Librarians Conceptions of Information Literacy in Three Federal Universities in South East Nigeria: Implications for Effective Implementations of Information Literacy Programmes

Information literacy education in Nigeria is yet to be fully developed and supported by a national standard. The paper examined librarians conceptions of information literacy in three Federal Universities in South East Nigeria and perceptions of its value for students in institutions of higher learning and draws on the implications for development of optimal formalized information literacy programmes in Nigerian universities. The research is a cross- sectional survey research which used questionnaire as the instrument for data collection. The questionnaire contained both structured and open ended questions. Sample was 63 librarians from three Federal Universities. Eight themes were gleaned from the conceptions of Information literacy supplied by the respondents. The highest number of Fifteen (15) respondents conceptualized information literacy as a Meta competence involving multiple information skills abilities. Analysis of librarians’ perceptions of the value of information literacy for students show that they placed the value in six major areas which include ability to access information, improved academic performance, ability to use library resources and others. On perceptions of their roles in information literacy education, high mean score showed that librarians strongly felt that information literacy is the responsibility of librarians and not added burden. The implication of the result of the research is that giving a measure of support through a national policy guided information literacy standard, librarians in Nigeria will perform their expected role in contributing to students’ information skills development and lifelong learning