Engineering students often conduct information searches without sufficient consideration of the context of their research topic. This article discusses how development of a new information literacy (IL) mindset through instruction in integrated IL education affects students' understanding of research problems and formulation of information search questions. The course observed is a mechanical engineering seminar for undergraduate engineering students with integrated IL education. A survey-based research method is utilized with surveys carried out at three stages of the course. The results show that as the course progressed, students' interdisciplinary research problem descriptions became more profound and their formulations of information search questions developed more advanced understanding of the principles of information use. Preliminary parallel results have been analyzed from 2013 to 2016 at a university of technology in Finland.
Lifelong learning and skills updating is recognised as being an essential part of today’s business world. Librarianship is no different. The author explains the opportunity and reasoning behind a job trade undertaken in the spring of 1997 for eight months. This involved temporarily leaving her job in the Lappeenranta University of Technology Library, Finland and gaining new experience within the forestry industry, which included the chance to update her knowledge of industrial information services. The conclusions drawn from this experience highlight the importance of keeping abreast of advancing technology in the business world, in order to train students effectively for their transition into the job market.
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