PADDLE

Background
2
TheProject
2
ObjectivesofProject
3
s
ProjectActivities
3
t
DefinitionofInformationLiteracy
4
n
SurveyTools
5
e
SizeofSample
5
t
CountryReports
5
n
Findings
5
Awareness and Training for IL
6
o
School’s Vision of IL
6
Education and Training of Teachers and Librarians for IL
6
Implementation of IL
6

C
Leadership for IL
6
f
Assessment and Evaluation of IL
6
School Libraries
6

o
IL Support Systems
7
School Library Development
7
SWOTAnalysis
8
l
e
Strengths
8
b
Weaknesses
8
Opportunities
8
a
Threats
9
T
NationalActionPlans
9
Recommendations
9
Acknowledgements
11
ProjectTeam
12

Background
integrated into the curriculum and teaching-learning
practicesofappropriatesubjectareas,andthattheorganizers
The advent of the information society sees government strivetohaveschoollibrariesrecognizedasimportantplayers
spending large sums of money on the development
inthepromotionofreadingandliteracy.Later,agroupof
of information and communication technology (ICT)
participants from the workshop approached UNESCO with
infrastructure.Atthesametime,thereisaparallelneedto
aproposalforSouth-EastAsiancountriestojointlyembark
developaconceptualbasefortheeffectiveandwidespread uponimprovinginformationliteracyeducationinschools.
use of this ICT. Information literacy (IL) provides this base.
Informationliteracyisusedtodaytodescribeasetofskills
andcompetencies,processesandactions,andattitudesthat
The Project
lead one to be a“wise information consumer,” as well as a
self-motivated“lifelonglearner.”Informationliteracyisakey
Theproject,“DevelopmentofInformationLiteracythrough
School Libraries in South-East Asian Countries,” focused on

competenceforsuccessintoday’sworld.
examiningthecurrentstateofinformationliteracyeducation,
Librariesarekeyactorsinprovidinginformationforpersonal,
andrecommendingactionplanstoincreaseschoollibraries’
economic and cultural advancement. Of the various types
involvment in the development of an information literate
of libraries, those found in schools usually provide the first
citizenry.TheprojectproposalwassubmittedtoUNESCOand
exposuretothisworldofinformation.Schoollibrariesexist
approvedforfinancialassistanceundertheSpecialAccount
inmostschools(eventhoughsomemaybeatarudimentary
of the UNESCO’s Information for All Programme (IFAP) in
level),andasenrollmentratesincrease,theyarewellplaced
2004.ProjectactivitieswereimplementedbyaProjectTeam,
toprovideaccesstoinformationliteracyforanewgeneration
with the focal point based at the UNESCO Asia and Pacific
ofcitizens.
RegionalBureauforEducationinBangkok.Projectactivities
comprisedthreephases:
In2003,theInternationalFederationofLibraryAssociations
and Institutions (IFLA) and the United Nations Educational,
Phase 1: Planning (July-December2004)
ScientificandCulturalOrganization(UNESCO)co-organized
a RegionalWorkshop on School Library Services in South-
During this phase, the Project Team defined the scope
East Asia. At the end of the workshop, the participants
of the project and planned activities to be undertaken
recommended that, inter alia, information literacy be
within the framework of the project. Country participants
or institutions were identified and invited to take part in a

planning workshop. A methodology for IL assessment was
2. To assess the current state of information literacy
chosen,andinstrumentsweredesignedanddispatchedto
educationinSouth-EastAsiancountries
theparticipatingcountries.
3. Todevelopaseriesofrecommendationsandactionplans
Phase 2: Country Surveys(January-July2005)
toenhanceinformationliteracyinSouth-EastAsia
Country participants in Phase 1 were actively involved in
TheProjectsoughttoachieve:
the national survey during this phase.The project budget
provided for some limited financial assistance to make the
1. A better understanding about information literacy
surveypossibleinallsevenparticipatingcountries.Country
in South-East Asia among participating information
reports on the survey were submitted to the ProjectTeam
professionals
withinthisphase.
2. Anup-to-datereportonthestatusofinformationliteracy
Phase 3: Post-survey Workshop(August-December2005)
inSouth-EastAsia

