What information competencies matter in today’s workplace?

Abstract

This is a qualitative study about the information competencies that employers seek in university graduates and the skills which graduates demonstrate when they enter the workplace. Included are findings from interviews with 23 US employers and focus groups with a total of 33 recent graduates from four US colleges and universities. Employers said they recruited graduates for their online searching skills but once graduates joined the workplace they rarely used the traditional, low-tech research competencies that their employers also needed. Graduates said that they used skills from university for evaluating and managing published content; yet most graduates still needed to develop adaptive strategies to save time and work more efficiently. A preliminary model compares information problems in the university with those of the workplace. Opportunities are identified for preparing students to succeed beyond the academy in the workplaces of today and tomorrow.

Information literacy skills and training of licensed practical nurses in Alberta, Canada: results of a survey

“…In addition, when asked to select in what areas more effective or increased training opportunities are needed, LPNs chose ‘Using information collaboratively in team‐based settings’ most frequently alongside ‘Developing lifelong learning skills through independent or social information‐seeking’. Research on workplace information literacy by Project Information Literacy (PIL; Head, ; Head et al., ) and Lloyd (, ) supports the prevalence and benefits of social information‐seeking and collaborative information use in the workplace. Multiple studies by Lloyd (Bonner & Lloyd, ; Lloyd, , ), including vocational workers like firefighters, have led to her recasting information literacy as a sociocultural practice operating in a particular context and integrating social and embodied sources in addition to textual sources.…”

“…However, LPNs tend not to choose the search tools and formats that librarians would recommend or expect following information literacy instruction, as Internet search engines like Google and websites were mentioned most frequently. Preference for open web resources is well‐established in the literature addressing both health care professionals and post‐secondary graduates, stemming from various reasons including ease‐of‐use, familiarity and convenience (Connaway, Dickey & Radford, ; Head, ; Head, Van Hoeck, Eschler & Fullerton, ; Wahoush & Banfield, ). The use of search engines such as Google is problematic given their commercial underpinnings, unfiltered and potentially inaccurate content, and how users rarely delve past the first page of results (van Deursen & van Dijk, ).…”

“…PIL conducted interviews, and focus groups with employers in multiple sectors and discovered new graduates were perceived as lacking the ability to use people in the organisation as a source for solving information problems (Head, ). Employers also identified ‘team communication strategies’ as part of the research process that graduates struggled with most (Head et al., , p. 87). This is also a finding that aligns with the ALA's goal of integrating social and community‐based practices into the conception of information literacy through their recently revised Framework (2015).…”

Implementation of information competencies as key employment skills at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

“…Authors conclude that these studies show that employers place a higher premium on graduates' information competencies, but the results do not say which information competencies are important in the workplace and why [2].…”

“…A number of reports issued by employers' associations and HEI organizations urged universities to make more explicit efforts to develop the 'key', 'core', 'transferable' and/or 'generic' skills needed in many types of high-level employment [1]. Head et al, [2] list studies have been published about employers' perceptions of information literacy needs throughout the workplace [3] [4]. In these studies, most employers were unfamiliar with the phrase "information literacy", yet they agreed it was important for employees to be able to find, evaluate, and use information.…”