Study on Gender Differences in Information Literacy Skills among Research Scholars of Alagappa University, Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu

The study investigates the gender differences in information literacy skills among research scholars of Alagappa University. We collected 430 samples was from a population of 812 using simple random sampling. The questionnaire designed based on Big6 Skills and data were collected by using structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics of frequency counts, simple percentages, mean, standard deviation and Independent 't' Test were used for data analysis. The analysis found that "Information task definition skills is 4.26 with S.D. of 0.18", "Information seeking strategy skills is 4.02 with S.D. of 0.32", and "Location and Access Skills is 3.82 with S.D. of 0.386". "Information Use Skills is 4.02 with S.D. 0.184", "Synthesis Skills is 3.94 with S.D. of 0.317", "Fair Use of Information Skills is 3.98 with S.D. of 0.205", Skills for the Evaluation of Collected / Downloaded Information is 3.94 with S.D. of 0.271". The study reveals that gender differences exist between male and female research scholars of Alagappa University as far as most of information literacy skills are concerned. Further, the study show that male professionals revealed a slightly higher mean score in their Information Literacy skills. The paper suggests that some special programmes/workshops on information literacy skills are concerned. The university with the help of UGC may develop Indian Standards of Information Literacy skills while many developed countries have their own information literacy standards.