Arab Educational Information Network

The goal of this study is to know the reality of information literacy of information and mass Media students in Damascus university by recognizing to what extent they have the skills to determine information needs according to these students, also by recognizing to what extent they have the ability to deal with information resources, and their skills of using the library at their faculty. Moreover, this study provides suggestions to reinforce their skills in information literacy and to build up their performance generally. To get these results, a field research approach has been used in this study because it helps to conduct an in-depth research to understand and analyze the situation thoroughly. To collect information for the study, the researcher had designed a survey that was distributed to a random sample of mass media students (28.7 % of total number of students). The final analysis of the information collected has been conducted by using descriptive statistics which involve repetitive distribution and percentages. The data obtained from this study shows the availability of skills needed to determine information needs, and those needed to use electronic resources. On the other hand, most of the students appeared to lack the skills for using libraries. The main obstacles that face students are mostly in foreign information resources and the use of libraries. Finally, the study has made some suggestions that reinforce information literacy skills and build up sufficient information literacy in academic institutions in general.(Published Abstract)