Students’ perceptions of librarians as teachers of information literacy at a large African university

2020 ◽  
Vol 69 (6/7) ◽  
pp. 399-415
Author(s):  
Siviwe Bangani ◽  
Dina Mokgadi Mashiyane ◽  
Mathew Moyo ◽  
Boitumelo Masilo ◽  
Glenda Makate
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Effective Teachers ◽  
Information Overload ◽  
Content Type ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Study Support ◽  
The Subject

Purpose The purpose of this study is to determine the students’ perceptions of librarians as teachers of information literacy at the North-West University in South Africa. Design/methodology/approach The study used a survey research method in which online questionnaires were used to gather data from students who would have attended information literacy classes. Findings Students found librarians to be effective teachers of information literacy, and they found the subject to be very useful. However, some of the surveyed students felt that a lot of the subject was presented in a short period, which could easily result in exhaustion and information overload. The use of local or vernacular languages was also indicated as an area requiring the librarians’ attention for the teachers to be more effective. Practical implications The results of this study support the assessment of librarians as teachers by students to assist them (librarians) to refine their teaching methods and to make the conduct of information literacy worthwhile for the students. Social implications The outcomes of this study may be used to advocate for more information literacy (IL) contact time with the students by librarians when negotiating with faculty. Further, these results may be used to showcase the value placed by students to IL. Originality/value This study is a welcome addition to the scant literature on the quality of teaching delivered by the librarians and the assessment mechanisms used to provide feedback on students’ learning of IL. This study is a first of its kind comparing the perceptions of librarians’ teaching abilities by postgraduate and undergraduate students.

The awareness and application of multimedia tools for information literacy instruction at an African university

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 711-724
Author(s):  
Dina Mokgadi Mashiyane ◽  
Siviwe Bangani ◽  
Kirchner Van Deventer
Keyword(s):  
Instructional Practices ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Academic Librarians ◽  
Content Type ◽  
North West ◽  
Multimedia Tools ◽  
The North ◽  
Group Interviews

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine academic librarians’ awareness and application of multimedia content for information literacy (IL) instruction at the North-West University in South Africa. Design/methodology/approach This study used both the survey and focus group interviews to gather data from the university's faculty librarians. Findings The results of this study show that despite the majority of librarians being aware of the existence and benefits of multimedia tools that can complement their traditional instructional practices, very few actually apply the tools for IL instructional practices. Among the multimedia tools that the librarians often use for the IL instruction, LibGuides were the most favourable because of their ease of use. The main reasons for not using the multimedia tools cited by librarians include the lack of infrastructure and insufficient skills. Practical implications This study recommends the reskilling of librarians by training them in the use of multimedia tools for IL instruction. Social implications The paper sheds light on the current strategies being implemented by faculty librarians in providing IL using multimedia tools. It also outlines the importance of multimedia tools in enhancing eLearning endeavours. Multimedia skills for librarians can also be essential during times of crisis such as the recent COVID-19 outbreak. Originality/value This study is a welcome contribution to the role of ICTs in enhancing library activities during the 4IR. The voice of the librarians in this area has also been minimally represented. This study, therefore, seeks to address these gaps in published scholarly literature.

Social capital’s role in the development of volunteer-led cooperatives

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Richards ◽  
John Reed
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Third Sector ◽  
Economic Capital ◽  
Content Type ◽  
North West ◽  
Stakeholder Groups ◽  
The North ◽  
Third Sector Organisations ◽  
Capital Development

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to evaluate how social capital is developed in a third sector organisation based in the north-west of England, a small food cooperative run by volunteers. Social capital comprises the bonds, bridges and linkages that hold together societal members, and it can be considered to be a precursor of economic capital. Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative data were collected through interviews with key informants, observations and documents. Data were analysed using either a template or a thematic analysis to identify aspects of social capital development. Findings – A model of the interactions between and within the three main stakeholder groups involved in the cooperative is presented. This model shows how these interactions can develop social capital, and it discusses how potential deficits in social capital can occur. Research limitations/implications – The findings have practical and theoretical implications, in that they may better equip third-sector organisations to understand how social capital is developed. Originality/value – This is one of few practical studies of social capital development in a social enterprise and provides valuable insights into the processes by which this is done.

