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Several comprehensive information literacy (IL) standards have been developed worldwide for use in the education sector, specifically for students and teachers. Apart from the more generic International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) IL standards, such standards are more appropriate for their countries of origins. If these standards are to be applied to schools in Southeast Asia, then some form of contextualization and customization is necessary to cater for gaps that surface due to their different and unique education environments and cultures. In addition, as a result of the growth of Web 2.0, information seeking moves rapidly in the social dimension. It is therefore timely to review ongoing research in the areas of collaborative information seeking and behavior, as well as education values in order to derive a set of up-to-date, relevant and holistic IL standards for schools. This paper proposes a model to help to develop IL standards for schools in Singapore that was constructed using the aforementioned standards as a guide, based on the paradigm of a popular information and technology literacy process model known as the Big6, and steered by related educational initiatives and education values that have been recently implemented in Singapore. The proposed model expounds each of the Big6 categories in terms of "Techniques" and "Tools", and supplements those categories with three important mindsets of "Ethics and Social Responsibility," "Collaborative Information Behavior," and "Attitudes and Perceptions." (Contains 3 figures and 2 tables.)

Purpose: To investigate information literacy (IL) skills of secondary students in Singapore after integration of these skills into school curriculum. The study also explored cyber wellness skills of the students. Design/methodology/approach: A survey questionnaire was used to collect data from 14 secondary schools, located in different geographical zones of the country. A total of 3,306 secondary students participated in this survey. A scoring scheme was devised to assess IL skills of the students. Findings: The students achieved an overall mean score of 52.6%, which is considered as a "middle" level of IL competency. The students obtained high mean scores for two IL skills: "defining information task and analysing information gaps" (60.5%) and cyber wellness (60.1%). Lowest scores were achieved for two IL skills: "selecting information sources" (47.4%) and "appraising the information process and product" (48.0%). Research limitations/implications: This study has not investigated IL knowledge of teachers, responsible for teaching IL components. Similarly, content analysis of school textbooks, integrating IL skills, could be useful. Practical implications: It appeared that integration of IL skills into school curriculum showed limited success in imparting these skills. This paper suggests measures for improving the integration of IL skills into school curriculum. Findings of this survey will be useful to curriculum planners, education administrators, instructors teaching IL skills and school librarians. Originality/value: This study was unique as, in addition to standard IL skills, it also investigated cyber wellness skills. It was desirable as now social media have become a popular source for information seeking and sharing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess knowledge of Singapore Grade 5 (11 years old) students’ understanding and proficiency in basic information literacy (IL) skills of defining information tasks, selecting information sources, seeking information from sources and synthesising and using information.Design/methodology/approach A 38-item multiple-choice question assessment instrument was used to assess the students’ IL skills based on the i-Competent IL model. The instrument first developed in 2010 was refined and expanded to increase the robustness and accuracy of assessment for the study. It was administered to 17 primary schools in Singapore in November 2015. The maximum possible score of 54 was scaled up to 100 to report the overall mean score for ease of reference and comparison. A total of 2,399 returns were obtained and analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 22.0 to compute the mean scores, IL stage-level scores. The study also investigated for any significant differences in performance between male and female students, and students with or without access to the internet at home.Findings The students achieved an overall mean score of 53.39 which is below a recommended acceptable score of 60 or 70 advocated in a number of past studies. The two worst performing areas of IL skills were synthesising and using information and seeking information from sources with mean scores of 45.89 and 48.81, respectively. A review of the highest number of incorrect answers suggests that students had difficulty in identifying key information from an information task narrative, understanding the use of reference sources and role of librarians, distinguishing between a fact and opinion, and adopting the best strategy for searching. Girls outperformed boys with an overall mean score of 55.38 vs 51.50. Students with internet access at home fared better than those without access to it with a score of 53.67 vs 45.81. The overall poor results of the survey suggest an urgent need to review the IL education landscape in the Singapore school system, revisit polices, priorities and assess the relevance and effectiveness of the IL curriculum, practical hands-on classes, and interventions that are currently employed in schools.Practical implications The study helped identify areas of IL skills strengths and weakness among Grade 5 students in Singapore schools. It provides recommendations for follow up actions for education authority and schools to improve the situation.Originality/value This study was prompted to provide an assessment after a national IL initiative was launched in 2012 to inculcate IL skills among the school-going children as part of creating a value-driven education system. This is the first reported set of findings for a large-scale survey conducted to measure and ascertain the IL skills level among Grade 5 students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This study aimed to acquire knowledge about Singapore secondary school (ages 13 to 16 years old) students' skills in searching, evaluating and using information. Design/methodology/approach – A comprehensive instrument encompassing the basic information literacy (IL) skills, as well as a new dimension of ethical usage of information and collaborative information seeking was used for data collection. From August to November 2010, a total of eight schools comprising 3,164 students participated in this study. Findings – It was a matter of concern that various kinds of libraries, including school libraries, were found to be under-utilized. From the test that was administered to assess the IL skills of students, the results were found to be generally unsatisfactory as each of the major categories of IL skills recorded a score that is below 50 (out of a maximum of 100) except for “task definition”. For skills related to “information seeking strategies”, “location & access” and “information use”, the types of schools, academic streams of study, and students' family background seemed to have significant influences. Originality/value – This study is the first large-scale survey conducted in Singapore that sought to test the IL skills of secondary school students. The findings are useful in assessing the current effectiveness of IL integration, and the need for a more planned approach towards IL competency training within the school curriculum in Singapore. