Information literacy skills of secondary school students of Nairobi and Tharaka Nithi counties of Kenya
Information literacy (IL) is a set of abilities requiring individuals to recognize when information is needed and to locate, evaluate and use the needed information effectively. It is significant to scholars for making decisions with critical thinking skills, seeking answers to critical questions, finding information from particular sources, forming intelligent opinions and evaluating sources of information. Therefore, it is pertinent that governments incorporate information literacy knowledge into academic programmes to ensure that citizens are productive and equipped to function globally in the 21st century. Information literacy skills are essential to secondary school students in developing countries such as Kenya. However, many secondary schools’ students have very little or no basic knowledge about library use, computer literacy and information searching skills. This problem can be attributed to students being educated in environments with poor learning facilities, such as lack of well-equipped school libraries, lack of computers in schools and failure to recognize the school library (where in existence) as a learning resource. In this information technology age, Kenyan secondary school students need to be equipped to develop the skills to help them search, evaluate and utilize the information effectively. The general objective of this research was to investigate the status of IL skills of secondary school students in the Nairobi and Tharaka Nithi Counties of Kenya. The specific objectives were to establish the standards of information literacy, available information literacy programmes, factors that can influence students' information literacy, information-seeking strategies of students, and challenges which students face in the use of school libraries of Nairobi and Tharaka Nithi Counties. Finally, the study was intended to develop a framework for IL in Nairobi and Tharaka Nithi Counties. The study used a mixed-methods approach which is an interpretivist research philosophy because of its ability to accommodate questionnaires and interviews, as well as the analysis of existing relevant texts in extant literature, and post-positivism since it uses various methods and techniques for collecting data to allow for effective triangulation; the pragmatism paradigm being practical in the choice of data collection techniques. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were used, as interview schedules and questionnaires were used in data collection. This study used survey design because it examines and describes phenomena and explains the relationship between the variables as they occur in a natural environment. The population of this study was derived from Nairobi and Tharaka Nithi Counties of Kenya. The schools in these two counties represent the nature of urban and rural secondary schools in other counties in Kenya and thus the findings from the two counties can easily be generalized to the whole country. The target population was the principals, librarians and students in the sampled secondary schools. Sample size was determined where 382 students were sampled in 30 secondary schools: 20 in Nairobi County and 10 in Tharaka Nithi County. Both stratified and random sampling techniques were used to obtain 13 students per school while purposive sampling was used to select the principals and librarians who participated in the study. Semi-structured questionnaires and interview guides were physically distributed to the respondents and data analyzed using SPSS; descriptive statistics such as frequencies and percentages to describe data on the various variables were conducted. Inferential statistics such as Pearson correlation was carried out to show the relationship between the variables. Research findings revealed that most students in Nairobi County visited the library 2-3 times weekly, mostly to study, while in Tharaka Nithi County the students rarely visited the library. Nearly half of the students in both counties denoted, that the libraries were up to the required standard, Results on the library standards in the schools revealed that the students were not sure whether the library was up to the standard. Results of the analysis on the available library programmes in the schools revealed that students in Nairobi County and Tharaka Nithi County indicated that library orientation was the most easily available programme in the school. Results further indicated that library user education and information literacy were the most available library programmes, known by more students in Nairobi County than in Tharaka Nithi County. The principals and librarians pointed out that the available library programmes comprised reading skills, training on cataloguing, and library lessons by language teachers among others. The students indicated that the available resources in the libraries were easily accessible. Adding more books and having computers in the library topped the list of what needs to be done to encourage more students to use the library. Key among the approaches used to ensure that the library is well equipped and up to the required standards in both counties was requisitions by either the librarians or teachers to the principals, donations from government, parents and well-wishers and the purchase of revision books as revealed by the principals and the librarians. Results from the principals and librarians on the strategies used in information-seeking by the students in the libraries revealed that browsing the shelves and the use of library personnel were the most common information-seeking strategies used by the students. Moreover, results showed that restricted library hours and a lack of computers and Internet connectivity were the major challenges for the students. The common challenges highlighted by the principals and librarians in both counties were few books in the library, limited space, unprofessional librarians, the poor reading culture of the students, and the lack of Internet connectivity and theft of library materials, among others. The study recommends enhancing practical-oriented users’ education programmes on the effective use of catalogue for information retrieval by students. The Kenyan government through the parliament needs to increase budget allocation for secondary schools so that the libraries can be equipped with more books and more computers can be bought to increase computer literacy in the schools. Competent and effective staff should be employed in the school libraries so that they can serve the students in a more effective way and encourage the frequency of borrowing and using the library resources and, finally, stakeholders in school library development should improve on their contributions and assistance towards schools’ library development. The research was limited to secondary school students of Nairobi and Tharaka Nithi counties in Kenya. The focus was information literacy skills of secondary school students in the selected counties in Kenya. The study suffered from limitations that are inherent to the data collection methods that were used, since questionnaires and interview schedules were used. The results of this study inform the principals of secondary schools in Nairobi and Tharaka Nithi Counties, Kenya, regarding the significance of IL among their students, making them better placed to understand the significance of IL among their students. The study also provides the government and other stakeholders with knowledge of the significance of IL among secondary school students in their efforts in promoting IL in the schools.
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