Impact of tailor-made information literacy provision on rural dwellers’ participation in sustainable development targets in Nigeria:: Implications for public library services to oral societies

Abstract

This paper examined the impact of tailor-made information literacy provision on Nigerian rural dwellers’ participation in three sustainable development targets. A mixed method research design comprised of field experimental approach, site visit and focus group technique was used to collect data that answered the five questions raised in the study. From the findings, rural dwellers who received information literacy provision participated more in the sustainable development targets than their counterparts who depended only on the existing information communication systems accessible to them. Information literacy provision to a sample of 20 households had a spill-over effect on the behaviour of non-sampled households of the same village. In conclusion, the triangulation of methods used in this study showed that rural dwellers’ effective participation in development programmes can be achieved through contextual information literacy provision. This draws implications that are summarised into a model. Public libraries in Nigeria and in similar developing countries can explore the strategy conveyed in the model to launch effective outreach services to their rural dwellers.

Keywords

Information literacy provision oral societies public library services rural dwellers sustainable development

Introduction

The extant need to ameliorate rural dwellers engagement with lots of useful information in developing countries makes it necessary to examine how tailor-made information literacy provision might help. Information literacy is one of the multidisciplinary faces of librarianship, conceptualised in this paper as learning about information and knowing how to put information into practice. It is measured on people’s awareness, access to and utilisation of information. Awareness is the state of knowing about specific information and how to traverse its environment. Access is the possession of the necessary and procedural details required to put information into use. Utilisation is a practical occurrence denoted on task accomplishment. These three indictors – awareness, access, and utilisation – are herein viewed as part of embodied actions and not as generic skills.

Conceptualising information literacy from this perspective, though untraditional, is substantial and synonymous with theories that see information literacy as a meta-competency grounded on real life phenomena (Lloyd, 2006, 2010a). Besides, facilitating information literacy practice among people is acceptable and aids information use in the long run (Andretta, 2011). In this paper, information literacy provision is all about teaching the study subjects what they need to know to subsequently participate in sustainable development. A topic-specific type of information literacy provision drives this goal, giving credence to discipline-specific or course-related information literacy instruction published among other information literacy instruction programmes (Cameron, 2004; Catts, 2000; Grassian and Kaplowitz, 2001).

We know that information literacy in formal educational systems results in proper and effective use of information within textual and technological settings. However, there are no studies on information literacy programmes for rural Nigerians, such as may relate rural dwellers’ information utilisation experience to information literacy. Yet, thinking about information literacy among rural dwellers seems to be tied to their understanding and utilisation of information. This has to do with rural dwellers’ ability to learn vocally, adapt, anticipate and create change– the elements of meta-competency. So, similar to educational environments where students are taught information literacy and sometimes assessed, this paper is set to evaluate the impact of information literacy provision on three sustainable development targets among a treated and controlled group.

Sustainable development targets selected for this study

Three targets of the United Nation’s sustainable development goals (SDGs) were selected for this study. They represented the economic, environmental and social (equity) dimensions of sustainable development (https://sdg.guide/chapter-1-getting-to-know-the-sustainable-development-goals-e05b9d17801). Selection of the three targets was based on their relevance to the study population (as observed by the researcher during the pre-study survey). Hence, information literacy provision in this study was constructed around three targets as follows:

Nutritious consumption (a target in SDG 2 (http://scalingupnutrition.org/nutrition/nutrition-and-the-sustainable-development-goals/)). In this study, this target borders on prevailing food habits which are harmful for older persons, as well as good and nutritious food habits which the older persons in the villages under study overlook despite their affordability. Older persons were defined as those who are aged 60 and above. The World Health Organisation’s (WHO) articles on nutrition for older persons provided the background for defining older persons and guided the outlining of food habits required by older persons to reduce the chances of suffering non-communicable diseases (http://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/ageing/en/). The non-communicable diseases – that is, diseases which are not infectious – were limited to diabetes, hypertension and osteoporosis. Hence, prevention of these three diseases through food habits constituted the sub-targets under nutritious consumption target. The selection of these three diseases was based on the researcher’s pre-study inquiry on prevailing sicknesses among older persons in the villages selected for study. In addition to WHO articles, other peer-reviewed health-cum-dietary related publications were read from print and online sources to compile relevant information required under this target.

Desertification activities (a target in SDG 15 (https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg15)). In this study, this target focuses on two sub-targets, namely, deforestation activities and management of non-biodegradable wastes among the villagers under study. Here, indiscriminate felling of forest trees for timber and other subjective purposes, and improper disposal of non-biodegradable waste were addressed. These two sub-targets were covered because the pre-study inquiry showed that the villagers were involved in practices that jeopardise forestation and soil ecology. Scholarly materials accessed through Google Scholar as well as documents downloaded from United Nations’ associated websites (https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/topics/desertlanddrought/publications) aided the compilation of appropriate information for this target.

Access to justice (a target in SDG 16 (https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg16)). For this study, this target is limited to police and judiciary matters. Basically, drawing the attention of the villagers to the services of the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria – a charity-oriented legal institution which has an office in one of the cities close to the villagers under study – was considered. The researcher’s focus on this target was influenced by the reality on the ground in the villages selected for this study. The aim is to help indigent people and poor families that have pending cases in the police and judiciary to access justice at no cost. All the information needed for this target was gathered locally from the office concerned.

Literature review

Sustainable development is a multifaceted term that cuts across different walks of life. It involves several issues that include but are not limited to wise family planning, healthy food habit, hygiene matters, social responsibilities, civic rights, conservation of natural resources, financial prudence, gender equality, education, food production, good waste management, and others. Concisely, leading a lifestyle that will not endanger the overall wellbeing of the present society nor jeopardise the life of the future generation is the nitty-gritty of sustainable development. This idea is what brought the 193 member states of United Nations together in September 2015 to endorse a 15-year programme aimed at sustaining development all over the world. The philosophy of the programme pivots on three interrelated elements – economy, environment and society – and consequently furnished the proclamation of 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) by the United Nations (http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/summit/). Ultimately, achieving the goals requires individual participation of people of various gender, age and socioeconomic groups across the world. But urging community participation in development programmes has been an issue for several decades (Botes and Rensburg, 2000). Conscious of the varied ‘definitions of development’ (Sumner and Tribe, 2008:11), but referring to all as one, some researchers observed that many development schemes in Nigeria fail to achieve their purpose in rural areas (Otto and Ukpere, 2014). One seminal reason for this situation is the information communication gap (Schramm, 1964). Yet, several suggestions on how to enhance rural dwellers’ participation in development programmes has been published (Islam and Ahmed, 2012; Momodu, 2002; Nwachukwu andEzeh, 2007; Uhegbu and Okereke, 2006; Ukpong, 1993). But none of the available studies considered the possibility of exposing rural dwellers to contextualised information literacy programmes, as a way of bridging the information gap.

