Opportunities and Challenges of Academic Librarians in Offering Information Literacy Skills Training to Freshmen

Introduction

Information literacy training had been instrumental in instilling lifelong learning skills amongst people so as to become independent learners who are able to access, use, and evaluate all the information sources (Mackey & Ho, 2005; Pinto & Sales, 2007). People who are information literate are able to use the information ethically and ethically. This led to the development of the catch them young concept where people are taught to be information literate from a young age so that they can carry it and use it for their whole life. As a result, an informed society would help in the implementation of the sustainable development goals leading to the achievement of the world we want by 2030. Due to the ever changing technologies, learners are supposed to access authentic information and they should be able to search and use that information from a tender age.

Students are now expected to know how to use digital gadgets such as computers and smart phones to access information (Pinto,2008). The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic led to the introduction of online teaching and learning to ensure that students are not left behind so as to complete the syllabuses on the stipulated times (Chigwada, 2021). Therefore, to be able to do research using the internet, students should be information literate and should also possess the research skills necessary to navigate the overloaded information environment. This shows why it is important to support students from early childhood development through to primary and secondary school so that they are able to make a smooth transition to higher education. It was noted that information literacy training is prevalent in academic institutions in Zimbabwe where librarians are training students on how to access and use various information resources (Kagwiro, 2017). It is against this background that a study was done to understand how the librarians are assisting learners in primary and secondary schools in preparing them for higher education. The study sought to achieve the following objectives:

• 1.

  Analyse the state of information literacy skills training programs in primary and secondary schools in Zimbabwe.

• 2.

  Determine the role of school librarians in offering information literacy skills training programs.

• 3.

  Assess how academic librarians are assisting primary and secondary school libraries in delivering information literacy skills training programs.

• 4.

  Ascertain the opportunities and challenges that are faced by the school libraries in Zimbabwe in offering information literacy skills training programs.

What Is Information Literacy?

There are many definitions that were provided by various authors concerning information literacy (Association of College and Research Libraries, 2000; American Library Association, 1989). The American Library Association (1989) defines information literacy as the ability to locate, access, search, evaluate and use information in various contexts legally and ethically. This was necessitated by the advent of information communication technologies leading to information overload. Therefore, learners should possess these information literacy skills to be able to navigate the digital world. There is need for identifying relevant and reliable information when doing research to ensure that learners are able to answer their research and information needs. This calls for the embedding of information literacy skills training from the early child development stage to ensure that the learners grasp the concept while young. This is important since information literacy is a lifelong learning skill that can be used beyond primary, secondary, or tertiary education since it instil independent learning skills among the learners (Hosein, 2006).