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  DATA COLLECTION AND REPOSITORIES: TOPIC SUMMARY Anyone who has ever done data collection for their research project understands well the chaos of data collection process. One day questionnaires, next day interviews recorded on the laptop, then another two weeks to figure out the meaning behind the strange file name. It is precisely for this reason that knowing how to collect data and work with repositories is so crucial in the MLIS sphere, particularly in regard to the issue of data duration (Borgman, 2015). I shall begin with data collection process. It is a process of obtaining data for its further analysis. Surveys, interviews, observation and automation are some of the methods of data collection widely used in LIS. All of those techniques have their pros and cons, however, one must remember that whatever way one chooses data should be obtained with full observance of ethical principles. Such important issues like informed consent, privacy, and anonymisation should alway...
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Information Literacy Skills

Information Literacy Skills and the Big Six Framework Cosmas Fletcher Mbewe Master of Library and Information Science Mzuzu University, Malawi  1. Introduction Information literacy is a crucial skill for higher education and the workplace. In the current world that is facing exponential information expansion, digitalification, and the prevalence of misinformation, postgraduate students must exhibit highly advanced skills regarding information identification, information evaluation, and the proper application of information. Information literacy skills enable learners to respond effectively to knowledge by applying it in a rigorous search or contribution towards academic and national discourse (Association of College and Research Libraries [ACRL], 2016). In relation to the Malawian higher education setting, information literacy can be considered crucial for such aspects as evidence-based decision-making, research productivity, and sustainable development. In this paper, information ...
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USING AND REUSING DATA At first, I thought that data curation only involved such tasks as keeping data secure and backed up, migrating data formats when necessary, and nothing more. In truth, I was completely off the mark in my assessment. Having data stored on some server is of no value if no one can access it. Data usage Data usage is rather simple. This would be a case of a biologist analysing her field observations. It would also involve a student retrieving data and comparing them with data presented in the study. Now, data reuse is something more complicated and more challenging. Reusing data implies taking data from another source and applying it to solve a problem unknown to the original producers of the dataset. This can mean using census data for migration analysis, combining three clinical studies for a meta-analysis, etc. Data re-use According to Lee & Stvilia (2017), majority of the users engage in activities such as searching, browsing, downloading of content fr...
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