Of course, the vital role that information plays and why it must not be denied to rural people has been adequately reported (Diso, 2005; Etebu, 2009; Harande, 2009; Ibrahimah, 1986; Issa, 1998; Kamba, 2009; Momodu, 2012; Munyu, 2000; Okiy, 2003; Sturges and Neill, 1998; Ukachi, 2007). Despite the exposition, instances have been published which show that rural dwellers still wallow in ignorance (Oluwatosin and Oladepo, 2006) because of a dearth of practicable information (Uzuegbu, 2016). As such, the absence of a workable solution to the problem of information gap in rural areas has lingered. And as time goes by, the volatility of living without the right information in rural areas continues to rise. Yet, usable information, especially that generated through research and contemporary knowledge, is increasingly available. The problem appears to be how to practically assist rural people to access information and utilise it effectively. Regrettably, researchers in Nigeria are giving more attention to finding out the mediums that deliver information to rural dwellers and the extent to which rural dwellers are satisfied with those mediums. Although such studies are necessary, it becomes monotonous as they flood the literature: they observe the need to improve information services to rural dwellers and still offer no practicable strategies to solve the problem. This is an extant drawback that constitutes a literature gap; and, by implication, sustainable development can remain a far cry to rural dwellers if exigent realistic solutions are not charted. Uzuegbu (2016) observes the efforts of the mass media, public libraries’ outreach services and allied information delivery channels accessible in rural areas but still finds them ineffective in providing practicable information to rural dwellers. Whereas mass media contents most times appear unsuitable to rural information needs, the present-day ethos of public libraries in Nigeria holds no promises for the rural populace.

Decades ago, Aboyade (1984) conjectured the need to make libraries relevant for non-literate communities in Nigeria. Igbinovia (2016) opines that libraries are vehicles for attaining SDGs. The public library system in Nigeria readily claims the role of informing the public which includes people living in remote areas and villages (Aina, 2006; Issa et al., 2012). However, neither their outreach programmes nor rural services and branches, where such exist, have proved effective in the literature for stemming the information utilisation gap in rural areas. Comparably, researchers find that rural dwellers in developing countries access the little information accessible to them through the radio (Lwoga et al., 2011; Nakabugu, 2001; Nazari and Hasbullah, 2008), television (Bachhav, 2012; Bello and Obinne, 2012; Ekoja, 2003; Elly and Silayo, 2013; Ifukor, 2013; Meyer, 2004), agricultural extension workers (Ayoola, 2001; Iwuchukwu and Igbokwe, 2005; Umunna, 2008), mobile phones (Gakuru et al., 2009; Kalusopa, 2005), and more essentially, through friends, neighbours, relatives and colleagues (Lwoga et al., 2011; Okwu and Daudu, 2011). This situation questions the suitability of public libraries for meeting the information needs of rural dwellers. Besides, encouraging effective engagement with knowledge-based and practicable information among rural dwellers in Nigeria is quite beyond the usual method of sharing reading materials, relying on news broadcasts and depending on agricultural extension programmes (Uzuegbu, 2016). The public library system needs to re-strategize its services to find its perceptible niche in the rural populace. After all, librarianship in the 21st century seeks its users in conformance to the principles of information repackaging, content analysis, abstracting and indexing services, selective dissemination of information, knowledge management (in explicit and tacit contexts), information brokerage and others. So, with a central purpose of finding out ways to ameliorate rural dwellers’ engagement with lots of useful information, this paper considers topic-specific information literacy provision programmes as a strategy for the library profession to become effective in outreach services to rural dwellers in Nigeria.

Provision of information literacy to various publics has been well received as a role of libraries. But public libraries, especially in Nigeria, have not been able to undertake this function directionally. Skov’s (2004) review on the broadness of this function for public libraries in general is however noted, seeing that information literacy now is a complex of models that cut across print, technology and social practice contexts, with public libraries serving a variety of communities that often consist of these contexts. With this paper focused on rural dwellers, almost an oral society, information literacy provision by public libraries will be to enhance its target group’s social responsibility and community participation. This pursuit complies with ANZIL’s framework for information literacy (Bundy, 2004). Thus, public libraries’ facilitation of rural dwellers information seeking, and acting as counsellor on their overall information-seeking process through suitable modes of constant interaction (Kuhlthau, 2004) may well become the essence of information literacy provision to them.

Research in information literacy has progressed in the last two decades. What was hitherto pigeonholed in prescribed skills associated with the use of explicit sources of information is now experiencing research-based modifications that observe information literacy practice in various endeavours. This variation has resulted in new theories that view information literacy as information practice (Lloyd, 2007, 2010b; Lloyd-Zantiotis, 2004); as informed learning (Bruce, 2011; Bruce et al., 2013); and as information behaviour (Hepworth and Walton, 2013). The underlying fact in these theories is that information literacy is all about understanding and adapting to a given information environment as well as accessing and effectively utilising relevant information that is available in that environment. Hence, the information environment must not necessarily be textual, technological or both as often presumed in traditional models of information literacy. The traditional models of information literacy (ACRL, 2000; Bent and Stubbings, 2011; Bundy, 2004; Catts and Lau 2008; CILIP, 2004; Lau, 2006) were deeply construed from formal educational perspectives. But naturally, information literacy can occur anywhere. To Lloyd (2010b), information literacy is ontology-based and can be describe as a way of knowing an information landscape and how to navigate it. Here, an information landscape consists of the people, artefacts, texts, tools and bodily activities that characterise this practice that this information landscape is embedded in. Evidently, information literacy has been demonstrated in workplace milieus, in social settings and community environments (Bowles-Terry, 2012; Bury, 2011; Candy, 2002; Cullen et al., 2011; Erich and Popescu, 2010; Franklin, 2005; Lloyd et al., 2013; Lloyd-Zantiotis, 2004; Soleymani, 2014; Williams et al., 2014). This aptly explains why information literacy has been described as a socio-cultural phenomenon (Lloyd, 2007) as well as an interpersonal occurrence (Bruce, 1997; Bruce, 1999; Gunton et al., 2012; Lloyd, 2009; McMahon and Bruce, 2002; Yates et al., 2009). It is a totally context-based experience (Andretta, 2007; Lloyd, 2010b; Lupton, 2008). However, its manifestation in rural contexts has not been specifically reported in the literature. By presuming that information literacy manifestation in social settings is akin to what will happen in rural environments, it is therefore pertinent to observe the relational occurrence of information literacy in a rural setting.

