Abstract
Workplace preparedness is an integral application of information literacy skills for our students as they move forward and leave the university. It is also important to prepare students for the information needs they will face as they complete co-ops and internships during their time in academia. To best educate students in the information literacy skills they will need on-the-job, it is important for librarians to understand what types of information employers are requiring students to use in these co-op and internship experiences and in what ways. While work has been done on this regarding engineering students (Jeffryes and Lafferty, 2012), this topic is relatively unexplored with business students. In an effort to better understand the workplace information literacy needs of business students during co-ops and internships, two librarians (one business librarian and one engineering librarian) and an undergraduate researcher (a senior in the business school) collaborated to survey business students and alumni who have completed an internship or a co-op regarding their information use in these experiences. Students were asked about their experiences finding and using articles (e.g., scholarly, trade, news), books/ebooks, company information (e.g., competitor information, financials), court cases or law reviews, industry standards (e.g., International Organization of Standardization (ISO)), laws and regulations, market and industry research reports, patents, and technical reports/white papers. The information from this survey will be used to determine both successes and gaps in current information literacy instruction. This presentation will provide an overview of this project and share the initial findings and planned applications of this research.
Keywords
workplace preparedness, workplace readiness, information literacy, business students, internships, co-ops
Date of this Version
4-13-2022
Recommended Citation
Howard, Heather A.; Phillips, Margaret L.; and Brewster, Garrett R., "Transitioning from Academia to the Workplace: Information Literacy Experiences of Business Students" (2022). Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations. Paper 180.
https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/lib_fspres/180
Comments
Presentation delivered at LILAC: The Information Literacy Conference, Manchester, UK, April 13, 2022.