E-Information Literacy Index of University Teachers of Maharashtra, India: A Case Study

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to propose an e-information literacy index that provides realistic values to distinguish whether university teachers are literate in regard to awareness and use of e-information resources by explaining the characteristics of e-information literate teacher. The present survey attempts to formulate e-information literacy index of university teachers by taking into consideration three components viz. awareness of e-resources, availability of ICT facilities and use of internet services and search techniques to retrieve e-information. The findings shows that 60.52 per cent teachers are e-information literate. Amongst the teachers, the index for Assistant Professors is highest followed by Professors and Associate Professors. It indicates that Assistant Professors are more e-information literate than their superiors. Amongst the universities, the index of Shivaji University, Kolhapur is highest. As far as author’s consciousness, there are several indices meant for different purposes but in the higher education sector to define the characteristics of e-information literate university teacher in terms of an index is unique and special.