Nigeria's security chiefs may not ease north-east woes

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Displaced Persons ◽  
Content Type ◽  
North West ◽  
Border Regions ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
General Elections

Significance Although many recent jihadist attacks have occurred in border regions with Niger (to the north of Borno State) or Cameroon (to the east of Borno and neighbouring Adamawa State), the Maiduguri attack underscores that security in Borno’s major towns is tenuous. Impacts Already faltering efforts to resettle displaced persons could be further complicated if the security situation degrades in Maiduguri. The new service chiefs’ attention will be overstretched as they also attempt to respond to worsening insecurity in the north-west. With general elections in 2023, there is no immediate political outlet for public frustration with authorities’ poor handling of security.

Questions Raised in Excavating the Recent Dead

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sian Anthony
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Material Culture ◽  
Working Life ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Special Circumstances ◽  
Historic Cemetery ◽  
Large Sections

The decision to excavate a modern cemetery in the heart of Copenhagen prompted questions which revealed how the sensitive borderlines surrounding the recent dead are dealt with by archaeologists. When the plans for a new metro line were revealed in Copenhagen, the location of one station within a historic cemetery was controversial. Assistens cemetery is an early example of a landscape, or garden, cemetery (Rugg 1998; Tarlow 2000), designed and ordered according to fashionable contemporary garden principles and aesthetics. It has remained a much-loved place where famous personalities are buried as well as many ordinary citizens of Copenhagen. Although burial within the cemetery has become increasingly rare, it is still in occasional use for new interments and for gardens of remembrance for the burial and disposal of ashes. However, in the 1980s changing municipal plans for the cemetery re-designated large sections of it as a park, as described in Helweg and Linnée Nielsen (2010). This change of status enabled the Copenhagen metro company (Metroselskabet) to consider the placement of a station in one corner of the cemetery. Excavation of this site from 2009 to 2011 resulted in the archaeological recording of the material culture of the cemetery including around one thousand burials, their grave-pits, funerary material culture, and some aspects of the working life of the cemetery (Anthony et al. 2016). Assistens cemetery was originally created in 1760 and later expanded in 1805/6. The excavation focused on the north-west corner of the 1805/6 extension, an area surrounding a cemetery administration building (graverbolig). The area was filled by the mid-nineteenth century and continued to be used intensively for the next hundred years. In the latter part of the twentieth century, coffin burial became less frequent but continued until the 1980s. The occasional placement of cremation urns began in the early twentieth century and continued in large numbers into the 1990s (Helweg and Linnée Nielsen 2010). Burial is now uncommon in the entire cemetery and only takes place in special circumstances. In contrast to UK cemetery regulations, Danish law allows for graves to be removed after only twenty years, so there is the possibility of reusing grave plots after this short period by removing the previous coffins.

Examining Sexuality in the Context of HIV/AIDS Knowledge among Students of the North-West University Mafikeng Campus

2017 ◽  
pp. 232-244
Author(s):  
Paul Bigala
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Married Couples ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Female Students ◽  
Sexual Pleasure ◽  
Male Students ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
Hiv Aids

The study investigated gender differences in attitudes towards sexuality in the context of HIV/AIDS among undergraduate students. The cross-sectional study was conducted among 1,498 randomly selected students. The majority of the students interviewed were females at 53.9% (M= 20.24, SD=2.98) compared to 46.1% males (M=21.67, SD=3.35). More Males (16%) responded in the affirmative with regard to having more than one sexual partner than female students (10%). Also, more male students (32.7%) than female students (18.6%) indicated that using condom reduces sexual pleasure and over 40% of both sets of respondents indicated that sexual intercourse should only be done between married couples. This study underscores the need to strengthen HIV/AIDS programmes to include issues on sexuality and encourage undergraduate students to attend these programmes.