Theprojectactivitiesculminatedinapost-surveyworkshopto
3. Anincreasedawarenessoftheimportanceofinformation
shareanddiscusssurveyfindings.Theworkshopproduceda
literacy and the role of school libraries in promoting
setofrecommendationstoguidefuturecollaborationand/or
informationliteracyamongstudentsandteachers
nationaleffortstopromoteandimplementILprogrammes.
4. Recommendations and action plans, directed towards
relevant national agencies, on the enhancement of
Objectives of Project
informationliteracy
TheProjectaims:
5. Betternetworkingamongstakeholdersforthepromotion
ofinformationliteracyinSouth-EastAsia
1. To provide representatives from South-East Asian
countries with a better understanding of information
literacy and promote discussion of issues/exchange of
Project Activities
ideas for collaborative efforts to promote information
TheIFAPBureauprovideditsapprovaloftheprojectinMay
literacy
2004,andthefivemembersoftheProjectTeambegantheir

work. Much of the initial work among the team - whose andanalysingdata,andpreparingsurveyreports. Thisphase
members resided in three countries - was communicated lasteduptoeightmonthsinsomecountries.Considering
electronically. For the three team members who lived in theconstraints–time,financial,andhumanresource-the
Thailand, face-to-face meetings and workshops did take effortsofthesurveyteamswerecommendable.
placeinBangkok.
In September 2005, a four-day post-survey workshop was
AplanningworkshopwasheldinOctober2004. Participants organized in Bangkok, Thailand. Most of the participants
comprised two representative educators/researchers from from the initial planning workshop returned and provided
each of the seven South-East Asian countries covered by the much needed continuity. In other cases, the persons
the project: Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, the mostinvolvedinthesurveyandthepreparationofthereport
Philippines,Thailand,andVietNam.Myanmardidnotrespond tookpartintheworkshop.Apartfromsharingtheresultsof
totheinvitationfromtheProjectTeam.Afewparticipants thesurvey,theparticipantsundertookaStrength,Weakness,

from Hong Kong and Singapore joined the workshop at Opportunity, and Threat (SWOT) exercise and prepared a
thier own expense. The participants defined IL for use in draftofanationalactionplanstopromoteILdevelopment
the Project, particularly in the ensuing survey, discussed inschools.
survey methodology to be carried out by the participants
or their institutions, and drafted sample standardized Atthetimethesecondworkshopwasbeingplanned,theIFLA
questionnaires.
RegionalOfficeforAsiaandOceaniainBangkokconsidered
organizingafollow-upmeetingtoitsregionalworkshopheld
The group decided that a national survey team should be in2003.Itwasthendecidedthatsincebothactivitieshad
established in each of the seven countries, and that the thesamepurpose,vis-a-vistheimprovementofinformation
workshopparticipantswouldbeincludedinthesurveyteam literacy among school students, the two activities could
andplayanactiverolethroughouttheprocess.Inactuality, merge to provide the participants with an opportunity to
however,thisdidnotoccurinsomecountriesbecausethe extendtheirhorizons.
workshopparticipantswereeithertransferredtoanewpost
orwentabroadforfurtherstudy.Thisphaseoftheproject
beganinthecountrieswithtranslationofthequestionnaires
Definition of Information Literacy
into national languages (if necessary), pre-testing the
The participants in the first workshop agreed to adopt the
questionnaires, refining them, selecting samples, gathering
followingdefinitionofinformationliteracyfortheProject:

