Information Literacy at Work
A Study of Information Management
Behavior of Kuwaiti Engineers
Abdus Sattar Chaudhry & Sarah Al-Mahmoud
College of Social Sciences
Kuwait University
Focus
Our study examined information seeking
and information literacy from a broader
perspective and in a wider context.
Information finding and re-finding
Information management behavior
Personal information managemet
Information Management and Information Literacy
• With the growth and increasing complexity of
digital resources, different approaches to
organize and retrieve information are desirable.
• More effective management has become
essential with the overwhelming amount of
information being produced and disseminated
in the digital environment.
• With proper information organization, simple
tools can help manage information more
effectively for enhanced re-finding.
Sources Used to Collect Information
Information Source
Websites
Personal documents (papers and e-contents)
Mean
4.32
3.68
Professional colleagues
Technical reports
Databases
Conference papers
3.66
3.62
3.13
Libraries & information centers
2.88
Scholarly journals
Institutional repositories
Blogs
2.75
2.63
2.55
2.96
• Engineers reported that information was
sent to them (i.e., “pushed”) on a regular
basis from following sources:
– Email attachments from professional forums
– Documents forwarded by colleagues
– Information from social networking sites
– Information sent by vendors
Several engineers expressed frustration regarding
information overload - it was causing difficulties in
being able to re-find the needed information.
The following characteristics were
perceived as important regarding the
quality of information:
Characteristic
Mean
From trusted sources
4.25
Based on research
4.22
Updated on a regular basis
3.96
From well-known databases
3.78
Produced by reputable academics 3.76
Are from reputable sources
3.75
Report practical steps
3.70
Most Trusted Information Sources
Source
Mean
Academics in the field
4.16
Engineering databases
4.00
Project reports
3.93
Articles from journals
3.78
Colleagues from professional forums 3.64
Colleagues at work
3.58
Information downloaded from
3.38
company websites
Methods Used to Keep Information
Method
Save in personal folders
Mean
4.43
Email it to them
4.10
Bookmark or add a Favorite
3.90
Save the URL to search again
3.29
Store on outside services
Upload to personal portal
2.76
2.58
Add a hyperlink to the
organizion web page
2.09
Frequently Used Tools to Manage Information
Tool
Search tools that help mine local and
networked drives
Information management tools that help
organize calendars, tasks, and schedules
E-mail management tools that help mitigate
message overload
Concept and mind mapping tools that help
organize and connect information
Specialized tools (GNOME, SmartDraw,
Hystack)
Mean
3.88
3.40
3.12
2.90
1.78
Information Finding Skills
Skill Level
Mean
I know when to use web and specialized
sources.
I am able to select the right information in
my specialized area.
I can assess the quality of information
reasonably well.
4.09
I possess searching skills to be able to ask
focused questions.
I am comfortable in finding information
from databases in the engineering field.
I can integrate and synthesize information
from various sources.
3.96
4.05
4.01
3.88
3.84
Information Re-Finding
Strategies
Proper organization schemes make
information re-finding easier.
I am always able to find information saved in
personal folders.
I have no problem in finding previously
saved information.
It is easier to search again instead of going
through the saved information.
I need only rarely the information saved for
future use.
It is more difficult to find information the
second time.
Mean
3.91
3.87
3.84
2.55
2.49
2.28
Conclusions
Complex tasks and multiplicity of work environment
require engineers to be comfortable in finding and
managing information - information literacy at work is
crucial for them as it is for other knowledge workers.
Most of the information collected or received from
trusted sources (and perceived of high quality) is kept
for future use .
There is awareness about the importance of organization
and management of information to facilitate re-finding
but proper organization schemes are not used and
collaborative tools are not effectively exploited and
institutional support to facilitate access to relevant
information is considered inadequate.