INFLUENCE OF INFORMATION LITERACY ON STUDENTS OF G.B. PANT UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE & TECHNOLOGY, PANTNAGAR: A CASE STUDY

Information literacy is lesson of the fundamental entitlement of all citizens in the world to freedom of expression and the right to information. It is instrumental in building and sustaining democracy. University library is continuously striving to fulfill the needs of its broad campus incorporating latest Information & Communication Technology (ICT). Knowledge of PG students and research scholars about the information, information sources, university library, information searching, library consortia, internet etc. assessed in the present study. It has been find out that the students are comfortable in identifying the information need, searching the information, locating the information, finding the information and using the information. They save their time in finding the information


Introduction
In the present age of digital continuation impression and development has add powerful generator of barring no one country. The information and knowledge are playing practice role in financial condition of barring no one country. In the present age of World Wide Web, information and information sources have been reproduced at as a matter of fact fast pace. There are greater than 50000 accurate journals published for the most part everywhere the world. Apart from these, numerous at variance reference sources love books, websites etc. are accessible in print and digital format. In this digital reality, World Wide Web is major sources to access the information. In India, most of the universities and colleges have been efficient to fulfill the information needs of their users at the hand of consortium mode. Most of the students and research scholars are accessing greater than thousands of scholarly journals under consortium Http://www.granthaalayah.com ©International Journal of Research -GRANTHAALAYAH [267] pattern in India. Information searching tools appreciate Google, Yahoo, Bing etc. have acquire the favorite searching tools for result the information by students of school, colleges and other users. Nowadays thousands of open access journals and books are by the same token at hand for users. The picture is that users are now overloaded from information. In the present time, the problem is not the lack of information but the main problem is significant use of the available information and information sources. In approximately cases users find difficulties to determine the right information due to lack of search skills. The information literacy (IL) plays the significant role in proper utilization of information, developing search skill and inception of knowledge.
Information literacy is object of the integral entitlement of every citizen, in every country in the world, to assent of allusion and the right to information. It is instrumental in building and sustaining democracy. It is a manner of personal empowerment. It provides them with the flexibility to devise their own arguments and to experience of the search for knowledge. It also creates in fresh students the motivation for learning. Information literacy forms the essence for lifelong learning. It is commonplace to all disciplines and to all levels of learning. Information literacy has been most zoned by various authors and intuitions. According to The American Library Association (1989) information literacy is to be information literate an individual must recognize when information is inadequate and have a flexibility to reside, evaluate and manage effectively the information needed. Ultimately information literate people are those who have learned at which point to learn. According to Sanford (2000), information literacy is a practice of recommending information into meaning, understanding, and new ideas. This process would require students to recognize the sanity behind using information as readily as truly knowing the exact procedures of conducting the information search. The original use of the term "information literate" was firstly used by Paul Zurkowski, who in 1974 indicated that it meant people who were efficient in applying information resources to their function, using these skills and tools to solve problems (Maughan, 2001). Information literacy has been defined by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in the UK as "knowing when and why you require information, to what place to greet it, and at which point to evaluate, use and communicate it in an of good repute manner" (CILIP, 2004). The Alexandria Proclamation furthermore described that information literacy needs to be approaching not only in recurrence to education, but also in the broader context of work, civil community, and health and wellbeing (Garner, 2006

Literature Review
Many studies and reports have been published on information literacy, lists of competencies, and descriptions of information literacy programmes and courses. The most common example of an information literacy assessment technique is the use of survey questionnaire instruments, using multiple-choice, fill-in, or matching questions (Dunn, 2002). It is difficult to cover many of the information literacy concepts or to assess the success of the instruction when only a short time is available to the teaching librarians (Owusu-Ansah, 2004). Betsy Barefoot (2006)

Need and Scope of the Study
The information literacy is required to educate the users for recognizing the information require, locating & evaluating the quality information, storing & retrieving information, making skilled & ethical use of information, applying the information in creating & communication knowledge. Information literacy ensures anticipation and sense-making among doubtful information-seekers. As the information and information sources have increased absolutely fast in diverse forms and formats all around the world. Indian academic and research libraries are providing access to most of the journals in digital form while books in printed form. These libraries are providing steady services as readily as modern computerized services. Information literacy plays the significant role in this environment to educate the library users. Users need to interest the distinctive services of libraries in ICT environment through information literacy.

Objectives of the Study
The main objective of the study is to analyze the influence of information literacy on students at G.B. Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar. The objective has been studied with the help of following sub-objectives spelt out as under:  To assess the necessary skills of the students to identify, locate and evaluate the information  To assess the knowledge of the students about information sources and university library.  To assess the knowledge of the students about library consortia and internet etc.

Research Methodology
A survey method was adapted for the present study. A questionnaire is prepared on the basis of objectives of the study and contents of information literacy to assess the information literacy knowledge of students of the GBPUAT. Data is collected through questionnaires from both the categories of students i.e. Post Graduate Students and Research Scholars. The collected data is compiled in tabular form. MS Excel, MS Word and other software is used to analyze the collected data. A comparative study is carried out on the basis of collected data.

Results and Discussion
Approximately 150 questionnaires were distributed among the students to know the influence of information literacy on PG students and research scholars of GBPUAT. Out of 150, 126 responses were received; 27 from Research Scholar and 99 from PG students. The analytical study given in the following tables.
Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) or printed card catalogue helps students in finding and locating books in the library. Table-1 shows that 81.48 % research scholars have given right choice while 50.51% students from the PG have given right choice for finding books in the library. The data shows that right choice in finding books in the library is about 31% higher in research scholars as compared to PG students. The study shows that 45.45% PG students search books directly from the bookshelf which are wasting their valuable time.  Preference in use of print verses digital form of information sources is always the subject of debate. We have asked two questions i.e. about OAPC and online journals to know the student's choice of digital or print format. The study shows that 100% research scholars prefer the OPAC format and total 89.68% students prefer the OPAC (Table-3). It indicates that majority of students prefer the digital form of catalogue (i.e. OPAC) as compared to print format. We can say that OPAC is very useful for providing the desired information and save the time of readers.          According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, to "plagiarize" means to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own, to use (another's production) without crediting the source, to commit literary theft and to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source. The table-10 shows that overall only 17.46% students aware about plagiarism. It is worth mentioned here that overall 53.97% students don't know about the plagiarism. The study shows that both Research Scholars and PG students have poor knowledge about plagiarism.     Library Activities are divided in various sections on the basis of functions. It will be use if library users/students aware about the library sections. Students are expected to aware above mentioned library sections, so that the students can utilize the maximum facility of the library. Table-13 shows the comparative percentage regarding knowledge of library sections. It is found that overall more Research Scholars are aware about library functions than PG students. It is found from the study that Rental is equally popular among all the students.

Conclusion
The study fulfills the major objective to know the influence of information literacy on students of the university. The skills & knowledge of students to identify, locate and evaluate were assessed in the study. Knowledge of students about the information, information sources, university library, information searching, library consortia, Internet etc were also assessed in the study. A comparative study of the data between PG students and Research Scholars were carried out to know the influence of information literacy. The study shows that Research scholars are more information literate as compared to PG students. Research scholars are more comfortable in identifying the information need, searching the information, locating the information, finding the information and using the information in comparison to PG students. They save the time in finding the information. Research scholars are well aware about library sections, library resources and functions of library. Therefore, they use the library facility and resources properly. Research scholars are well aware about national level programs like CeRA, Krishi Prabha, e-Granth etc. and utilizing more online resources PG students are required to orient about these resources. PG students are influenced by Google for finding information which is not a right choice to find quality information.