Designing and providing information literacy instructions in locally relevant formats that meet rural dwellers’ information needs is not out of context. Andretta (2011) relates to this as she opines that facilitating information literacy practice among people is acceptable and aids information use in the long run. Horton (2013) supports the same idea when he notes that assisting people to learn and/or identify, describe and articulate in exact terms and language and according to information need, and search effectively and efficiently for useful information to meet the need, is part of information literacy practice and reflects the age-long practice of librarianship. Moreover, the exploration of varied suitable approaches to assist people of various backgrounds become informed, access and use information effectively was upheld as information literacy exercise at the Alexandria Proclamation in 2005 (Garner, 2006). These notions become more imperative when considering people in oral societies which largely consist of people who are not learned and cannot become learned, but still need to be carried along on the bandwagon of the knowledge society. This category of people will naturally depend on information literates to practise and benefit from information literacy. However, there is no available paper to show how this new phenomenon works or what the situation is so far.

Purpose of the study

This study examines the impact of tailor-made information literacy provision on rural dwellers’ participation in three sustainable development targets in Nigeria. To achieve this, the study seeks to answer the following questions:

To what extent did rural dwellers who received information literacy provision vary in awareness, access to and utilisation of information on selected sustainable development targets as compared to those who did not?

As time passed, did existing information communication systems impact rural dwellers’ awareness, access to and utilisation of information pertaining to selected sustainable development targets?

Did information literacy provision to a small group influence the behaviour of the entire rural dweller population (as a spill-over effect) towards the sustainable development targets selected for this study?

Can information literacy provision improve effective information service delivery to rural dwellers in Nigeria?

What are the perceived challenges to rural dwellers’ participation in sustainable development?

Methodology

To answer the questions raised in this study, a mixed method research design that included field experimental approach, site visit method and focus group technique was implemented. This triangulation, as characteristic of mixed method designs, was considered relevant for a study such as this which requires a synthesis of quantitative and qualitative data to show the impact of one variable on another, and understand how and why the impact occurred (Creswell, 2009; Creswell and Clark, 2007).

Field experimental approach

Two villages in Nigeria were selected. One village was regarded as a treatment group and the other village was considered as a control group. Both villages were selected from a poll of 68 villages falling under 17 autonomous communities that constitute Olokoro Clan in Umuahia South Local Government Area of Abia State, Nigeria. See a map of the study area as Figure 1.

Figure 1.

A map of the study area.

Criteria for selecting two villages

The selection of the study villages was based on their homogeneity. This includes similarities in household population, accessible information communication systems and literacy level (measured here as ability to read and write in English). Furthermore, villages selected had separate marketplace, farm land areas, and social infrastructure which were not shared with other villages. Other factors considered include the researcher’s familiarity with the villages and denizens in terms of language, beliefs and culture. (See Table 1.)

Table 1.

Profile match of the selected villages.

Village profile listing	Umuchukwu Village	Mgbedala Village
Household population of the village	66	62
Average literacy level of the village	43%	41%
Any separate marketplace(s) for the village?	Yes	Yes
Any separate farmland area(s) for the village?	Yes	Yes
Any separate church(s) for the village?	Yes	Yes
Any separate school(s) for the village?	Yes	Yes
Any separate healthcare centre(s) for the village?	Yes	Yes
Information communication systems accessible in the villages:
TV	Yes	Yes
Radio	Yes	Yes
Newspapers
Mobile telephone network	Yes	Yes
Internet connectivity	Yes	Yes
Education and research institutions	Yes	Yes
Community health centre	Yes	Yes
Agricultural workshops/seminars/conferences	Yes	Yes
Agricultural extension workers	Yes	Yes
Village leadership	Yes	Yes
Churches	Yes	Yes
Posters, handbills and billboards	Yes	Yes

Source: Researcher’s pre-study survey conducted in February 2016.

Study population

The population of the study comprised 128 households, with each household regarded as a respondent. This number is a summation of households in Umuchukwu and Mgbedala villages. The homogeneity of the study population lies basically on certain institutional factors that might influence the experiment. (See Table 1.)

Sample and sampling

To ensure equal representation in the experiment, a randomised sampling technique was used to select 20 respondents from each village. This resulted in a total sample of 40 respondents for the study. The sampling technique is standardised and provided every household in the population an opportunity to be nominated for the sample through an open ballot picking. Every household in both villages appointed a representative to do the ballot picking and stand as their respondent. Household representatives were not below the age of 18 and not above the age of 70. The researcher considered this age bracket to be mentally active in economic, environmental and socially-related issues of the society.

Data collection instrument

A structured interview schedule was used to collect data for the field experiment. As the study respondents comprised illiterates as well as those who do not write as frequently as they speak, the structured interview schedule was considered appropriate because its questions (fielded in respondents’ mother tongue) provided no opportunity for the illiterate respondents to respond out of context. Thus, the researcher asked questions contained in the schedule to respondents and also recorded respondents’ answers accordingly. Although structured, the instrument was designed in a way that elicited comparable (quantitative and qualitative) data from respondents, cutting across respondents’ cognition of the phenomenon studied vis-à-vis awareness, access to and utilisation of information pertaining to selected sustainable development targets. The instrument (see Appendix) served both for baseline and post-intervention data collections.

