Browsing by Author "Lawal, Victoria"

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Aspects of information literacy with regards to the use of legal resources : case study of third year undergraduate law students of the University of Cape Town, South Africa and University of Jos, Nigeria
    (2009) Lawal, Victoria; Underwood, Peter G
    The study explores the relevance of information literacy in the context of legal education specifically as it affects issues on the conduct of the legal research skills of undergraduate students as well as the need for its integration into the curriculum of legal education. A review of the literature shows that little research has been undertaken in the field of legal information literacy in contrast to many other academic areas; indications from the literature reveal that there is a skills deficiency among undergraduate law students in many countries which suggest that many are ill prepared for the workplace. This situation also applies to law undergraduates in higher education institutions in Africa particularly Nigeria. The peculiar structure of legal information resources and the distinctive ways in which legal information is both evaluated and used suggest that legal information resources possess special characteristics that would need to be examined carefully in order to design information literacy programmes suitable for the profession. The scope of the study is limited to a comparative analysis of the information literacy skills of undergraduate law students of the University of Cape Town, South Africa and University of Jos, Nigeria; data was collected from both institutions from which comparisons were drawn. Findings from the study have revealed the difficulties experienced by students in the process of legal research and emphasised the importance of recognising the unique information structure of legal resources in developing an appropriate pedagogical model for integrating information literacy to the curricula of legal education particularly in higher education institutions. The study presents a uniquely African perspective on the challenges of integrating information literacy within the curriculum of legal education by providing insights into the needs and challenges for graduate requirement and productivity in higher education institutions in Africa.