Information literacy is the ability to recognize when
Size of Sample
information is needed, to identify the needed information,
to identify the sources, to locate and access information
Fromthereporteddata,thesamplerangedfrom1.6%–3%
efficiently and effectively, to evaluate information critically,
ofthepotentialschoolpopulation,witharelativelyconsistent
to organize and integrate information into existing
coverageofadministrators,teachersandteacher-librariansin
knowledge, to use information ethically and legally, to
mostcountries.
communicate information , and carry out all of the above
activities effectively
Country Reports
Survey Tools
ThecountryreportsareincludedintheenclosedCD-ROM.
Additional information and data may be obtained directly
Standard questionnaires and sampling guidelines (both in
fromtheauthors.

accompanyingCD)wereusedforallsevencountriestoassess
thestatusofinformationliteracyeducation.Therespondents
AnalysisofthecountryreportsisincludedintheCD-ROM,
were school administrators, teachers, and librarians (or
while the findings and recommendations are summarized
teachersinchargeofschoollibraries).Questionnaireitems
hereunder.
weregroupedundereightareas:
Findings
1. AwarenessandtrainingforIL
2. School’svisionofIL
The term information literacy is a term that is difficult to
3. EducationandtrainingofteachersandlibrariansforIL
translate into certain national languages. Therefore, there
4. ImplementationofIL
werevariedinterpretationsoftermsandapplicationofideas.
5. LeadershipforIL
Thefindingsfromthesurveysinthesevencountriesmaybe
6. AssessmentandevaluationofIL
summarizedasfollows:
7. Schoollibrary
8. ILsupportsystems

Awareness and Training for IL
library collections are cited as the main factors preventing
theteachingofIL.
There is room for improvement where awareness and
understandingofinformationliteracyisconcerned;primary
Leadership for IL
teachers have the greatest awareness of IL. IL is accorded
varying degrees of importance, although it is generally
Intwocountries,therewasalackofleadershipforIL.Itis
agreedthatILisimportant.
feltthatteachingILisateacher’sregularresponsibility. Most
specialistILteachersareinvolvedinpreparingschoolpolicy
School’s Vision of IL
relatedtoIL.
Between 16% and 58% of the respondents indicated that
Assessment and Evaluation of IL
their school had a policy statement on IL, though none
actuallyprovidedawrittencopy.
Assessment and evaluation of IL activities is not given

due importance in most cases, although it is considered
Education and Training of Teachers and Librarians for IL
the teachers’ responsibility. Only one country said that IL
assessmentwasapartofstudents’learningassessment.
Respondents’ exposure and training in IL is generally low
regardlessofaschool’slocation(urbanorrural).Thosewho
School Libraries
learned about IL did so from training courses, in-service
training,seminars,andusereducationprogrammes.
Alibraryoraresourcecentreinsomeformdoesnotexistinall
schools;inonecountry,40%ofschoolsdonothavelibraries/
Implementation of IL
resourcecentres. Wherethereisaschoollibraryoraresource
centre,itsbudgettendstobeverysmall. Someschoolshave
The responses showed disparity across the region. Where
computers, but they are mostly outside the library; others
it is taught, IL is integrated into courses and/or taught as
havecomputerlabsintheschoollibraries.Connectivityto
an orientation in the library. School libraries and teacher
theInternetisnotwidespreadandstudentaccessislimited.
librariansseemtoplayasmallroleinteachingIL. Intwoout
Other hardware found in some school libraries/resource
ofsevencountries,IListaughtbyteachers-in-libraryandin
centres includes slide projector, film projectors, VCRs,
five countries, it is a part of extra-curricular activities. Lack
VCDs/DVDs, audio players/recorders, televisions, overhead
of qualified teachers, librarians, computers and insufficient
projectors,andLCDs.Someequipmentisprovidedbythe

