PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore the impact of the Covid-19 crisis at the level of individual information behavior among citizens from the German-speaking countries, Austria, Germany and Switzerland.Design/methodology/approachAn online survey was conducted among 308 participants gathered through convenience sampling in April and May 2020, focusing on how citizens changed their mix and usage intensity of information sources and according to which criteria they chose them during the Covid-19 crisis. A Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used for testing central tendencies. Effect sizes were considered to support the interpretation.FindingsThe results show first that the Covid-19 crisis has led to an increased demand for reliable information. This goes alongside a significant increased use of public broadcasting, newspapers and information provided by public organizations. Second, the majority (84%) of the participants reported being satisfied with the information supply during the Covid-19 crisis. Participants who were less satisfied with the information supply used reliable sources significantly less frequently, specifically public television, national newspapers and information provided by public organizations. Third, the amount of Covid-19-related information led some participants to a feeling of information overload, which resulted in a reduction of information seeking and media use.Originality/valueThis paper is one of the first to analyze changes of information behavior patterns of individuals during crises in the current information environment, considering the diversity of resources used by individuals.

In our paper we present a study in which we investigated the level of information literacy of first-year students across different studies offered by faculties at the University of Graz. Data were collected by means of a multiple-choice questionnaire. In total we analyzed 232 questionnaires completed by first-year students from six studies (faculties).The results show that the overall level of information literacy is mediocre. However, the difference in the level of information literacy across the studies is not as big as originally expected. The type of high school completed has a strong effect at least in the beginning of the studies. Another interesting result shows that the students rated their information literacy skills much higher than the test indicated. It can be concluded that multiple-choice questionnaires are an efficient and objective test instrument to inform the students that they are much less information literate than they believe themselves to be.

The summer semester had just begun at Austrian and German universities when Covid-19 was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization. Thus, in March 2020, all universities closed their campuses, switching to distance learning within the span of about a single day. How did lecturers handle the situation? Were they still able to turn the situation into a positive one? What were the main obstacles with this difficult situation, and where there conditions which helped them to overcome the new challenges? These are research questions of the present survey with a sample of 1,152 lecturers at universities in Austria and Germany. The survey focuses on the lecturers’ appraisals of the novel situation as challenging or threatful. These appraisals are important for approaching a situation or shying away from it. However, how well a person adjusts to a novel situation is also influenced by personal and environmental resources which help to overcome the situation. The present survey focused on four possible sources of influence: internal assessments of the situation determining it to be threatening and/or challenging, personal resources, attitudes, and support by the organization. It was investigated to which degree these sources of influence could contribute to the lecturers’ satisfaction (or dissatisfaction) with their teaching processes. A multiple regression with three criterion variables describing university lecturers’ perceived satisfaction with distance teaching was carried out. Predictor variables were the lecturers’ appraisals of challenge and threat, perceived support by the university and sense of belonging to the university, temporal resources, proficiency in using digital technologies, length of teaching experience, and gender. Lecturers were mostly satisfied with their teaching activities. Together with the perception of a low threat potential, challenge appraisals contributed strongest to satisfaction. In comparison, assessments of actual personal resources, skills in the use of digital technologies, teaching experience, and temporal resources were important but contributed less to satisfaction than challenge appraisals. It seems that lecturers were only able to use these resources when the technological resources were available and when the lecturers were confident in their technical abilities.

Purpose This paper aims to uncover the current status of information literacy (IL) instruction through massive open online courses (MOOCs), comparing the content and instructional design of existing offers and showing avenues for future MOOCs. Design/methodology/approach An extensive search for existing MOOCs on IL revealed 11 offers that are available for analysis. A content analysis is conducted to compare their content and instructional design. The category system is based on the IL standards and performance indicators of the Association of College and Research Libraries (2000), which has been supplemented with additional categories and an evaluation grid for MOOCs. Findings The results suggest first, that the topics covered by IL MOOCs differ widely. While some of the MOOCs mainly reflect the performance indicators suggested by the ACRL standards on IL from 2000, some other MOOCs focus on completely different topics such as fake news or internet security. Second, they show that MOOCs on IL tend not to emphasize subject-specific and country- or culture-specific contexts. Third, it shows that input-based teaching approaches dominate, while collaborative and interactive activities are only rarely used. Fourth, they allow drawing a possible connection between student engagement and design of the learning contents. Research limitations/implications This work reflects the current status of IL facilitation through MOOCs. Further research is needed. Practical implications The results confirm that MOOCs are a promising approach for developing IL skills and provide avenues for future MOOC projects, especially on IL. Originality/value This paper is one of few works to discuss IL facilitation through MOOCs.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the rationale, technical framework, content creation workflow and evaluation for a multilingual massive open online course (MOOC) to facilitate information literacy (IL) considering cultural aspects.Design/methodology/approachA good practice analysis built the basis for the technical and content framework. The evaluation approach consisted of three phases: first, the students were asked to fill out a short self-assessment questionnaire and a shortened adapted version of a standardized IL test. Second, they completed the full version of the IL MOOC. Third, they were asked to fill out the full version of a standardized IL test and a user experience questionnaire.FindingsThe results show that first the designed workflow was suitable in practice and led to the implementation of a full-grown MOOC. Second, the implementation itself provides implications for future projects developing multilingual educational resources. Third, the evaluation results show that participants achieved significantly higher results in a standardized IL test after attending the MOOC as mandatory coursework. Variations between the different student groups in the participating countries were observed. Fourth, self-motivation to complete the MOOC showed to be a challenge for students asked to attend the MOOC as nonmandatory out-of-classroom task. It seems that multilingual facilitation alone is not sufficient to increase active MOOC participation.Originality/valueThis paper presents an innovative approach of developing multilingual IL teaching resources and is one of the first works to evaluate the impact of an IL MOOC on learners' experience and learning outcomes in an international evaluation study.