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Info literacy experts call for sharing know-how

DUBAI — International educators, librarians and instructional designers have gathered at the Zayed University, Dubai campus with the aim of sharing expertise on information literacy.

The two-day Information Literacy Network Professional Development Conference, which began yesterday, is being attended by professionals from the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC), the United States and Australia.

On the first day of the event, the conference emphasised the necessity of enhancing the students’ skills in locating, evaluating information and above all using the information ethically.

Dr. Mary Sengati-Zimba, PhD in Education, Zayed University, said, “As the information technology capabilities are different amongst the countries, some universities and academic institutions have gone a long way in applying the social technologies while others are still relatively beginners. From here stemmed the idea of holding this conference so that academicians, specially librarians, could share their knowledge with the others.”

Dr. Zimba pointed out that the response of students towards the application of information technology to the daily academic functions was kind of negative at the beginning. “They were made to put their technology know-how to use in multiple assignments and activities in the classroom and at home. With the passage of time they came to realise how useful this information literacy was to them as it was saving their time and efforts. Their use of online database facilitated to a great extent their research process,” she explained.

Dr. Zimba noted that wikis, blogs, instant messaging programmes in addition to advanced software were being more and more created to provide students with instant reference services.

“We define causes and syllabi whereas goals and outcomes must be reached by the students through a limited period of time. Software such as Blackboard, Moodle, WebCT are made accessible to the students from anywhere. They can put the theories they learn to practice, do some test online and get the results consequently,” Dr. Zimba pointed out

She also cited the podcast as the software librarians are using. It is a programme where audio input can be saved and posted on the Net.

According to her, virtual reference has proven very efficient in providing all the key elements to the students so that they could be successful in their education.

Isabelle Eula, Chairperson of the Information Literacy Network, Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, highlighted in her speech how standards used in libraries could help the universities shape their programmes and instructions in information literacy. “Thanks to the information literacy strategy we have been embracing, the library has become a favourite destination for students. Their information literacy improved and, at the same time, we encouraged them to opt for the ethical use of information in a socially responsible manner.”

Eula added that the conference aimed at finding a mechanism to better integrate information literacy into the curricula throughout the universities’ campuses and get all academic stakeholders to collaborate in that process.