INFORMATION ORGANIZATION

Skills in locating and retrieving information are important for you as a university student.
They are within the framework of all the information handling skills required for
information literacy. There are four activities phrased as questions that help you locate
relevant sources of information for the information task. The questions for the four
activities are:
i. How am I going to find sources in the resource collection?
ii. How does the retrieval system work?
iii. Where are the sources to be found in the collection?
iv. How do I find the information in these sources?

3.1Finding Information in a Resource Collection

Knowledge of how to locate information in both print and electronic information sources is
important in your studies. Therefore as an information seeker you should be able to:
 Find the information desk

 Identify and locate different library collections

 Find an information source in the catalogue and on the library shelves

 Identify the elements used in a bibliographic record

 Use subject headings to find information sources on specific topics

 Interpret a bibliographic citation

Skills in finding relevant information for your specific information needs are an important
part of being information literate. When you want to access a wide range of information
sources –for example, a complicated information task like assignment- you will need to
use information resources such as you can find in a library. Universities have libraries
and so when you are given an assignment by a lecturer, the library is a good place to start
your search for information. You need to be familiar with the regulations, layout and
collections in your library for easy access. It is important to know how to access the e-
books if it is difficult to access the analogue books.