Measuring the impact of information literacy training in Africa

The British Library for Development Studies (BLDS) has been developing an information literacy programme over the past two years which includes course materials and an online network for trainers and practitioners to share best practice. By information literacy BLDS are referring to the skills and knowledge needed to locate and use electronic and printed materials and is regarded as a lifelong skill for study and work.

As part of this programme BLDS and the Research Information Network (RIN) are planning to develop a monitoring and evaluation toolkit including practical examples to inform the development and impact measurement of information literacy training. Much of the work that BLDS have been doing has been within an African context (see: BLDS' global projects pages for more information) and so the intention is to develop a toolkit for African trainers of information literacy which will be widely disseminated. The attached survey will help us to understand what tools are already in use in order to inform the development of the toolkit. The toolkit will include practical tools such as pre and post-course questionnaires, as well as case studies illustrating how these tools can be used. We are hoping that you will be willing to share your tools so that they can be shared with others.

BLDS and RIN will be consulting widely in order to set out a toolkit that genuinely reflects the circumstances and needs of trainers in Africa. As a first stage of the consultation, the following questionnaire has been devised to get a feel for current practice in the development of information literacy interventions. Your cooperation in filling this questionnaire would be greatly appreciated; in doing so, you would be making a valuable contribution to providing an evidence base on which to build a toolkit that you and your colleagues should find valuable.

The questionnaire should take no more than 15-30 minutes to complete.</b) <br> The closing date for this questionnaire is 25th November 2012.