians who are involved in information literacy training focus on use of library skills. This content is usually subsumed under the umbrella of the Use of English course of General Studies Departments of the Universities. Attama and Igwe (2015) described information literacy education as a missing issue and neglected ingredient in the educational system of Nigeria in the 21st century. They also noted that the teaching of Use of Library as an insignificant part of Use of English is not only out-dated, but also no longer acceptable in this information literacy era. They noted that the worrisome aspect of this is that librarians of some universities and polytechnics are not even given the opportunity for its delivery; rather both Use of English and Use of Library content are left in the hands of English lecturers to teach. Since it is the responsibility of librarians to inculcate information literacy skills in academic institutions, the major purpose of the research is to determine the readiness of library professionals to undertake these roles through a study of their understanding of the concept and its importance to students' learning and research. Objectives: Specifically, the objectives of the research were: 1. To capture librarians conceptualizations of information literacy in South East Nigeria. 2. To determine the perceptions of librarians on the value of information literacy for students, 3. To find out librarians views on the entrenchment of a curriculum based information literacy training in Nigerian academic institutions 4. …