Information Literacy Skills Among the Undergraduate Students at the University of Livingstonia, Malawi

Abstract

The aim of the article was to assess Information Literacy (IL) skills among the undergraduate students at the University of Livingstonia in Malawi with special focus on second year students. A cross-section descriptive survey design was employed whose population included Second year undergraduate students. Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyse data. The sampled students showed high level of awareness of types of information sources but had problems in identifying diverse information resources and their usage. Besides, participants demonstrated lack of skills in information search and Web retrieval techniques. With respect to evaluation of information, the sampled students did not know the various methods of evaluating information sources. The article concludes that the majority of students at the University of Livingstonia did not demonstrate adequate information literacy skills. Therefore, among others, the study recommends advocacy and awareness campaigns for information search techniques and designing of a formal IL curriculum