Faculty-Librarian Collaboration in Enhancing Students’ Information Literacy Skills: A Study Of Selected Technical Universities In Ghana

Abstract

This study sought to explore the feasibility of faculty and librarian collaboration in developing a formal information literacy (IL) plan for inclusion in the normal academic curricula of Technical Universities in Ghana. The researcher adopted the mixed method approach by using both quantitative and qualitative methods as the research design for the study. Questionnaire and interview schedules were used as the main instruments in collecting data for the study. The entire population of ninety-two (92) respondents was targeted for the study with a respond rate of 82 (89.1%). Out of the total respondents, 66 (80.5%), were teaching faculty from the Liberal/Multidisciplinary Studies Departments of the selected study areas, while 16 (19.5%) were library professionals from the selected institutions. Seventy-six (76) questionnaires were distributed with 66 of them duly completed and returned. Sixteen library professionals were also successfully interviewed as part of the data collection process. The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 20 was used to analyse the quantitative data while qualitative content analysis was used to analyse the information gathered from the interview schedules. The study revealed that all the selected technical Universities did not have formal IL training programmes for their students. The study brought to light that, majority of the respondents were aware of and had appreciable levels of understanding of IL concept. The study also revealed factors that determine successful faculty-librarian collaboration in IL instructional activities. The study further revealed that the faculty had positive perceptions of librarians and positive attitudes towards collaborating with them in IL activities. Further revelations of the study identified challenges that could impede the process of faculty-librarian collaboration in students’ IL instructions. However, with availability of the required resources and management’s support, faculty-librarian collaboration in implementing formal IL programme at technical universities was shown to be feasible. The study proposed the adoption of a formal IL programme of study for inclusion in the normal academic curricula of technical universities. A revised Integrated Instruction Model for faculty-librarian collaboration in IL instructional activities was also proposed for adoption in future studies.