Validation and reliability of the data collection instrument

The instrument passed content (purpose) and format validation by a Professor of Library and Information Science.

Replication test

The researcher replicated the field experiment on three different blocks created within the treated group in other to confirm its precision.

Data collection procedure for the field experiment

House-to-house visit was employed to collect data from the sample. The researcher visited sampled households to interview them on a one-on-one interactive mode. Visitation times to each sampled household varied in treatment and control groups. In the treatment group – Umuchukwu village – the researcher and his team made four visits to this group, stretched across a period of 14 months. In the first visit (in the first month), a sample was drawn from the population, and baseline data were collected. In the second visit (held in the second month), representatives of the sampled households assembled at their village hall to receive treatment – information literacy provision. The treatment was a collection of appropriate information on three sustainable development targets, compiled from various sources, repacked in context and format, and communicated to the sample in their local dialect. The researcher employed pictorial displays using a digital projector to support the communication. (See Figure 2.) The treatment was an interactive lecture and lasted for one-and-half hours. While the sample learnt about the sustainable development topics selected for the study, their proper understanding of the lecture was ensured through question and answer session. In the third visit, undertaken in the 14th month (one year after treatment was administered – just to be sure of any impact the intervention may have caused or not), the researcher’s trained assistant visited sampled households one after another to collect the second-round data. At this time, the respondents could not relate the data collection with the ‘seminar’ as no one talked about it. Afterwards, within the same 14th month, the fourth visit was made. In this visit the entire population was invited for an open interactive discussion at their village hall where the researcher reappeared to moderate, interact with and round-up the ‘seminar’. In all, the researcher’s meetings with the treatment group were concealed from the control group.

Figure 2.

Members of the treatment group receiving information literacy instructions on nutritious consumption.

In the control group – Mgbedala village – the researcher met with this group three times. The visits spread across a period of 14 months and took place during the same periods as visitations to the treatment group. In the first visit, the sample was drawn, and the baseline data were collected. In the second visit (one year after baseline data were collected– again, to be certain about the impact the intervention may have generated or not), a trained assistant collected a second round of data from the sample. Fielding the same questions for the control group twice was considered necessary because as time passed, respondents may have had the opportunity to learn more about the sustainable development targets through ways that may be interesting to know. In the third visit, the entire population was invited for an open interactive discussion with the researcher at their village hall. Similarly, the researcher’s meetings with the control group were not disclosed to the treatment group.

Site visit method

A non-participant observer method, enabled by one-on-one interview with research subjects, was adopted to complement the quantitative data collected and analysed from the field experiment. Applied exclusively to the treated group, the aim was to identify and recognise unforeseen outcomes of the field experimental intervention (Bachrach, 2004). The researcher’s team visited the 66 households that comprise the treatment group (Umuchukwu Village) to gain insights into household members’ behaviour towards the sustainable development targets studied. Interviews were granted only to people aged 18 and above. Notes were taken and photos captured. The focus of the interview and observation was limited to cases where evidences tied to the sustainable development targets under study are obtainable.

Focus group technique

To further enrich the quality of data collected in this study, a focus group technique was implemented. The meeting was open for all households in the villages studied. The meetings were held differently for each group, inside each group’s village hall. The discussions, which lasted for about two hours in each group, were moderated by the researcher who was accompanied by three research assistants that took on-the-spot notes of the discussions. In the control group, 18 household representatives above the age of 18 honoured the invitation. Their names were obtained and codes administered to them. The themes discussed were: SDGs and participants’ challenges to participation in them; the impact of existing information communication systems on participants’ knowledge of sustainable development targets; the functional information provision system that participants need.

In the treatment group, 25 household representatives above the age of 18 attended the discussion. Likewise, their names were taken with codes assigned to each participant. Out of these 25, 12 participants were from the non-sampled households during the field experiment and thus were moderated to discuss how the information literacy provision (treatment) to their colleagues benefitted them, in comparison to existing information communication systems accessible to them. The remaining 13 participants whose households were sampled during the field experiment were moderated to discuss how far the information literacy provision administered to them suited their view of what an ideal information service delivery should be. Afterwards, all participants from the treatment group aired their views on why they were not participating, and may not continue to participate in the global call for sustainable development.

Data analysis method for the study

Data collected in this study were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. Analysis conformed to certain norms which delineated what constitutes awareness, access to and utilisation of information, as indicators of information literacy practice. (See Table 2.)

Table 2.

Delineation of norms for information literacy practice.

Indicators	Norms
Awareness of information	Respondents’ knowledge of the selected sustainable development targets.
Access to information	Respondents’ evidence of knowledge of the selected sustainable development targets.
Utilisation of information	Respondents’ actual actions (doing in reality those things) akin to the selected sustainable development targets.

Source: The researcher’s self-developed norms.

Getting the respondents to participate in the study

The Chief of each village was visited to obtain permission for the study. They were told that the exercise was a volunteer seminar that would profit them (without mentioning that it was part of a research for publication). The Chiefs in both villages complied and summoned their denizens to participate in the seminar. As appreciation for their participation, the researcher offered participants snacks and soft drinks in all the meetings held.

The study duration and materials

The study lasted for 18 months, beginning from February 2016. Of this, 15 months were spent on the field while about three months were used to analyse data and prepare the paper. The study was self-funded. The researcher incurred many expenses in the processes of travelling several times to the research sites, providing refreshments for the study population, giving a stipend to three research assistants recruited for the study, and accessing relevant materials. Some major materials used for the study at various stages included Internet network connection, overhead projector, computer, power generating set and their connecting accessories.

Ethical concerns

The study respondents were assured of their anonymity. Copies of the interview schedule and the pieces of information gathered from focus group participants contained names and codes that were carefully saved in an unnamed folder, stored electronically, password protected and accessible only to the researcher.

Controlling biases and limitations

The field experimental design was developed through a randomisation process. The control measures were appropriate, and homogeneity criteria were drawn. Regarding site visit method, the researcher ensured that only natural attitude or behaviour of research subjects was captured. To achieve this, the researcher adopted the non-participant approach to visit the subjects’ homes without formal notice. On focus group method, the researcher’s role was tied to moderation. Participants’ contributions during discussions were not influenced by the researcher.

