Evaluating Information Literacy skills of Parliamentary County Women representative in Kenya

Abstract

The new Constitution, promulgation in 2010, provides for an active participation of County Women Representatives CWR) in the various legislative functions in Kenya‘s National Assembly. In information driven Parliament, effective performance of their legislative roles depends, in part, on the levels of information literacy of legislators. However, presently, their degree of information literacy has not been empirically established. This has made it difficult for Parliamentary library planners to enhance active use of the existing wealth of information resources. Therefore, the aim of the study was to evaluate the level of information literacy of CWR and, to suggest the ways in which their information literacy skills can be enhanced. The objectives of the study were: to assess the legislators knowledge of information resources and services; to determine the ability to search and retrieve needed information; to analyse their information seeking and retrieval challenges and, to suggest ways in which their levels of information literacy can be enhanced. The study population consisted of 47 County Women Representatives from which a sample size of 40 representatives was selected. Quantitative research approach and survey research design was employed. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect data. The study was informed by SCONUL Model (2011). Data was analysed using SPSS and presented in tables, charts and figures. The found out that County Women Representatives lacked adequate information literacy skills. The research concluded that there was urgent need to put in place strategies that could enhance information literacy levels of the women representatives. Further, the study proposed the need to design an information literacy programme capable of empowering County Women Representatives with the skills to search, access, retrieve and use diverse information resources available in the Parliamentary library.