![Page 1: Workplace Information Literacy: Its Role in Community and Technical College Libraries](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022070500/568168f1550346895ddff647/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Workplace Information Literacy: Its Role in
Community and Technical College
LibrariesNora J. Bird, Ph.D.Assistant Professor
![Page 2: Workplace Information Literacy: Its Role in Community and Technical College Libraries](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022070500/568168f1550346895ddff647/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
AGENDA• Intentions• The context: community colleges,
technical schools, and proprietary schools
• Why?• Information seeking – information
literacy• Methods and some preliminary
results
![Page 3: Workplace Information Literacy: Its Role in Community and Technical College Libraries](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022070500/568168f1550346895ddff647/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
Intentions• Research with the nails showing• It’s Friday• It’s the day before Spring Break• Let’s have some fun!
![Page 4: Workplace Information Literacy: Its Role in Community and Technical College Libraries](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022070500/568168f1550346895ddff647/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
Context• A clip from the NBC program
Community
![Page 5: Workplace Information Literacy: Its Role in Community and Technical College Libraries](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022070500/568168f1550346895ddff647/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
What is not shown in small clip
• Students working on Basic Skills to complete GED
• ELL adults• Middle and Early college students• Vocational students
![Page 6: Workplace Information Literacy: Its Role in Community and Technical College Libraries](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022070500/568168f1550346895ddff647/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
Context• Some stats:
– There are over 1,100 community technical colleges in the United States
– Had their beginnings in 1901– Over 62.5 million students enrolled in
2008; many more since then due to recession
– Site of basic vocational education and retraining for many American workers
![Page 7: Workplace Information Literacy: Its Role in Community and Technical College Libraries](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022070500/568168f1550346895ddff647/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
North Carolina• 58 different colleges• Primarily county funded• Most have more than one location• SACS requires a library on every
physical site• Some have only one MLS librarian
![Page 8: Workplace Information Literacy: Its Role in Community and Technical College Libraries](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022070500/568168f1550346895ddff647/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
Technical schools• Often incorporated into community
colleges, example Forsyth Technical Community College
• In some states technical colleges are a separate network.
• For-profit proprietary technical schools (example ITT Tech) have experienced great growth in the past few years – Extended programs– Extended reach
![Page 9: Workplace Information Literacy: Its Role in Community and Technical College Libraries](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022070500/568168f1550346895ddff647/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
Locale for Workforce Development
• Programs include:– Aircraft repair– Plumbing– Nursing– Dental hygienist– Biotechnology technician
![Page 10: Workplace Information Literacy: Its Role in Community and Technical College Libraries](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022070500/568168f1550346895ddff647/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
Enjoying New Attention
![Page 11: Workplace Information Literacy: Its Role in Community and Technical College Libraries](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022070500/568168f1550346895ddff647/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
Pledges• National – 5 million new CC
graduates by 2020• California – 1 million • Gates Foundation money• Private-public partnerships
![Page 12: Workplace Information Literacy: Its Role in Community and Technical College Libraries](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022070500/568168f1550346895ddff647/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
Even in North Carolina
![Page 13: Workplace Information Literacy: Its Role in Community and Technical College Libraries](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022070500/568168f1550346895ddff647/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
Information Seeking• Robert Taylor – based on work in the
workplace but with researchers.• In Seeking , 2nd ed., Carol Kuhlthau’s
work with school children was extended to knowledge workers like lawyers and financial analysts
![Page 14: Workplace Information Literacy: Its Role in Community and Technical College Libraries](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022070500/568168f1550346895ddff647/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
Informed Learning• In Informed Learning, Christine
Bruce posited a model she calls the Six Frames for Informed Learning.
• “What should we teach and how, so that our students will use information successfully, creatively, and responsibly in their journey as life long learners?”
![Page 15: Workplace Information Literacy: Its Role in Community and Technical College Libraries](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022070500/568168f1550346895ddff647/html5/thumbnails/15.jpg)
Generic, Situated, Transformative
• GeST frames can be applied to the community and the workplace
![Page 16: Workplace Information Literacy: Its Role in Community and Technical College Libraries](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022070500/568168f1550346895ddff647/html5/thumbnails/16.jpg)
Information Literacy• According to many definitions, the
information literate person “must be able to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.” (American Library Association, 1989).
![Page 17: Workplace Information Literacy: Its Role in Community and Technical College Libraries](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022070500/568168f1550346895ddff647/html5/thumbnails/17.jpg)
Skilled Blue-Collar WorkWorkforce literacy
Vs.Workplace Information Literacy
![Page 18: Workplace Information Literacy: Its Role in Community and Technical College Libraries](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022070500/568168f1550346895ddff647/html5/thumbnails/18.jpg)
Annemaree Lloyd• Information literacy landscapes:
Information literacy in education, workplace, and everyday contexts
• Her title says it all. Context is essential to the process. There is no universal information literacy.
• The focus has been on academic information literacy.
![Page 19: Workplace Information Literacy: Its Role in Community and Technical College Libraries](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022070500/568168f1550346895ddff647/html5/thumbnails/19.jpg)
METHODAnd some preliminary results
![Page 20: Workplace Information Literacy: Its Role in Community and Technical College Libraries](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022070500/568168f1550346895ddff647/html5/thumbnails/20.jpg)
Research Question• What role do libraries play in
workplace information literacy development?
