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Objectives: The purpose of the study was to explore information behaviour and information literacy in the group of the charitable foundation beneficiaries, their attitudes, choices, and behaviour regarding particularly COVID-19 information. Methods: Two series of quantitative CAPI studies were carried out. The first consisted of basic questions about access and preferences related to information sources. The other was explicitly related to COVID-19 pandemic information. Basic statistical descriptive measures and chi-square tests of independencewere used in the analysis. Results: Poverty and the concept of small worlds seem to be a specific living context of vulnerable groups. Information flow is based mainly on personal sources. Their searches for pandemic information did not differ significantly from everyday behaviours. The respondents felt fatigued with information about the pandemic dominating the media and informal discussions. In relation to previous studies, we see similar behaviours and competencies levels indicating information poverty, although differences in source preferences are also observed. Volunteers appear to have a limited informative role concerning the COVID-19 pandemic compared to other studies of people in crisis. Originality: Information behaviour patterns of the studied group indicate new tasks for caregivers in terms of provision of information and development of information skills, in particular in health or life-threatening circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study focuses on the issue of how much information competencies are universal in the globalized, internet-connected world, and/or to what extent their perception depends on local conditions and individual needs. The aim of the project is threefold. First, it offers a comparative analysis of the information literacy skills of Polish and Spanish students, regarding both their self-assessment and belief in the importance of information literacy. Second, it focuses on differences and unique IL needs of students of courses rooted in social sciences and/or humanities. And third, due to these differences, it discusses the role of academic librarians in profiled IL training, integrated with the specific courses. Quantitative methodology was applied. The comparative study covered subgroups of humanities and social science students from Poland and Spain. Competencies in information searching, processing, evaluation, and communication/dissemination were taken into account. The results indicate some common ways of perception of valuing information competencies and major differences in assessment of IL self-efficacy. Students' reluctance to visit libraries is another argument to enhance profiled IL training being realized in close cooperation of academic librarians and the faculty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose/Thesis: The aim was to study information competencies of Polish students of library and information science (LIS), history and journalism with two aspects taken into consideration: students' belief regarding the importance (BIM) of a set of core information competencies, and their self-efficacy (SE) in this field. Approach/Methods: The IL-HUMASS questionnaire, slightly modified, was used. It consists of 26 information literacy aspects divided into four areas: information retrieval, evaluation and processing, and communication skills. Results and conclusions: The results reveal, on one hand, some common attitudes apparently associated with students' current life phase. On the other hand, some differences emerged that can be connected with the field and character of the study. Originality/Value: The results enable a preliminary evaluation of information literacy of the students in different study fields, as well as the comparison of their attitudes and skills to those of the respondents of similar foreign projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]