Information literacy (IL) is the ability to identify, locate, evaluate, organize and effectively create, use and communicate information to address an issue or a problem. It is a basic human right to lifelong learning. Information itself is becoming a transforming strategic resource of the emerging information society. Without information literacy, the information society will not be able to achieve its full potential. Therefore, the concept and practice of information literacy must be promoted from an early age among the school going children. Information literacy is more relevant for the developing nations to enable themselves to bridge the growing info-divide between the developed and the developing nations. In this context, a regional workshop was organized by NILIS to create awareness of information skills for learning among the participants from South and Southeast Asian countries.

Sri Lanka has a long history and culture of storytelling but the use of stories for transferring tacit knowledge is absent. This paper is the first to examine the application of orgnisational stories as a method of tacit-knowledge transfer management tool in the library domain.The study had two objectives; 1) To explore the potential of storytelling to transfer tacit knowledge from the Librarian to the junior executives. 2) To examine whether captured stories serve the pursuit of knowledge by the junior executives. Two research questions were formulated to achieve these objectives. The first research question (RQ1) How can the tacit knowledge of a retiring senior executive be captured through stories? was framed and addressed to achieve objective one and the second research question (RQ2) Can the captured "stories of work" benefit knowledge workers in their pursuit of tacit knowledge? was framed and addressed to achieve objective two. The study was based on primary data collected from the Librarian and executive staff of the Library by means of two Interview Schedules and the entire study was underpinned by an extensive review of research literature related to organizational storytelling. Qualitative as well as quantitative methods were used to analysis and interpretation data.The findings of the study proved in response to RQ1 that organizational stories can be captured using a six-step process and a story capturing model which could be used by the other researcher emerged from the research. Nevertheless, findings also established that the comprehensiveness of the tacit knowledge that could be captured through stories would depend on the degree of confidentiality of the contents of the stories. Therefore all stories could not be recorded as they are told. Responding to RQ2 the findings proved that, captured "stories of work" can be used for the benefit of knowledge workers in their pursuit of tacit knowledge.Based on these findings it was recommended that, the library should take initiatives to exploit the already prevailing habit of organizational storytelling in the library as a method The International Information & Library Review (2012) 44, 212e223 of transferring tacit knowledge in a deliberated manner and for this several activities were recommended.The findings were based only on a single case, in a single organization carried out during a six-month period, within the boundaries of a specific organizational and social culture. Therefore additional case studies would be necessary to test the validity and reliability of the story capturing model. This research is the first of its kind carried out in the library domain of Sri Lanka. Therefore it provides significant insights on which future researchers can build their studies.

A critical evaluation of the curriculum development strategy of the LIS education programs in Sri Lanka Pradeepa Wijetunge Article information:To cite this document: Pradeepa Wijetunge, (2009),"A critical evaluation of the curriculum development strategy of the LIS education programs in Sri Lanka", Library Review, Vol. 58 Iss 9 pp. 670 -684 Permanent link to this document: http://dx. AbstractPurpose -A comprehensive analysis of the LIS education system was carried out covering the 2004-2007 period and it was established that currently 24 LIS education programs are conducted in Sri Lanka by eight educational institutions. The purpose of this paper is to present a critical evaluation of the curriculum development strategy of the LIS education programs in Sri Lanka based on the major research. Design/methodology/approach -The research used both quantitative as well as qualitative research methods to determine the present status of affairs and the study was based on primary and secondary data collected by means of questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, participatory observations and review of documents. Primary data were collected from the LIS course co-ordinators, teachers and policy makers. Researcher's own reflections were also used. Findings -The empirical survey identified that six main subjects are taught across most of the LIS programs; that most programs provide a general knowledge in LIS but not opportunities for specialisation; appropriate levels of complexity were not evident across the different levels of programs; and there is no national core in LIS so that all programs cover a set of common subjects at appropriate depths and breadths suitable for different levels of programs. Findings with regard to the curriculum development strategies identified that most of the curricula documents are not comprehensive, and that the Sri Lankan LIS curriculum developers do not use any formal curriculum development model. Analysis of the curriculum development teams indicated that most members have no training in curriculum design, and the teams lack contributions by other stakeholders except LIS professionals. Several recommendations are presented to eliminate the weaknesses of the curriculum development strategy in the LIS programs. Research limitations/implications -This paper is based on a broader empirical study of the LIS education system of Sri Lanka and throws some light on specific research on identifying the most appropriate curriculum development model for Sri Lanka. Practical implications -The findings of the research are directly applicable to the tasks of the curriculum developers and the LIS education policy makers in Sri Lanka and they can use the findings for the improvement of the LIS education programs. Originality/value -Contents or the curriculum development strategy of the current Sri Lankan LIS education programs have not been critically analysed before and this paper presents the original research findings relevant to all the programs conducted in 2007.

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This paper discusses the Information Seeking Behavior (ISB) of the Humanities and Social Science (HSS) undergraduates of the University of Colombo with three objectives; to study the information resource usage of the undergraduates, to study the barriers they encounter in seeking and using the information and to study the information seeking process of the undergraduates. A questionnaire and Focus Group Meetings (FGMs) were used to gather quantitative and qualitative data. Convenient Sampling method was used and the response rate was 82% out of 550 questionnaires while 95 attended the FGMs. SPSS (ver. 22) and manual analysis were used to analyze data.Most respondents use Internet instead of library resources and do not use standard criteria to evaluate information. The majority consult their batch mates for help in using information resources. At the same time, most of them have not received any training in using the library resources or Internet. They face several barriers related to library resources, facilities, services and training which prevent them from reaching the library first for their information needs. The processes they follow to search and use information correspond to some other information seeking models. It is recommended that additional research is required to substantiate the gravity of this issue and librarians need to collaborate with the faculty to improve their ISB.