Examining the Information Literacy Level of Undergraduates Through a Number of Variables

Abstract

This study was carried out to determine whether students’ views and tendencies towards the use of the internet and their information literacy skills change with respect to a number of variables. The study was carried out on 362 students studying at different faculties at İnönü University over the last two weeks of the spring semester of the 2000-2001 academic year. The related data were collected through a questionnaire and a test developed by the researchers. In the analysis of the data, frequency, percentage, chi-square, t-test and one-way variance analysis were used. The study shows that students mostly use the internet to get information about their research subjects and to follow news media such as newspapers and magazines. Moreover, it has been found that the information literacy level of male students is higher than that of female students. Moreover, it appears that there is no significant difference in information literacy levels of students of different faculties. The only significant difference between students is their frequency of using the internet and whether or not they have had internet lectures/courses before their university education.