Results

Outcome of the field experiment

Participation in the field experiment was successful in both the treatment and control groups (villages), with 20 household representatives each. Of the entire participants, 70% were males and 30% females. The majority of the participants (55%) were in the age bracket 31–40. The profile of the participants, distributed across the two groups, is shown in Table 3.

Table 3.

Gender and age distribution of the experiment participants.

	Gender	18–20	21–30	31–40	41–50	51–60	61–70	Totals
Treatment group	Male	1	2	7	2	1	0	13
Treatment group	Female	0	1	3	1	1	1	7
Control group	Male	1	2	9	1	1	1	15
Control group	Female	1	0	3	1	0	0	5
	Totals	3	5	22	5	3	2	40

The absence of participants who are below 18 years old and above 70 years of age was expected, as indicated in the sample design.

Baseline data

Data collected from the treatment and the control group at the beginning of this study were comparatively similar. For instance, each group had a 5% of general knowledge of sustainable development – that is, those who have heard about the term sustainable development and stated its meaning correctly. On nutritious consumption, 60% of respondents in each group were not aware that food habits and lifestyles help to prevent diabetes, hypertension and osteoporosis diseases. No respondent in either group was able to describe any food habit or lifestyles relevant for preventing any of the three diseases. On desertification activities, respondents in both groups could not tell whether felling of forest tress without planting new ones is safe for the environment or not, while 70% in each group were in the habit of disposing of non-degradable wastes on their farmlands. Such sameness occurred on the third target – access to justice – where respondents from both groups were completely unaware of any free legal service in town. These were the situations before intervention began in the treatment group.

Post-intervention data

One year after completion of intervention in the treatmentgroup, post-intervention data collected from the treatment and the control groups showed significant variance between the two groups. This variance is caused by the intervention. As seen in Table 4, the respondents’ general knowledge of sustainable development and its associated selected targets improved considerably in the treatment group as compared to the control group. For example, the treatment group respondents who knew about sustainable development and stated its meaning correctly rose from 5% (at baseline) to 75%. The 60% of respondents who were not aware that food habits and lifestyles help to prevent diabetes, hypertension and osteoporosis diseases at baseline went down to zero percent in post-intervention data.

Table 4.

Distribution of post-intervention data.

Items		Response Scales	% Average of Responses
Items		Response Scales	TG	CG
General Knowledge: about sustainable development		Heard of sustainable development and said its meaning	75%	10%
		Heard of sustainable development but cannot say its meaning	25%	10%
		Heard of sustainable development but does not know its meaning	5%	5%
		Never heard of sustainable development let alone its meaning	0%	75%
Nutritious Consumption: preventing diabetes, hypertension, and osteoporosis diseases through food habit and lifestyle	Extent of awareness	Extremely aware (i.e. awareness cut across the three diseases)	75%	0%
		Moderately aware (i.e. awareness cut across two diseases)	13%	10%
		Slightly aware (i.e. awareness is only for one disease)	13%	35%
		Not aware at all	0%	55%
	Extent of access	Described much about their food habits/lifestyle	30%	0%
		Described little about their food habits/lifestyle	40%	0%
		Knows some food habits/lifestyle but cannot describe	30%	0%
		Does not know about food habits/lifestyle let alone to describe	0%	100%
	Extent of utilisation	Adopted relevant food habits/lifestyle always (daily)	43%	0%
		Adopted relevant food habits/lifestyle sometimes (weekly)	45%	0%
		Adopted relevant food habits/lifestyle rarely (monthly or so)	10%	0%
		Never adopted any food habits/lifestyle	2%	100%
Desertification Activities: indiscriminate felling of forest trees without planting new ones, and improper disposal of non-degradable wastes	Extent of awareness	Felling of trees
		Strongly agreed that felling of forest trees without planting new ones is not safe for the environment	35%	0%
		Slightly agreed that felling of forest trees without planting new ones is not safe for the environment	40%	5%
		Disagreed that felling of forest trees without planting new ones is not safe for the environment	0%	0%
		Does not know if felling of forest trees without planting new ones is safe for the environment or not	25%	95%
		Non-biodegradable wastes
		Always recycled/reused/sold/poured them into special waste pit	30%	0%
		Sometimes recycled/reused/sold/poured them in special waste pit	55%	0%
		Sometimes poured them on farmlands as part of general waste	15%	35%
		Always poured them on farmlands as part of general waste	0%	65%
	Extent of access	Mentioned very much certain actions that can curb desertification	20%	0%
		Mentioned a few actions that can curb desertification	35%	0%
		Knows but could not mention any action that curb desertification	45%	0%
		Does not know of actions that can curb desertification	0%	100%
	Extent of utilisation	Always (daily) performed actions that curb desertification	50%	0%
		Sometimes (weekly) performed actions that curb desertification	40%	0%
		Rarely (monthly or so) performed actions that curb desertification	10%	0%
		Never performed actions that curb desertification	0%	100%
Access to Justice: indigents’ knowledge and fulfilment of criteria for subscribing to Legal Aid Council of Nigeria – a charity-oriented legal institution in Umuahia	Extent of awareness	Knows very well about the free legal services and its criteria	70%	10%
		Knows somewhat about the free legal services and its criteria	20%	0%
		Not really sure about the free legal services and its criteria	10%	0%
		Not aware of the free legal services and its criteria	0%	90%
	Extent of access	Mentioned exact address and criteria for free legal services	40%	0%
		Attempted to describe address and criteria for free legal services	15%	5%
		Knows but cannot describe the address and criteria	45%	0%
		Does not know the address and criteria for free legal services	0%	95%
	Extent of utilisation	Benefitted several times from the free legal service scheme	3%	0%
		Benefitted in few occasions from the free legal service scheme	7%	0%
		Told friends about the scheme but does not know if they benefitted	48%	0%
		Never benefitted, never told anybody about the scheme	42%	100%

TG = Treatment Group; CG = Control Group

Commensurate evidences were given to support responses in Table 4. In the treatment group, many respondents referred to the intervention by describing the researcher’s information literacy provision as their source of awareness. The majority of the respondents (75%) in the treatment group were able to describe the meaning of sustainable development, with some of them narrating it beyond the three targets covered in the study. Specifically, representatives of seven households talked about the 17 SDGs with the researcher and sought to understand how each goal affected them. But to the three targets in focus, respondents were able to identify and describe certain food habits and lifestyle associated with at least one out of the three diseases, with more than 90% of them implementing the food habits and lifestyle at least once every week. Table 4 gives us a total picture of what transpired across the three sustainable development targets.

