The role of knowledge management in promoting information literacy of public library users and providing an appropriate model(Case Study: Public Libraries of Khuzestan Province)

Abstract

Public libraries have become one of the biggest powerhouses for the production of knowledge and information by having various sources and references that their effective and efficient management can have a significant impact on the development of users' information literacy. The aim of the current research was to investigate the role of knowledge management in improving the information literacy of public library users and providing a suitable model. The research method was a combined method using the metacomposite technique, content analysis and Delphi to identify and categorize the components of management-knowledge and information literacy, and then the survey method. The statistical population included 284 librarians and 45582 users, 181 librarians and 497 users were selected by multi-stage cluster sampling. The data collection tool included two researcher-made questionnaires for knowledge management and information literacy, derived from the theoretical and experimental background of the research, which was approved by the expert team. The method of data analysis was structural equation modeling. The findings of the research showed that the level of establishment of four components of knowledge management in public libraries of Khuzestan province is higher than average. Also, the level of users' enjoyment of the eight components of information literacy is also higher than average. As a result, a proposed model, while confirming the main and sub-hypotheses of the research, showed that the implementation and establishment of knowledge management has been effective in improving the information literacy of public library users in Khuzestan province.

Keywords

• public libraries
• knowledge management
• information literacy
• users
• information literacy promotion model