Articles & reports
The following are articles and papers on completed infomation literacy research projects.Bruce, C. (1997) The seven faces of information literacy. Adelaide: Auslib Press.
Bruce used the phenomenographic approach (which aims to reveal variation in people’s conceptions of a phenomenon – in this case, information literacy). She talks in detail about the process of data collection and analysis.
Eskola, E-L. (2005). "Information literacy of medical students studying in the problem-based and traditional curriculum" Information Research, 10(2).
The data for this qualitative study was gathered via interview and from other documents, and the data analysis was aided by using NUD*ist text analysis software.
Heinström, J. (2002) Fast surfers, Broad scanners and Deep divers – personality and information-seeking behaviour. PhD dissertation. Abo University.
The aim of the study was to examine the influence of personality and approaches to studying on information-seeking behaviour in Masters students at Abo University. The research was primarily quantitative. The researcher used 3 questionnaires (assessing personality type, approaches to study and information behaviour), all of which had to be filled in by each participant. The results were analysed using a statistical package (looking particularly for correlation between the results of the 3 questionnaires. For example it emerged that people with more open personalities tended to “encounter” information more). Three types of behaviour were identified (as mentioned in the title).
Kirk, J. (2002) Theorising information use: managers and their work. PhD dissertation, University of Technology, Sydney.
Note: Kirk’s dissertation gives a full account of the phenomenographic research process and is also a (more unusual) example of research in a workplace setting.
McLelland, D. and Crawford, J. (2003) The Drumchapel Project: a study of the ICT skills of school pupils in a secondary school in a deprived area of Glasgow. Glasgow: Glasgow Caledonian University.
Note: A mixture of focus groups (with pupils) and questionnaires were used to collect the data. Although “ICT skills” are mentioned in the title, information literacy emerged as an important theme. Manchester Metropolitan University Library and Leeds University Library. (2002) The Big Blue: information skills for students.
Mittermeyer, D. and Quirion, D. (2003) Information Literacy: Study of Incoming First-Year Undergraduates in Quebec. CREPUQ.
This was a quantitative survey, with questions relating to five aspects of information literacy. The methods are described quite fully in chapter 3.
Stubbings, R and Franklin, G. 2005 More to life than Google – a journey for PhD students. JeLit, 2 (2).
This paper outlines how librarians at Lougborough University Library investigated the use of reflective checklists and online tests might help PhD students to assess their information literacy skills and select appropriate courses to particpate in.
Todd, R (2006) "It’s all about getting ‘A’s." Library & information update, 5 (1/2).
Note: Large scale US project looking at information literacy in schools. More information on this project at http://www.oelma.org/studentlearning/default.asp
Last updated: February 2007