Ultimately, there is a salient point to draw from the experiment result. Both groups were naturally exposed to some existing information communication systems broadly outlined in Table 1. However, the information literacy provision administered to members of the treatment group resulted in a more conscious participation in sustainable development targets than seen in the control group whose members depended solely on friends, physicians, television and newspapers as information communication systems. Succinctly, the effect of the intervention in the treatment group can be corroborated by the conversely little impact caused by existing information communication systems accessible to members of the control group, and on the comments from treated group respondents during the site visit. These revelations bring answers to the first two research questions as thus:

Rural dwellers who received information literacy provision increased in awareness, access to and utilisation of information about sustainable development targets than their controlled counterparts who did not receive provision.

As time passed, the existing information communication systems in the villages had no significant impact on rural dwellers’ awareness, access to and utilisation of information pertaining to sustainable development targets.

Findings from the site visit

The 66 households that comprised the treatment group were the focus in this section. One year after the completion of intervention, households in the treatment group were visited by a research assistant. Special attention was given to the 46 households that were not sampled for field experiment. The aim was to investigate the spill-over effect of the treatment administered to the sampled households, by observing the behaviour of subjects in the non-sampled households towards the sustainable development targets selected for this study. For example, many local food items, some foot wear for exercise, special waste bins devoted to non-biodegradables, and other indications were seen among the sampled households during the site visit. (See Figure 3.)

Figure 3.

A treatment respondent’s sports footwear for regular evening exercise and an orange tree planted in reaction to replacing felled trees.

But for the non-sampled households of the treatment group, the following information was deduced from them through interview and observation.

Three households, out of the 46, stopped disposing of non-degradable wastes on their farmlands seven months before the site visit. (See Figure 4.) Why? Because their sampled colleagues told them about the dangers of such to their farmlands. Hence, they separated their waste bins into biodegradables and non-biodegradables. As seen at the site, these households used waste plastic bags to make fire for cooking, sold waste plastic bottles to waste-plastic merchants in the city, and emptied metal canes at a non-degradable waste pit earmarked by the government. The non-degradable waste pit is sited 29 kilometres away from the village. The commitment of these households to travel such a distance for the purpose of emptying waste metal canes is remarkable. Besides, in one of these households, their three children who are below 12 years old had been taught about non-degradable wastes by their parents and are consciously complying with the family’s new habit towards non-biodegradable wastes.

The Village Chief of the treated group banned the felling of trees in the village’s forest, and must give permissions to any villager that must do so. The ban came three months after the intervention, even though the Chief’s household was not a part of the sampled households. The Chief himself said his cabinet took the decision to ban deforestation activities after he learnt their implications from one of his cabinet members who participated in the information literacy treatment.

A mother of 59 years old who is suffering from osteoporosis disease gave up her habit of eating bread or cracker biscuits every morning. She said that she took her decision because her friend who participated in the experiment told her about the bone-damage-effect of ‘sodium’ usually contained in baked foods such as bread and biscuits. According to her, this was one thing her physician never told her, but agreed with her that she should abstain from sodium (including too much salt) when she inquired about it from him.

In one household, a 21 year-old man was found released from prison through the services of Legal Aid Council of Nigeria. The man had been in prison awaiting trial for more than three years. But he was released after a participant in the field experiment informed the family about the free legal service in town. However, the family of the freed man paid some money to the Legal Aid Barrister that handled the case, against the understanding that Legal Aid Council of Nigeria renders a free-of-charge service to indigent families. But all the same, the family of the released man testified that what they paid to the Legal Aid solicitor was not in any way comparable to what they had been asked to pay by a private lawyer in the past, which they could not afford, leading to the prolonged stay of their son in prison.

In another household, the members described the meaning of sustainable development across its 17 goals published by the United Nations. They were willing to know how each goal affected them and other villagers. Yet, their quest for this information and knowledge started after interacting with a participant in the field experiment.

A total of 33 households, out of the 46 non-sampled households in the treated group, recited some of the sustainable development knowledge imparted to their sampled counterparts, admitting that their colleagues (the 20 sampled households) shared what they learnt from the treatment with them.

Figure 4.

Non-biodegradable vs. biodegradable waste bins captured during site visit.

These observations are clear indications that information literacy provision to a group of 20 people influenced the behaviour of the majority of a village in the context of the sustainable development targets selected for this study. While this revelation answers the third research question of this study, it further implies that contextual information literacy provision is capable of activating oral information sharing and contextualised information literacy practice among rural people.

Discoveries from focus group discussions

Table 5 shows the details of the focus group participants. In both groups, males outnumbered the female participants. Most of the participants in the treatment group fall between the ages of 41 to 50. The reason for this is because most adults from the treatment population had become conscious of the programme after benefitting from the intervention. During introduction, many of them stated that they cancelled their itineraries just to participate in the focus group meeting. This is unlike the control population that had a majority of young adults (21–30) whose attendance in the meeting was primarily because they were not engaged with some work. What unfolded from the focus group discussions answers the fourth and the fifth research questions of this study.

Table 5.

Gender and age details of the focus group participants.