Government,whileotheritemsaredonatedtotheschools.
School Library Development
The schools procure some equipment with their own
resources. Unfortunately, in many cases, only a fraction of
Participantswhotookpartinthe2003IFLAregionalworkshop
schoolbudgetgoestowardsthedevelopmentofthe school
reportedonactivitiesthattheyhadundertakentopromote
library/resourcecentre.
schoollibrarydevelopment.Manyindicatedthattheyhad
sharedthe2004workshopreportwiththeircolleaguesinthe
Staffingisaprobleminschoollibraries. Manyschoolsdonot
MinistryofEducation,andpresentedtherecommendations
evenhaveteacherstrainedinlibraryscienceinchargeofthe
totheMinistryofEducationandtheircolleagues.Someofthe
libraries, let alone professional teacher-librarians. In many
recommendationswereimplemented,suchastranslationof
cases,librarystaffdonotworkfull-time,andotherstaffspend
theIFLASchoolLibraryManifesto. Onapersonallevel,some
littletimeintheschoollibraries.Teacherlibrarians,whoare
individuals became more involved in the development of
assignedtheresponsibilityforschoollibraries,mayalsohave
school libraries by passing on the knowledge gained from
toteachclasses,oftenonahalf-timeschedule.
the regional workshop, promoting reading, and getting

involvedinlibrary-relatedactivities. Atthenationallevel,and
Professional training of library staff paints a grim picture
ofparticularimportancetothisworkshop,wasthegrowing
andhugevariations.Onecountryreportsashighas96%of
role of school libraries in promoting information literacy in
schoollibrary/resourcecentrestaffreceivesnoprofessional
the participating countries. New developments included
training.Unfortunately,onlyafractionofaschool’sbudget
school clusters for information services, community access
goestotheschoollibrary/resourcecentre.
toschoollibraryresources,integrationofICTintotheschool
libraryprogramme,betteraccessthroughlibraryautomation,
IL Support Systems
and school library personnel taking on leadership roles. At
ImplementationofILrequiresstrongsupport,startingwith thetimeofthisreport,nospecificinnovativeILprojecthad
anationalILpolicy.Manyrespondentsdonotknowifthere
beenreported.
isanILpolicyintheircountries.SchoolsteachingILreceive
Obstaclestoschoollibrarydevelopmentincludedlowliteracy
supportfromstateeducationpolicy,theMinistryofEducation
rates;shortageofclassrooms,libraryspace,trainedclassroom
and,whereavailable,thestateorlocalresourcecentres. The teachers,andtrainedteacher-librarians;limitedschoollibrary
nationallibrariesplaythesmallestroleinprovidingfunding collections;smallornobudgetsforschoollibraries;lackof
support.
awareness among senior MOE officials about the role of

school library programmes in relation to the IL concept;
orunderstood.ILskillsarenotcommonlyrecognized. School
limitedfacilities/equipment;andfewguidelinesonhowto
administrators and teachers do not understand the role of
integrateILintoregularteachingprogrammes.
IL in the teaching-learning process. Nor are they aware of
libraryprogrammes,whichmayexplainwhythereisalack
SWOT Analysis
ofteacher-librarianpartnerships.Ontheotherhand,teachers
andlibrariansarenotreadytopromoteIL,partlybecauseILis
In the post-survey workshop, the participants performed a
notapartoftheirpre-andin-servicetraining. Smallnational
SWOT analysis to identify factors affecting IL education in
budgets for education result in proportionately small or
theirrespectivecountries.Thefindingsoftheanalysismaybe
lackingbudgetsforschoollibrariesandILprogrammes.
summedupasfollows:
In terms of infrastructure, the participants cited a lack of
schools, school libraries and other types of libraries.Where
Strengths