scholarly journals Complete Genome Sequence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 Phage PhiG17

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muyiwa A. Akindolire ◽  
Bukola R. Aremu ◽  
Collins N. Ateba
Keyword(s):  
Escherichia Coli ◽  
Genome Sequence ◽  
Complete Genome Sequence ◽  
Complete Genome ◽  
Whole Genome Sequence ◽  
Escherichia Coli O157 ◽  
Content Type ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
Genetic Features

Here, we announce the complete genome sequence of bacteriophage PhiG17, which is virulent to Escherichia coli O157:H7 strains and was isolated from cattle feces in the North West province of South Africa. This report presents the major genetic features of the phage PhiG17 based on its whole-genome sequence.

scholarly journals Draft Genome Sequences of Potentially Pathogenic Clostridium perfringens Strains from Environmental Surface Water in the North West Province of South Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (32) ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Cornelius Jacobus Fourie ◽  
Tomasz J. Sanko ◽  
Cornelius Carlos Bezuidenhout ◽  
Charlotte Mienie ◽  
Rasheed Adegbola Adeleke
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Surface Water ◽  
Clostridium Perfringens ◽  
Draft Genome ◽  
Anthropogenic Factors ◽  
Genome Sequences ◽  
Content Type ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
North West Province

Surface water systems in South Africa are experiencing a major decline in quality due to various anthropogenic factors. This poses a possible health risk for humans. Here, we present the draft genome sequences of three Clostridium perfringens isolates obtained from a fecally polluted river system in the North West province of South Africa.

Virgil's Location of Corythus

1976 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 293-295
Author(s):  
E. L. Harrison
Keyword(s):  
Recent Article ◽  
Careful Examination ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
The Subject

In a recent article JRS (1973), 68 f. Nicholas Horsfall sought to demonstrate that Corythus, which Virgil makes the original home of Dardanus (Aen. iii, 167 f.), should be identified with Tarquinii, some 50 miles north-west of Rome, on the coast of Etruria, rather than with Cortona, roughly twice as far away, to the north, and inland. In doing so he expressed surprise that the Virgilian evidence should have been completely ignored by previous writers on the subject (p. 68): and, using the Aeneid as the main source on which his own argument was based, he supported his conclusion with a careful examination of several other aspects of the problem.

Exploring the reliability and validity of the learning styles questionnaire (LSQ) in an Arab setting

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 446-464
Author(s):  
D.A. Yousef
Keyword(s):  
Learning Styles ◽  
Learning Style ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Item Analysis ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
Educational Settings ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Two Samples

Purpose This study aims to examine the reliability and validity of the learning style construct conceptualized by Honey and Mumford (1986) in educational settings in the United Arab Emirates. Design/methodology/approach Two independent samples from the UAE were used: one comprised 1,463 undergraduate students at the UAE University, and the other comprised 152 undergraduate students at the American University of Ras Al Khaimah. The data were analyzed using Cronbach’s alpha, inter-correlations and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Findings Measured by alpha coefficients, the outcomes suggest that the learning styles questionnaire (LSQ) had moderate internal consistency in both samples. The inter-correlations reveal positive (weak to modest) correlations among the four learning styles for both samples, implying a lack of support for the two bipolar dimensions proposed by Kolb. CFA failed to support the four learning styles described by Honey and Mumford. Research limitations/implications This study used only two samples to test the reliability and validity of the instrument. Second, other statistical tools (e.g. test-retest, item analysis) usually used to determine the reliability and validity of instruments were not used. Furthermore, the study was conducted over a short period; nonetheless, it has various implications for researchers, educators and managers. Originality/value This investigation represents the first attempt to assess the LSQ’s reliability and validity in educational settings in the UAE. The findings contribute to the study of learning styles and instruments testing.

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