A Multicultural Approach to Evaluate Information Literacy Skills of the University Students of the Remote Areas of Pakistan.

In today\u27s world, information is vital for decision making. However, in the 21st century the abundance of information is also causing issues for the people having less expertise and knowledge for synthesizing and using it. The abundance is merely due to advancement in technology including information media, internet and printed books. The advancement in technology particularly the source of communicating information have intensified information complexity, which is, people receive much information in excess of needed and get confused that on which information basis they should make decisions. In this regard, having information literacy is considered one of the most reliable methods assisting in the selection of accurate fact and figures from variety of available data in media and internet. Therefore, the current study conducted to assess the IL (Information Literacy) skills of under-graduate and post-graduate students of the Higher Educational Institutions of Balochistan. This study also conducted to check form and level of IL programs that are being taught to the students for their academic development. Moreover, this study also highlights the hardships students confront while surfing for needed data. The study uses quantitative approach of research relying on an extensive survey and for data collection a pre-tested questionnaire was used to measure students’ IL skills in the higher educational institutions of Balochistan. The study’s unit of analysis comprises of BS, Masters, M.Phil and Ph.D. enrolled students in all higher educational institutions of Balochistan. Non-probability sampling technique (convenience sampling) was employed to collect the data from 380 respondents. The collected data were analyzed through SPSS. Descriptive statistics were applied to calculate frequencies and percentages of the data. The findings show that the most of the respondents are not familiar to the term IL. They mostly search needed information without applying proper IL techniques. The said Higher Educational Institutions frequently use Face to face IL instruction for provision of IL instructions. In the light of the finding of the study it is mandatory for countering the hardships that the curriculum supposed to be reconstructed and arranged in a line with the ongoing technological trend to promote IL in students of the all higher educational institutions of the country. Moreover, it is suggested to organize training sessions, faculty development programs for instructors to develop interactional and IL content delivering skills efficiently at their institutions. Furthermore, IL contents should be included in institutions’ research courses being offered by various departments of higher educational institutions of the country