Investigating the Impact of Information Literacy and Information Communication Technologies on Knowledge Sharing among Public Library Librarians

Purpose. Information literacy and information communication technologies are the determining factors in today's ever-changing conditions. In this study, the relationship between information literacy and knowledge sharing with the mediating role of information communication technologies among public library staff has been studied to determine the role of these two factors in knowledge sharing by public library librarians.. Methodology. The present study was an applied research from the perspective of the purpose, which investigated the effect of information and media literacy indicators on knowledge sharing through a descriptive-survey method. The statistical population included librarians working in public libraries under the General Directorate of Public Libraries of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province in  2022, which was randomly selected by Cochran's formula of 108 people as a statistical sample. In this research, the questionnaire of Hosseini and Ghasemi (2019) was used to collect data. Also, with a pilot study and experimental distribution of questionnaires among the sample members, the reliability of the questionnaire was evaluated by using Cronbach's alpha coefficient to 0.842. In order to analyze the data, first descriptive statistics, correlation matrix, direct effect coefficients and their pairwise comparison, indirect effect coefficients and total variables on knowledge sharing behavior were examined. Then, according to the obtained coefficients, the research hypotheses were examined. Findings. Based on the findings of this study, indicators of information needs diagnosis, finding and evaluating information quality, information storage and retrieval, effective and ethical use of information, knowledge creation and communication, have a direct impact on the knowledge sharing process. Also, the effect of all the studied indicators has been intensified by information communication technologies on the knowledge sharing process. This highlights the positive impact of information communication technologies on the relationship between information literacy and knowledge sharing among public library librarians. Originality/ Value. The effect of information literacy on knowledge sharing in the public libraries of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province has been done for the first time. In this sense, the current research is innovative.