Information Literacy Competency Levels of Research Scholars in History: Assessment and Mapping

The study is an attempt to assess the Information Literacy Competency (ILC) levels of History researchers with respect to ‘Information Need’, ‘Information Access’, ‘Information Evaluation’, ‘Information Use’ and ‘Information Ethics’. It is an empirical study based on ACRL's five standards. A reasonably good level of ILC for researchers is essential to successfully operate in the new information environment and for survival in academics and research. The findings indicate that the maximum 62.8% of researchers were IL competent for ‘Information Access’, followed by 55.8% of researchers having IL competency to determine and express ‘Information Need’ and 53.5% of researchers have shown IL skill competency in ‘Information Use Ethics’. Only 39.5% of researchers were found having IL skill for ‘Information Evaluation’’ and the lowest of 34.9% of researchers have shown IL competency on ‘Information Access’. The study identifies the areas for improvement and suggests multiple measures.