Information Literacy Self-efficacy Dimensions of Post Graduate Students: Validating a Persian Version Scale

The two key concepts of information literacy and self-efficacy are of the utmost importance in information searches, especially in new information and media environments such as the web. As a result, the sense of efficacy related to the information literacy skills of users should be regarded as a real concern. The article reports on research regarding Information Literacy Self-efficacy dimensions in a sample of post-graduate students at Shahed University, Tehran, Iran. A survey-descriptive method using a highly validated 28-item scale developed by Kurbanoglu, Akkoyunlu and Umay (2006, “Developing the Information Literacy Self-Efficacy Scale.” Journal of Documentation 62:730–743) in English was considered as the research methodology. The reliability and validity of the measurements assessing the proposed factor structure were examined via CFA, while the strength and direction of the hypothesized causal paths among the constructs were analyzed via Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Results from the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) confirmed a different and four-dimensional model than the six-dimensional model proposed by the original authors. The scale in the new version was validated according to the structural and overall goodness of fit showing a high quality on measuring the variable in the context studied. Iranian postgraduate students feel a high degree of self-efficacy related to different information literacy dimensions. There exists, however, differences among the dimensions. As the first research to explore the concept in Iran, the current research is a response to the lack of such a tool in related literature.