Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes of Librarians in Developing Library Users’ Information Literacy

The objective of this study was to explore how Estonian librarians assess their information literacy (IL) and which knowledge, skills and attitudes they consider important in facilitating the development of IL of library users. The research strategy chosen was a multiple case study. Document analysis, semi-structured interviews, and expert interviews were the main data collection methods. The study results revealed that librarians needed knowledge and skills in pedagogy and andragogy, instructional design, information technology, foreign languages, marketing, information sources and databases as well as on the learning domain. They also highlighted social skills and found that personal characteristics and attitudes of librarians were very important in facilitating IL. The study participants expressed the view that all librarians and information professionals must be able to advise users individually to facilitate their IL, but not all should be required to deliver courses and lectures for a group of students or library users.