AN ASSESSMENT OF THE INFORMATION LITERACY LEVELS OF LIBRARY AND MEDIA TEACHERS IN THE HULU LANGAT DISTRICT, MALAYSIA

Abstract

Information literacy has become an important element in education today. The responsibility for information literacy instruction in schools is usually entrusted to the library media teachers. The quality of this instruction depends, in part, on the capability of these teachers. How knowledgeable are these library media teachers themselves in information literacy? This was the central research question in the study. A questionnaire-based survey was carried out among a sample of the library media teachers in the Hulu Langat district of Malaysia. Of the 132 questionnaires sent out, 84 were returned, giving a return rate of 63.6%.The findings from the survey indicate that the level of information literacy among the respondents was in the ‘average’ to ‘poor’ range. This may partly be due to the finding that 59.5% of the teachers had not attended any courses on information literacy, and 81% felt they needed more training in the area. It was surprising to learn that 61.9% did not teach information literacy in their school resource centers. This could be due to a lack of a curriculum resources, as 63.1% of them wanted for a framework for teachers. In general, the respondents rated their own information literacy skills as being average or poor, and even rated their own technology skills as being average or poor. They were however satisfied with the support received from the school, administrators, and the Teachers’ Activity Centers. The findings from this study suggest that the library and media teachers are keen to see information literacy implemented, but they themselves may lack the necessary understanding and skills to do so.