librariesdoexist,thereisalackofsupport,lackofqualified/
Support and commitment, as demonstrated in inclusion
trained librarians, insufficient library collections, limited
ofILandschoollibrarypoliciesasapriorityinthenational
materials in national languages, and lack of access to the
education plans with corresponding action plan and
Internet. Cooperation and collaboration between school
budget allocation, was mentioned as a strength in some
libraries and other types of libraries is weak/non-existent.
countries.Otherstrengthsincludedteachers/librarianswith
Moreinterestingandappealingactivitiesareneeded.
ILexperience,full-timeschoollibrarians,dedicatedteachers,
Also cited as weaknesses were poor reading habits, the
IL training programmes for teachers, national reading
absence of IL in school curriculum and in teacher/student
promotion programmes, and library or school resource
performanceassessments,andtheoverallneedtointegrate
centreassociations/networks.
librariesintotheteaching-learningprocess.
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Thelistofweaknesseswasthelongest.Insomecountries,
The participants saw a number of opportunities for IL
thereislackofawarenessaboutIL(whatitisandwhyitis
promotionandimplementation;however,theydifferedfrom
important), resulting in the absence of a national IL vision,
onecountrytoanother.Amongthosecitedwere:curriculum
missionandstrategies.TheconceptofILisnotwell-known

reform that opens an opportunity for IL to be integrated
Poverty,lowlevelofdevelopment,lowliteracyrates,multi-
into the new curriculum; government policy that gives
ethnicity, high costs of education and books, inadequate
priority to the creation of a knowledge society; availability
infrastructures,andpoorreadinghabitswerealsoperceived
of ICT infrastructure and facilities at the school level and
asthreatstoILprogrammeimplementation.
free ISP for schools; parents and communities that take an
activeroleintheirchildren’seducation;communitylibraries
withInternetaccess;distancelearningprogrammes;public
National Action Plans
libraries/community information centres; TV and radio in
Taking into consideration the perceived strengths,
everyhome;andglobalICTdevelopment.Externalsupport
weaknesses,opportunitiesandthreats,theparticipantstried
frominternationalorganizationssuchasUNESCOandNGOs,
their hands at setting IL“Vision, Mission and Strategies” for
book publishers’ associations, school/university libraries
theirrespectivecountries. Eachcountrygroupalsoprepared
groups, active teachers’ associations (support to teachers),
amock-upofanationalILactionplan,whichwaslatershared
educational TV programmes, increasing IT knowledge and

withtherestoftheparticipantsinaplenarysessionsothat
skillsamongchildren,andenhancedinternationalpartnership
allparticipantswoulddevelopsomeideasastowhatcould
areallconsideredasopportunities.
bedonetopromoteIL.Amatrixanalysisoftheseactionplans
providedavisualstatementabouttheareaswherenational
Threats
andinternationalprojectscouldbesharedandutilized.
Thelowawarenessamonggovernmentofficialsandthepublic
aboutILwasamongthecitedthreats. Wheregovernmentis
Recommendations
concerned,theparticipantsbelievedthatsufficientbudgets
for IL programme implementation might not be allocated,
Basedontheproposedactions,theparticipantsputforward
and could also be affected by a policy change or other
anumberofrecommendations,withequalprioritytothose
politicalinfluence.
listedbelow.Itwasagreedthattherecommendationsbesent
toUNESCO,IFLA,andtherelevantgovernmentauthoritiesin
Intermsofhumanresources,theILprogrammeisthreatened
eachcountry.
by the teachers, the librarians’ low salary and their lack of
traininginIL.ImplementationofILprogrammingishuman
resourceintensive,andcan,therefore,sufferfromashortage
ofqualifiedpersonnel.