	Gender	Age 21–30	Age 31-40	Age 41-50	Age 51-60	Total
Treatment group	Male	0	3	9	2	14
Treatment group	Female	0	3	4	4	11
Control group	Male	5	2	3	0	10
	Female	4	1	1	2	8
	Total	9	9	17	8	43

Discussions on information service delivery systems to rural dwellers in Nigeria

Participants from the control population found the television, radio, newspapers, mobile network connectivity and other existing information communication systems irrelevant to their day-to-day update on development issues. Apart from one participant, all other participants from the control population had not heard about the sustainable development agenda launched by United Nation in September 2015 let alone knowing what to do to participate in it. The gentleman that had heard about sustainable development got to know through his son studying geography in university. For instance, Mr Chido Azuonye (Participant C5) said, ‘How will I know about a programme launched overseas when I have not known what is going on in my own country?’ It could be imagined how such unawareness remained among the participants despite the television and radio which many of the participants owned in their homes. For this, many of the participants blamed the government for an irregular electricity supply with which they could follow news through television. As to using a radio with batteries, some participants expressed the lack of time and chance to tune in and listen to news broadcasts over radio. Others complained about the cost involved in purchasing batteries regularly which often die within a few hours of use. Meanwhile, 10 participants expressed no interest in watching television or listening to radio programmes, and yet, could not read fluently in order to resort to local newspapers for information. What are called local newspapers here are not even local per se, as participants observed they included state and national dailies written in English language. To a large extent, participants from the control group lamented the lack of effective means of keeping them updated with information and relevant knowledge, and wished for a way out of the situation in the nearest future. Their suggestions to this effect included the need for appropriate government agencies to keep ties with their rulers for steady conveyance of beneficial information to them. When the library institution, as a way forward, was brought up by the moderator, none of the participants had anything to contribute. Eventually, two participants spoke. Both of them (Participants C7 and C11) agreed in their views that a library – ‘defined as a room where books are stored, read, and borrowed’ – would be good for their children and not for them who are largely illiterate. Yet, none of the participants had heard of any library that serves as a building devoted mainly to the verbal exchange of information and knowledge rather than to reading and borrowing of print materials, and thought that such a type of library would suit them ‘If such is real about libraries’ – said Mr Michael Ikeadigim (Participant C7).

From the participants in the treatment population, the information literacy provision treatment was commended. Out of the 25 household representatives present in the discussion, 12 participants – whose households were not sampled during the experiment – acknowledged the intervention. They were not the direct subjects of the intervention, but benefitted from its spill-over effect. These 12 participants recounted their curiosity to know what their selected colleagues learnt from the information literacy treatment, which made them obtain knowledge about the sustainable development targets from their treatment colleagues. Many of them declared the profitability of such knowledge and expressed an interest in continuing the practices they have learnt from their colleagues. For instance, Mrs Olejuru Uhiara (Participant Tn-s23) said: ‘I never knew I was weakening my bones and joints with my habit of eating too much table salt.’ So, in comparing the information literacy treatment from which they benefitted indirectly with the role of existing information communication systems, the 12 participants saw no importance for the existing systems. Chief Dickson (Participant Tn-s17) said:

All my life, I have been listening to radio and watching television programmes, but I have never learnt that achara is very good for my health…No wonder our fore-parents that included achara regularly in their meals lived stronger and longer than we live nowadays.

Achara – known as spear grass in English – is a vegetable that is often included in native soups of the villagers studied, but was increasingly ignored by many of these villagers in recent times. The tender leaf of achara (before it flowers and becomes inedible) is rich in magnesium, potassium (a balance to excess sodium), calcium and other vital minerals. However, the remaining 13 participants whose households were sampled during the experiment commended the information literacy treatment administered to them. Two participants from this cluster were honest enough to plead successively for continuity of the intervention – requesting the researcher to visit their village from time to time. In particular, Mr Mike Ndulaka (Participant Ts4) said: ‘Sir, that lecture you gave us about a year ago is exactly the kind of thing we want from time to time, across varied issues that will benefit us.’ Mrs Adanma Orife (Participant Ts13) said: ‘Can we be having you once every three months to lecture us on any topic of our interest? Just come, you don’t have to spend on us; instead you and your team shall be our guest.’ In short, all the participants commented that the existing information communication systems accessible to them have not been suitable and may remain unsuitable for communicating vital information to them. Why? Because the systems, most times, fail to strengthen their clarity and understanding of information and thus affect their utilisation of lots of meaningful development information available in the society.

Discussions on challenges to rural dwellers’ participation in sustainable development

Participants from the control and treatment populations gave similar reasons for not participating in the SDGs. Lack of awareness is the common reason. Virtually all the participants were ignorant of the term sustainable development and neither knew its goals nor how they could participate from their communities. Miss Jane Nnaukwu (Participant C14) said: ‘I have not heard about sustainable development goals until you told us in this hall. How can I then participate in what I do not know?’ This was the same point participants from the treatment population expressed, noting it as their hindrance to participating in the sustainable development agenda before they received a lecture on the topic.

Regarding continuity of the sustainable development agenda by the treatment population, participants enunciated that their hindrances would be tied to circumstances that might be beyond their control. Mr Andy Uwaeme (Participant Ts10) said:

I will practise all the things I have been taught about sustainable development goals, but I shall not use my hard-earned money to buy trees to plant for the lawless fellows in our village…I shall only plant trees if I receive seedlings for free…but I will not use my own money to buy seedlings.

Participant Ts9 (Mrs. Adaku Ogumka) said:

If the trees to plant are economic trees which I can plant around my home and benefit from, fine and good, I will plant. But, the problem is that most of such trees around homes will always be cut down in no time because of the danger they pose to electric wires and buildings during storms.

So, participants believe that their continuation in sustainable development practices is dependent on broad range of circumstances that reflect on participating individuals’ benefits.

Summary of results

The five questions asked in this study have been answered successfully. A cause and effect relationship is spotted in the study. Rural dwellers who received information literacy provision participated more in the sustainable development targets than their counterparts who depended only on the existing information communication systems accessible to them. Beside this, information literacy provision to a sample of 20 households produced a spill-over effect on the behaviour of non-sampled households in the same village, within the context of the sustainable development targets studied. Comparatively, information literacy provision (as an oral interactive exercise) was widely accepted by the rural dwellers as a suitable means of delivering information services to them. Noting that their major hindrance to information utilisation and participation in development programmes is lack of awareness – the state of not knowing or not grasping what a programme is all about and how to contribute successfully in its implementation – the rural dwellers believe that regular provision of information literacy-based lectures is the way forward.

