Profile of the South African student

Get Complete Project Material File(s) Now! »

Chapter 3 ILPs in academic libraries: a model

 Introduction

Chapter 2 concluded that most of the students using academic libraries in South Africa are from Generation Y. That means that they are technologically advanced. They can, for example, use the Web, are motivated by technology such as computers, have the ability to perform more than one task at a time and interact in a non-linear way with information.
Although Dupuis (1999) agrees with the above, the author states that very few of the Generation Y students fully understand and are able to apply the fundamental principles of information literacy. Marcum (2002:1) supports this viewpoint by stating that information literacy remains a major focus and purpose of librarianship. The ILP has become more important than ever.
In recognising the value of the ILP, a pilot project for information literacy was established in South Africa in 1995. One of the primary objectives of this project – named the INFOLIT project – was to investigate ILPs at higher education institutions (Underwood, 2002:6). Since then, there have been numerous efforts to establish ILPs at higher education institutions in South Africa.
Despite these attempts, a study – launched in 2001 by Nassimbeni and De Jager– indicated that no model for the provision of ILPs at higher education institutions exists (Underwood, 2002:8).
It is therefore the aim of this chapter to describe a comprehensive ILP model. The model should serve as an example for academic libraries on how to compile their own or customise the model for their specific needs.
The purpose of this chapter is to determine

• the criteria for a model ILP.
• the characteristics that a model ILP should comply with.
• the presentation guidelines of a model ILP.

It is important to describe a comprehensive ILP model, as it was stated in Chapter 1, section 1.2.1, that a search for an all-embracing DILP model did not produce any results. Subsequently the DILP had to be based on the ILP model.
The following figure gives an overview of this chapter.

Criteria for a model ILP

One of the most important criteria for a model ILP is that it should consist of various steps and activities. These steps, identified by De Jager and Nassimbeni (2002a:8), are depicted in the following figure

Orientation

Orientation enables the student to situate him/herself in the world of information (De Jager & Nassimbeni, 2002a:4). Figure 3.3 depicts the student in the orientation step of the ILP. The speech bubbles illustrate the activities in this step.
The programme should allow the student to define the topic in the search for information. The next activity is the selection of main concepts in a topic, followed by the identification of keywords to search for information on a topic. The programme should then make it clear to the student that a range of information sources is needed to research a topic.
Orientation in the ILP is important, as students from Generation Y need to learn how to focus their topics. Orientation should therefore address the issue of the lack of critical-thinking skills – as discussed in Chapter 2, section 2.3.11.

Interaction

‘’Interaction’’ is the continuous transfer of information in both directions between information sources (books, journals, etcetera) and the person (student) using it (Oxford advanced learner’s dictionary of current English, 1995a:621).
The interaction between the information source and student is described in Table 3.1, by listing the activities of interaction and then explaining the activity. The information in the table has been synthesised from the works of the following authors:

• De Jager & Nassimbeni (2002a:8-9)
• Haberle (2002:26)
• Indiana University Bloomington Libraries (1996)
• McHenry Country College Library (2002).

In Chapter 2, section 2.2.4 it is explained that Generation Y prefers action to observation, thus ensuring active learning. Interaction is important as the student needs to interact with the information source. A student could, for example, search on the online public access catalogue (OPAC) for a book, go to the shelf to retrieve the book and then identify the information in the book.

Internalisation

‘’Internalisation’’ means that the student must make the information part of him/herself, by absorbing the information through repeated exposure to it (adapted from the Oxford advanced learner’s dictionary of current English (1995b:624)).
Internalisation is done by providing certain activities in the ILP. These activities are illustrated in Figure 3.4.

Abstract 
Samevatting 
Acknowledgements 
Brief Table of Contents 
Detailed Table of Contents 
List of figures 
List of tables 
List of acronyms 
Definition of terms 
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Backround
1.2 Statement of the problem
1.3 Scope and objectives
1.4 Key theoretical concepts
1.5 Research design and methodology
1.6 Organisation of chapters
1.7 Summary
Chapter 2: Profile of the South African student
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Demographics
2.3 Characteristics
2.4 Learning characteristics
2.5 Learning style preferences
2.6. Expectations of Generation Y
2.7 Summary
Chapter 3: ILPs in academic libraries: a model
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Criteria for a model ILP
3.3 Characteristics of a model ILP
3.4 Presentation of the ILP
3.5 Summary
Chapter 4: The DILP in an academic library: a model
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Criteria for a model DILP
4.3 Characteristics of a model DILP
4.4 Presentation of the DILP
4.5 Summary
Chapter 5: The design of the DILP
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Interactivity
5.3 Site architecture
5.4 Navigation features
5.5 Principles of design
5.6 Elements of design
5.7 Incorporating media
5.8 Learner levels
5.9 Summary
Chapter 6: The development of the DILP
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Deciding on the content
6.3 Content organisation
6.4 Authoring
6.5 Additions and changes to the original content
6.6 Changes in the design of the DILP
6.7 Technical requirements for authoring
6.8 Checklists
6.9 Technical requirements for using the DILP
6.10 Evaluation and testing of the prototype
6.11 Outcomes of the evalution and testing of the prototype
6.12 Producing the DILP
6.13 Summary
Chapter 7: Conclusions and recommendations
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Summary of the main findings
7.3 Recommendations
7.4 Future research
7.5 Concluding comment
Bibliography
GET THE COMPLETE PROJECT