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measuring and assessing information literacy (IL) competencies is essential to understand its educational impact as well as to explore pedagogies to improve it. This study is the first to acquire knowledge about Singapore tertiary students' skills in searching, evaluating, and using information. A total of 534 students from the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore participated in this study through an online survey. Moderate IL skills scores of the respondents showed room for improvement especially in higherlevel skills related to information use, synthesis, and evaluation. Students receiving pretertiary education in Singapore scored higher than those from overseas did, which, to some extent, showed that IL education in Singapore is still more effective than that in some other countries. The IL course offered in the university was found to be useful and to lead to higher IL assessment scores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A study was conducted at Singapore's National University Hospital to elicit registered nurses' attitudes, knowledge, barriers, facilitating factors, education, and training regarding evidence-based practice. Methods: A 13-question survey that was administered to all registered nurses yielded 1,114 (75.4%) usable returns for analysis. Results: Findings showed that Singapore nurses had a positive and supportive attitude toward evidence-based practice but lacked the competence and knowledge to conduct it. Time constraints were identified as the main barrier to implementing evidence-based practice. There is a need for proper training, mentoring by senior nurses, and adequate time for evidence-based practice. Nurses with a higher level of nursing education who indicated the greatest perceived barriers tended to have less difficulty applying evidence-based practice but identified a need for more training in information skills. Conclusion: Evidence-based practice is still in its infancy in Singapore compared with hospitals in other developed countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Evidence-based practice (EBP) provides nurses with a method to use critically appraised and scientifically proven evidence for delivering quality health care to a specific population. The objective of this study was to explore nurses' awareness of, knowledge of, and attitude toward EBP and factors likely to encourage or create barriers to adoption. In addition, information sources used by nurses and their literature searching skills were also investigated. Method: A total of 2,100 copies of the questionnaire were distributed to registered nurses in 2 public hospitals in Singapore, and 1,486 completed forms were returned, resulting in a response rate of 70.8%. Results: More than 64% of the nurses expressed a positive attitude toward EBP. However, they pointed out that due to heavy workload, they cannot keep up to date with new evidence. Regarding self-efficacy of EBP-related abilities, the nurses perceived themselves to possess moderate levels of skills. The nurses also felt that EBP training, time availability, and mentoring by nurses with EBP experience would encourage them to implement EBP. The top three barriers to adopting EBP were lack of time, inability to understand statistical terms, and inadequate understanding of the jargon used in research articles. For literature searching, nurses were using basic search features and less than one-quarter of them were familiar with Boolean and proximity operators. Conclusion: Although nurses showed a positive attitude toward EBP, certain barriers were hindering their smooth adoption. It is, therefore, desirable that hospital management in Southeast Asia, particularly in Singapore, develop a comprehensive strategy for building EBP competencies through proper training. Moreover, hospital libraries should also play an active role in developing adequate information literacy skills among the nurses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between five domain-specific skills of health literacy: Find Health Information (FHI), Appraise Health Information (AHI), Understand Health Information to act (UHI), Actively Manage One's Health (AMH), and E-health literacy (e-Heals), and health information seeking behaviors and three categories of health outcomes.Methods: A survey was implemented and data was collected from 1062 college going adults and analyzed using bivariate tests and multiple regression analysis.Results: Among the five domain-specific Health Literacy skills, AHI and e-Heals were significantly associated with the use of traditional sources and the Internet for healthcare information respectively. Similarly and AMH and e-Heals were significantly associated with the use of traditional sources and the Internet for health lifestyle information respectively. Lastly AHI, AMH and e-Heals were significantly associated with the three categories of outcomes, and AFH was significantly associated with cognitive and instrumental outcomes, but not doctor-patient communication outcomes.Conclusion: Consumers' ability to use different health sources for both healthcare and health lifestyle information, and the three categories of health outcomes are associated with different domain-specific health literacy skills.Practice Implications: Health literacy initiatives may be improved by focusing on clients to develop domain-specific skills that increase the likelihood of using health information sources and accrue benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients in Singapore with chronic conditions such as diabetes are encouraged to participate in patient-professional partnership activities because of rising health care costs and a shortage of infrastructure and human resources. This study explores the self-care and health information seeking behaviors of diabetic patients in Singapore, as well as factors related to health and information carriers that might influence those behaviors. A pilot-tested online survey was developed based on the Comprehensive Model of Information Seeking (CMIS) and notified to the members of the Diabetic Society of Singapore (DSS) through their newsletter in January 2016. In total, 60 usable responses from the DSS members were collected. The survey revealed that more than 30% of the patients did not strictly follow doctors' instructions to regularly exercise, self-monitor blood sugar, and pay attention to type of food prepared at home. However, it was found that the majority of them had consciously limited their sugar intake. It was also revealed that respondents' most frequently used sources of health information were authoritative sources such as doctors/nurses and pamphlets/leaflets from hospitals/clinics. Understandably, respondents experiencing less distress caused by diabetes tended to report better health status, less worries, and stronger beliefs in the efficacy of their methods for diabetes control.

Increased demand for medical or healthcare services has meant that nurses are to take on a more proactive and independent role intending to patients, providing basic treatment and deciding relevant clinical practice. This, in turn, translates into the need for nurses to be able to translate research and evidence into their practice more efficiently and effectively. Hence, competencies in looking for, evaluating, synthesizing and applying documented information or evidence-based practice becomes crucial. This article presents a quantitative study that involved more than 300 nurses from a large government hospital in Singapore. A self-reporting questionnaire was developed to collect data pertaining to evidence-based practice and activities, including those that demonstrate information literacy competencies. Results seem to suggest that the nurses preferred to use print and human information sources compared to electronic information sources; were not proactive in looking up research or evidence-based information and, instead, preferred such information to be fed to them; and that they perceived they lacked the ability to evaluate research papers or effectively search electronic information related to nursing or evidence-based practice. It was also found that more than 80% of the nurses have not had any training related to evidence-based practice.