Implications and discussions

The overall insight gained from this study provides some ideas for thinking about information literacy. As much of the time used in this study was channelled to the treatment population, the participants, at a time, became very committed and responsive and expressed their wish that the study should become a continual programme for them. Though this phenomenon might be natural, it however draws salient connotations which may not be divorceable from information literacy practice among rural dwellers or oral-communicating groups. Basically, the impact of the researcher’s tailor-made information literacy provision, as a facilitation kind of exercise, is noteworthy. Facilitation, as important as it is in various conventional learning contexts is found indispensable in rural dwellers’ participation in sustainable development. Facilitation is an essential part of a teaching or instructing exercise. In this paper, it was the act of simplifying information for the rural people to understand and utilise. This is what friends, physicians, television and newspapers, as prevailing actors and systems behind information access and utilisation in the villages studied could not achieve. And, there are no studies to show whether the case is different with other rural endeavours. So, while the meta-competency idea of Lloyd (2006) on information literacy proved factual in this study, facilitation turned out to be the basis of its factuality. Several occurrences observed in the treatment group of this study, such as change in lifestyle, attitude and actions essential for sustainable development were triggered through facilitation. By implication, effective utilisation of information among rural dwellers requires contextual facilitation, which must be executed through interpersonal interactive communication. This further implies that information literacy among illiterates can be an orally-communicative practice that is enabled on specific social-cultural norms. Traditionally, the librarianship profession deploys facilitation exercises in the form of user orientation programmes, and nowadays, as information literacy instructions. This culture is also required now to enhance effective information utilisation among rural dwellers and people who are not competent in textual and technological means of learning.

Notice in this study that the treated population practised information literacy through their oral communications. To participate in the sustainable development targets, the subjects met and verbally interacted with their friends and relatives, shared information, asked relevant questions, read meanings and made out information from responses, and consequently acted on the information they obtained. This is the nature of their information literacy landscape. However, many rural dwellers lag behind in this practice. They lag behind because they do not understand the people, artefacts, texts, tools and bodily activities – the implied constituents of Lloyd’s (2006) information landscape. In rural reality, this is the same thing as knowing: the right people to meet to get relevant information; what information is available to the public; which information is important and of use; where and how to access required information; and the actual actions mandatory for using and benefitting from certain information. Accordingly, these are the information literacy elements that the control group of this study lacked in the context of sustainable development targets outlined for the study, which on the contrary, were mostly exhibited by the treatment group members. This, again, supports this paper’s notion that information literacy – which has been recognised as a context-based phenomenon (Andretta 2007; Lloyd, 2007, 2010b; Lupton 2008) – can be practised among rural dwellers through context-specific facilitations.

Training rural dwellers to utilise information effectively is essential. The ineffective impact of friends, physicians, television and newspapers in helping the controlled population participate successfully in sustainable development corroborates the findings reported in Uzuegbu (2016). And the absence of the library institution in this list increases the worry that public library institutions in Nigeria are not reaching out to the rural populace. Of course, several research studies into sources and channels of information for rural people in developing countries have not found libraries to be a significant information source (Bachhav, 2012; Ekoja, 2003; Gakuru et al., 2009; Kalusopa, 2005; Lwoga et al., 2011; Meyer, 2004; Nakabugu, 2001; Nazari and Hasbullah, 2008; Umunna, 2008). But as a viable way forward, a model is herein proposed based on revelations from this study. (See Figure 5.) This model has prospects for ending the age-long problem of getting rural dwellers to participate in development programmes (Nwachukwu and Ezeh, 2007; Otto and Ukpere, 2014; Ukpong, 1993), and can fittingly be deployed by the public library system in Nigeria to reach out effectively to rural dwellers.

Figure 5.

A process/action model for improving public libraries’ outreach services to rural dwellers in Nigeria.

The process model above shows how information and knowledge pertaining to three targets in the SDGs were accessed by the researcher, repackaged and imparted to the study respondents using their local dialect. Ordinarily, the information on SDGs is mostly textual and mainly available on the Internet. But, to make the knowledge accessible to the respondents in this study, the researcher formatted the contents, repackaged the knowledge and transmitted it to the people at their convenience and in the language and format they understand. In the same way, the public library institution in Nigeria can replicate the same approach. To do so, they need to recruit and or train their staff in the scope of undertaking impact-oriented outreach services to rural dwellers. Staff must be acquainted with rural information environments – understand and decode the nature of information required among a rural populace as well as the nodes through which information is effectively communicated and utilised by the rural people. To be effective, staff must be able to access relevant information contents despite their layout, and analyse and repackage information into formats that suit the rural people. Having the information ready, staff must go out of the traditional library building to meet with the rural dwellers or at best set up physical extension structures in the rural areas to facilitate regular and lasting contacts with the rural people. Until this reality is incorporated in today’s librarianship, useful information and knowledge will increasingly go unutilised by rural dwellers in Nigeria and in other similar developing countries.

Conclusion and recommendation

Using a triangulation of methods, this study shows that information literacy provision has an impact on rural dwellers’ effective participation in sustainable development programmes. This study has shown how a treatment group’s behaviour transformed, even after one year, to embrace practices that enforce SDGs. The reason for the transformation is apparently tied to the revelation that information literacy provision (as an oral interactive exercise) to the rural dwellers studied is comparably a more effective way of communicating information to them and enhancing their understanding and application of information in the right way and for the right purpose.

This finding draws suggestions for the library and information profession. As a majority of rural dwellers in Nigeria depend predominantly on verbal communication methods to learn about information and knowledge, public libraries in Nigeria and in similar developing countries can explore the strategy experimented in this paper to launch effective outreach services to their rural dwellers. While the strategy is well represented in an action model proposed in Figure 5, actualising it requires the redefining of public libraries’ ethos to include and implement information literacy provision services in non-textual formats, transmittable through verbal interactive communication, supplemented with visual demonstrations. Secondly, the recruitment or retraining of public library staff to become content analysers, information repackagers, information communicators is ripe in the interest of orally-communicating societies.

In addition, further studies can be conducted on this topic. The study population can be revisited in the future to find out if the tailor-made information literacy provision still has impact on them or not. Beside this, more studies can be carried out to investigate the impact of information literacy provision on other endeavours of rural dwellers.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Appendix

Interview questions fielded to participants in the field experiment of the study: ‘Impact of Tailor-made Information Literacy Provision on Rural Dwellers’ Participation in Sustainable Development Targets in Nigeria: Implications for Public Library Services to Oral Societies’.

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