![Page 21: Workplace Information Literacy: Its Role in Community and Technical College Libraries](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022070500/568168f1550346895ddff647/html5/thumbnails/21.jpg)
Well actually…
![Page 22: Workplace Information Literacy: Its Role in Community and Technical College Libraries](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022070500/568168f1550346895ddff647/html5/thumbnails/22.jpg)
A different purpose• We wanted to describe what a
community college librarian does. We did it for a
• And the question we asked was:Please estimate the percentage of your library instructional program or efforts provided for technology courses in comparison to overall instruction?
![Page 23: Workplace Information Literacy: Its Role in Community and Technical College Libraries](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022070500/568168f1550346895ddff647/html5/thumbnails/23.jpg)
Later onWe realized:
The answers are difficult to interpret.
![Page 24: Workplace Information Literacy: Its Role in Community and Technical College Libraries](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022070500/568168f1550346895ddff647/html5/thumbnails/24.jpg)
But some results• Only 14% of the respondents said
that more than one-quarter of their information literacy efforts were focused on vocational classes.
![Page 25: Workplace Information Literacy: Its Role in Community and Technical College Libraries](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022070500/568168f1550346895ddff647/html5/thumbnails/25.jpg)
In other words:• Not enough!
![Page 26: Workplace Information Literacy: Its Role in Community and Technical College Libraries](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022070500/568168f1550346895ddff647/html5/thumbnails/26.jpg)
Special resources for the topic
Evaluating resources Citation writing Plagiarism0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Top Four Skills Covered in IL Classes
Core/TransferVocational
![Page 27: Workplace Information Literacy: Its Role in Community and Technical College Libraries](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022070500/568168f1550346895ddff647/html5/thumbnails/27.jpg)
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
The primary objectives for your instructional classes
Transfer Vocational
![Page 28: Workplace Information Literacy: Its Role in Community and Technical College Libraries](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022070500/568168f1550346895ddff647/html5/thumbnails/28.jpg)
Mixed Methods Build a Frame
![Page 29: Workplace Information Literacy: Its Role in Community and Technical College Libraries](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022070500/568168f1550346895ddff647/html5/thumbnails/29.jpg)
Focus Groups• Confirmed the impression that
vocational programs are underserved.
• “I don’t know many people who have HVAC degrees... If HVAC approached me to do an [information literacy class] I’d have to get familiar enough to be able to answer subject-specific questions. That’s a mammoth job.”
![Page 30: Workplace Information Literacy: Its Role in Community and Technical College Libraries](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022070500/568168f1550346895ddff647/html5/thumbnails/30.jpg)
• “For our instructors, as I said, and I think it’s usage and I think their comfort level with us. Yeah, they may know how to do that, but the ones [instructors] who come back all the time believe that we do a better job –they don’t try to do our job for us, just like we don’t teach English but we show how to facilitate doing work in English or in Nursing. I think that they see us as professionals in the same way that they are.”
•
![Page 31: Workplace Information Literacy: Its Role in Community and Technical College Libraries](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022070500/568168f1550346895ddff647/html5/thumbnails/31.jpg)
“We led a session on our staff development day where people can choose to take our workshop at the library, and the information technology people loved it because in NC Live there’s a place you can go where you work on certain cars. The depth of the knowledge is for real people, it’s not just academic. Yeah, I think the workplace and the fact that we have older students could be developed.”
![Page 32: Workplace Information Literacy: Its Role in Community and Technical College Libraries](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022070500/568168f1550346895ddff647/html5/thumbnails/32.jpg)
Connecting Theory and Practice
• Working with Michael Crumpton, Assistant Dean for Administrative Services, as a research partner
• Interacting with community college librarians in grant writing and research
• UNCG was among a select group of 119 universities and colleges nationwide to be recognized by the Carnegie Foundation for its 2008 Community Engagement Classification.
![Page 33: Workplace Information Literacy: Its Role in Community and Technical College Libraries](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022070500/568168f1550346895ddff647/html5/thumbnails/33.jpg)
FUTURE WORK
![Page 34: Workplace Information Literacy: Its Role in Community and Technical College Libraries](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022070500/568168f1550346895ddff647/html5/thumbnails/34.jpg)
• Follow-up survey on vocational IL classes– What are the “Instructor’s Learning
Objectives”• Librarian-Vocational Instructor
collaboration observation• Continuing education for community
college librarians (IMLS 2011 grant application)
![Page 35: Workplace Information Literacy: Its Role in Community and Technical College Libraries](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022070500/568168f1550346895ddff647/html5/thumbnails/35.jpg)
In Summary• Community colleges and their
libraries serve a broad range of needs, including vocational/technical programs
• The specifics of workplace information literacy for “blue-collar” workers is understudied.
• Studying pedagogy for that vocation might yield results.
![Page 36: Workplace Information Literacy: Its Role in Community and Technical College Libraries](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022070500/568168f1550346895ddff647/html5/thumbnails/36.jpg)
BibliographyBruce, C. (2008). Informed learning. Chicago:
Association of College and Research Libraries.Kuhlthau, C. C. (2004). Seeking meaning: A process
approach to library and information services. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.
Lloyd, A. (2010). Information literacy landscapes: Information literacy in education, workplace, and everyday contexts. Oxford, UK: Chandos Publishing.
Lloyd, A. and Williamson, K. (2008). Towards an understanding of information literacy in context: Implications for research. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 40(1), 3-12.
Taylor, R. S. (1985). Value-added processes in information systems. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation.
![Page 37: Workplace Information Literacy: Its Role in Community and Technical College Libraries](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022070500/568168f1550346895ddff647/html5/thumbnails/37.jpg)
Acknowledgments• Michael Crumpton• Research Assistants: Mendy Ozan
and Tim Williams• Community college librarians across
North Carolina and the U.S.