Bibliographical skills of students of humanities in the light of survey research

Abstract

Objectives Information competences facilitate functioning in the information society in which an increasing amount of data is generated, processed and disseminated. One of the elements of information literacy is bibliographic preparation. A person equipped with the efficiency of documenting the sources used remains in accordance with the standards of publication ethics and is assessed as a reliable researcher. Students should already have this type of proficiency. Therefore, it was decided to analyze the bibliographic competences of this group. Material and methods A questionnaire form was constructed, conducted in March 2023 among 59 students studying majors assigned to the sciences of culture and religion at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Silesia in Katowice. The study covered students of the third year of full-time studies who were writing their bachelor's theses at that time. Results Among them, selection was made on the basis of information and support materials of individual publications. Students were aware of the need to use bibliographic documentation when writing scientific papers, but they pointed to problems in the process of describing certain types of documents. They also reported the need for additional courses or materials that would allow them to consolidate the necessary skills acquired during their studies, through supplementary exercises or appropriate templates/instructions to be used when preparing their dissertations. Conclusions The result of the student search were sources that were easy to find and free of charge. Respondents have problems with bibliographic descriptions of certain types of documents.

Keywords

• students
• information literacy
• survey research
• bibliographical skills
• culture and religion studies