Our study aims to take a closer look at China's current information literacy(IL) program standards at secondary schools and to analyze their level of success and/or failures in a comparative way with those of the ...Our study aims to take a closer look at China's current information literacy(IL) program standards at secondary schools and to analyze their level of success and/or failures in a comparative way with those of the United States in terms of fulfilling their each other's mission-oriented mandates. Our research findings show that China's current IL standards of high schools contain a disproportionate emphasis on information technology(IT). Moreover, the stipulations of these IL standards are narrowly construed and without being solidly grounded on a broad and comprehensive educational perspective. We also suggest that there are two underlying causes for this set of unsound IL standards in China.Firstly, there is a lack of collaboration between two major competing forces engaged in the curricular development and research of IL in China: Those professionals in educational IT discipline vis-à-vis those in Library and Information Science. Secondly, library professionals have a very limited influence on major socio-cultural policies, even at their own institutions. As a result, this paper recommends the following three possible measures,which may help remedy this situation strategically: 1) Establishing a set of new IL curriculum standards based on an IL-centered educational perspective; 2) establishing a teacher-librarian's training program to promote school librarians' role in IL education; and 3) strengthening the research and development of an online IL education program and an accompanied evaluation mechanism.展开更多
Purpose: This paper aims to explore best practices in academic and research libraries in providing information literacy(IL) instruction to science and engineering graduate students.Design/methodology/approach: Using t...Purpose: This paper aims to explore best practices in academic and research libraries in providing information literacy(IL) instruction to science and engineering graduate students.Design/methodology/approach: Using the questionnaire survey method, we conducted an IL assessment study on 114 graduate students enrolling in graduate courses offered by College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences(GUCAS).Findings: The current situation of graduate students' IL competencies and the need to develop them are revealed. An IL course was designed by subject librarians of National Science Library(NSL), Chinese Academy of Sciences(CAS), with three patterns addressing the development of graduate students' IL competencies.Research limitations: It is only about the practice of subject librarians at NSL, CAS, in designing IL courses for graduate students enrolling in graduate courses offered by College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, GUCAS.Practical implications: The results can provide a lot of useful information for the improvement of IL competencies of graduate students in science and technology disciplines.Originality/value: It is significant for assisting future subject librarians in incorporating IL skills into their course, especially for academic and research librarians to prepare and develop IL courses for science and engineering graduate students.展开更多
Purpose: Based on a quasi-experimental design, this study sought to investigate the effects of two different cognitive styles, field independence and field dependence, on students' learning behaviors of online dat...Purpose: Based on a quasi-experimental design, this study sought to investigate the effects of two different cognitive styles, field independence and field dependence, on students' learning behaviors of online database search strategies.Design/methodology/approach: An experiment was carried out among senior students in a Chinese university.Findings: The field independent(FI) subjects performed better in terms of their search strategy scores. When comparing how many people in each cognitive style group learned the targeted search strategies, more field dependent(FD) subjects were successors, whereas the FI subjects were more inclined to learn from their past experience. When analyzing the reasons for the subjects' selection of search strategies, we found that the FI subjects demonstrated more rational thinking behaviors than the FD subjects.Research limitations: Only 28 students participated in the study, which was a relatively small sample size. A larger sample will give more information and therefore more precise results.Practical implications: This research can provide some suggestions to the information system designers on how the system interface can be better designed to suit the cognitive styles of different users.Originality/value: So far, few studies have been published about the effects of users' cognitive styles on their learning behaviors of online database search strategies.展开更多
This paper introduced first a conceptual framework of 'information literacy training of farmers' based on the widely recognized understanding of the term 'information literacy(IL).' It then followed wi...This paper introduced first a conceptual framework of 'information literacy training of farmers' based on the widely recognized understanding of the term 'information literacy(IL).' It then followed with a discussion based on these three authors' field investigation regarding to Hubei peasants' current information literacy training in such perspectives as information consciousness,information ability and ways and means of information access.It concluded by pointing out some of the more apparent factors that had adverse impacts on the farmers' information literacy training in central China and suggested a few possible remedial measures to guide the course for those who are involved in such undertakings.展开更多
文摘Our study aims to take a closer look at China's current information literacy(IL) program standards at secondary schools and to analyze their level of success and/or failures in a comparative way with those of the United States in terms of fulfilling their each other's mission-oriented mandates. Our research findings show that China's current IL standards of high schools contain a disproportionate emphasis on information technology(IT). Moreover, the stipulations of these IL standards are narrowly construed and without being solidly grounded on a broad and comprehensive educational perspective. We also suggest that there are two underlying causes for this set of unsound IL standards in China.Firstly, there is a lack of collaboration between two major competing forces engaged in the curricular development and research of IL in China: Those professionals in educational IT discipline vis-à-vis those in Library and Information Science. Secondly, library professionals have a very limited influence on major socio-cultural policies, even at their own institutions. As a result, this paper recommends the following three possible measures,which may help remedy this situation strategically: 1) Establishing a set of new IL curriculum standards based on an IL-centered educational perspective; 2) establishing a teacher-librarian's training program to promote school librarians' role in IL education; and 3) strengthening the research and development of an online IL education program and an accompanied evaluation mechanism.
文摘Purpose: This paper aims to explore best practices in academic and research libraries in providing information literacy(IL) instruction to science and engineering graduate students.Design/methodology/approach: Using the questionnaire survey method, we conducted an IL assessment study on 114 graduate students enrolling in graduate courses offered by College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences(GUCAS).Findings: The current situation of graduate students' IL competencies and the need to develop them are revealed. An IL course was designed by subject librarians of National Science Library(NSL), Chinese Academy of Sciences(CAS), with three patterns addressing the development of graduate students' IL competencies.Research limitations: It is only about the practice of subject librarians at NSL, CAS, in designing IL courses for graduate students enrolling in graduate courses offered by College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, GUCAS.Practical implications: The results can provide a lot of useful information for the improvement of IL competencies of graduate students in science and technology disciplines.Originality/value: It is significant for assisting future subject librarians in incorporating IL skills into their course, especially for academic and research librarians to prepare and develop IL courses for science and engineering graduate students.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.:70773054)
文摘Purpose: Based on a quasi-experimental design, this study sought to investigate the effects of two different cognitive styles, field independence and field dependence, on students' learning behaviors of online database search strategies.Design/methodology/approach: An experiment was carried out among senior students in a Chinese university.Findings: The field independent(FI) subjects performed better in terms of their search strategy scores. When comparing how many people in each cognitive style group learned the targeted search strategies, more field dependent(FD) subjects were successors, whereas the FI subjects were more inclined to learn from their past experience. When analyzing the reasons for the subjects' selection of search strategies, we found that the FI subjects demonstrated more rational thinking behaviors than the FD subjects.Research limitations: Only 28 students participated in the study, which was a relatively small sample size. A larger sample will give more information and therefore more precise results.Practical implications: This research can provide some suggestions to the information system designers on how the system interface can be better designed to suit the cognitive styles of different users.Originality/value: So far, few studies have been published about the effects of users' cognitive styles on their learning behaviors of online database search strategies.
文摘This paper introduced first a conceptual framework of 'information literacy training of farmers' based on the widely recognized understanding of the term 'information literacy(IL).' It then followed with a discussion based on these three authors' field investigation regarding to Hubei peasants' current information literacy training in such perspectives as information consciousness,information ability and ways and means of information access.It concluded by pointing out some of the more apparent factors that had adverse impacts on the farmers' information literacy training in central China and suggested a few possible remedial measures to guide the course for those who are involved in such undertakings.
