The survey found that 90% of alumni participated in the university's information literacy sessions, and 63% found them useful for academic work while 38% found them useful for work outside the university. Common information tools used at work included Google, research databases, and scientific journals. The top ways alumni solved professional information needs were talking with colleagues, learning from experience, and using relevant literature. The document recommends strengthening the information literacy curriculum to better prepare students for real-world workplace information needs and skills.

1. IS IT POSSIBLE TO SUPPORT WORKPLACE INFORMATION LITERACY
LILAC 2013 MANCHESTER
CHRISTINA BRAGE
KAJSA GUSTAFSSON ÅMAN

2. Background
Linköping University
Two-campus
26000 students
100 scientific areas
17 multidisciplinary departments
5 branch libraries (Linköping 3,
Norrköping 1, Stockholm 1)

3. Goal
To gain an understanding of graduate´s
information world

4. Research questions
•What type of information do alumni use at work?
•What kind of information tools do alumni use at work?
•Has the IL training at university any impact on the
graduates academic performance and future work?

5. Methodology
Online survey
10 different study programs
12 questions
Multiple answer
Free text

6. Analysis
Pivot charts and tables
90 tables all in all visualised in charts
Able to establish different and similar relationships
Free text answers analysed separately, visualised through word clouds

7. MOST USED SERVICES

8. Steps
Preliminary analysis = all answers for each program
= an overview
Second analysis, the responses from different programs,
one by one = an overview
Third step, analyse each question separately = an
overview
Finally a synopsis of all overviews

9. Results
90% participated in the library’s formal IL sessions
63% useful for academic work
38% useful for work outside university

10. Information tools
Information resources such as Google 67%
Research databases 48%
Scientific journals 35%

11. Solving professional information needs
Talking and discussing with colleagues 92%
Learning from experience and practice in the
workplace 90%
Using relevant literature 88%
Participating in courses 59%
Visiting conferences 46%

12. Type of literature used
Books 67%
News articles 64%
Professional webpages 63%

13. Barriers
Lack of time
Information overload

14. A need for IL curriculum changes
A stronger emphasis on:
•How to analyse and synthesise retrieved information
•How to restructure and use information in a workplace context
•How to monitor social media effectively
•How to use journal ToC:s with RSS and e-mail alerts
•How to use Open Access journals
•How to assess the quality of information found on the net
•How to render effective search strategies

15. Conclusions
Our IL training must mimic real-life use and
application of information
Our examiniation of IL skills must be adjusted to
real-work scenarios

16. Is it possible to support workplace
information literacy already at university?
Yes we think (hope) so with our adjustments of the
curriculum and a new way of thinking about
these issues