Theparticipantsofthepost-surveyworkshop:
4. UrgeUNESCO,IFLAandIASLtoencourageMinistriesof
Educationtoembedinformationliteracyprocessesinto
1. Recommendthatthefollowingdefinitionofinformation
theircurriculumandteaching-learningpedagogy.
literacythatwasadoptedbytheUNESCOWorkshopon
Development of Information Literacy through School
5. Urge UNESCO, IFLA and IASL to encourage Faculties
Libraries in South-East Asia on 18-20 October 2004 in
of Education, Faculties of Library Science, and teacher
Bangkok,i.e.
trainingcollegestoembedinformationliteracyprocesses
intotheircurriculumandteaching-learningpedagogy.
Information literacy is the ability to recognize when
information is needed, to identify the needed information,
6. Urge Library Associations and/or School Library
to identify the sources, to locate and access information
Associations in each of the countries to develop an
efficiently and effectively, to evaluate information
information literacy policy statement, and to promote
critically, to organize and integrate information into
theconcepttoeducationauthoritiesatalllevels.
10
existing knowledge, to use information ethically and
legally, to communicate information , and carry out all of
7. Urge Ministries of Education to provide quality school
the above activities effectively
library facilities, collections and staffing at least to
minimum standards, as identified in the IFLA/UNESCO
beadoptedastheworkingdefinitionfortheregion,and
SchoolLibraryGuidelines2002.
thatindividualcountriesmayadaptand/ortranslatethe
definitionforlocalneeds.
8. Urge UNESCO to support pilot projects that model
information literacy implementation at all levels and
2. UrgeLibraryAssociationsandSchoolLibraryAssociations
typesofeducation.
to provide continuing professional development and
educationopportunitiesinrelationtotheirinformation
9. Endorseaproposalforaworkshopon“PolicyWritingand
literacy policy statement, and to report actions to
Implementation”usinginformationliteracyastheworking
UNESCO,IFLAandIASL.
content,tobeheldasapre-conferenceworkshopatthe
IFLA Conference in Seoul, Korea in August 2006 and, if
3. EncourageUNESCO,IFLAandIASLtoundertakemedia
possible, for funding to be sought that would bring
campaignstoraiseawarenessaboutinformationliteracy
participantsfromSouth-EastAsiancountries.
in the region, and to advocate the importance of
informationliteracywithrespectivegovernments.

Theparticipantsofthisworkshopalsogiveequalpriorityto
Acknowledgements
thefollowingactions:
TheProjectTeamandtheparticipantsoftheworkshopwish
10. That a project be established to develop a curriculum,
toplaceonrecordtheirappreciationandacknowledgement
materials, and process for the training of trainers to
of the financial support from UNESCO, IFLA and the Japan
conductworkshopsinordertoimplementinformation
Foundation Bangkok, which made the participation of 19
literacyacrosstheregion.
researchersandlibrariansfromsevencountriesintheregion
possible.
11. Thataresearchprojectbeproposedtodeterminewhere
coursesthatmodeltheintegrationofinformationliteracy
Lastbutnotleast,theprojectteamwouldliketoacknowledge
processes in their training programs for education and
thecontributionsofMr.GeraldBrown(Canada),Co-ordinator,
schoollibrarypersonnelarecurrentlyoffered.
IASLSIG–InternationalDevelopment;Mr.JamesHenri(Hong
Kong),Secretary,IFLASchoolLibrariesandResourceCentres
12. That a hands-on workshop be initiated to explore the
11
Section; andMs.SachikoKamakura(Japan),ShantiVolunteer
differentproblem-solvingmodelsofinformationliteracy
Association,fortheircontributionstotheworkshop.
inclassroomapplicationsandtheirapplicationthrough
cooperative planning and teaching with school library
personnel.
13. That,inordertomaintaincommunicationattheregional
level, participants are urged to make use of available
channels of communication, e.g. IFLA-L, IASL listserv,
schoollibrarians’bloginthePhilippines.
14. That UNESCO and IFLA reco gnize the significant
contributionsoftheofficersoftheregioninorganizing
andimplementingthisoutstandingworkshop.

Project Team

Dr.DiljitSingh

AssociateProfessor,UniversityofMalaya

KualaLumpur,Malaysia

Mrs.LourdesDavid

AteneodeManilaUniversity

Manila,Philippines

Dr.AreeCheunwattana

Lecturer,SrinakharinwirotUniversity,

Bangkok,Thailand
1

Dr.PensriGuaysuwan

Manager,IFLARegionalOfficeforAsiaandOceania

Bangkok,Thailand

MsLapapanChoovong

NationalProgrammeOfficer,UNESCOBangkok

Bangkok,Thailand

last updated Sat Sep 01, 2012