InformAll have recently published a report on information literacy at the interface between Higher Education and employment, and an annotated bibliography on IL in the context of employment.
InformAll (formerly RIDLs) is a membership organisation, managed by the Research Information Network. Its aim is to provide a collaborative, multi-agency focus for promoting the relevance, importance and benefits of information literacy in the lives of individuals as they progress through education and beyond.
Stéphane Goldstein, Business Manager and Research Consultant at the Research Information Network, has authored a report that examines the relevance of information literacy as a transferable attribute for individuals to take with them as they move from the realm of Higher Education to the world of professional employment. This presents and analyses the views and perceptions from a selection of players at the interface between higher education and employment, notably careers services, professional and accreditation bodies, employers and representative or specialist bodies relating to employment and skills. Stéphane has also written a blog entry for CILIP that provides an overview of the key findings of the report.
The report is complemented by an annotated bibliography by Professor Dorothy Williams, Katie Cooper and Caroline Wavell (Robert Gordon University Aberdeen) that addresses a set of related questions: (i) how should information literacy be described within workplace settings; (ii) what are the priority/key information skills and abilities related to the effective use of information in the workplace; and (iii) whether there is any evidence of the value and/or impact of information literacy in the workplace.
This bears a close relationship to a further literature review, drawn up by Dr Charles Inskip (UCL) for CILIP, covering the identification of information literacy as an attribute of employability, and the concepts, policies and practices of workplace information literacy.
More information on InformAll’s recent research into the transferability of information and data literacy beyond academia is available from their website.