1. Information Competencies in the Workplace
Thursday, 19 March 2015,
12.30pm – 4.30pm
The BT Centre, 81 Newgate Street, London, EC1A 7AJ

2. Communications Wifi: Google doc: http://tinyurl.com/mbofs6c
_BTWi-fi
No user name or login required – apart from your address
Google doc:
Twitter #icitw

3. Programme 12.00 Registration 12.15 Lunch 1.00 Welcome and introduction
1.20 Panellists
1.40 Q&A
2.00 Workshop 1
2.45 Refreshment break
3.00 Workshop 2
3.45 Roundup
4.00 Summary, conclusion and next steps
4.30 Close

4. Context
CILIP: Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals
InformAll: collaborative, multi-agency focus for promoting the relevance, importance and benefits of information literacy
ILG: A CILIP Special Interest Group which encourages debate and the exchange of knowledge in all aspects of Information Literacy.

5. Information literacy…
Information literacy is knowing when and why you need information, where to find it, and how to evaluate, use and communicate it in an ethical manner. (CILIP, 2013)
“… information literacy and lifelong learning are the beacons of the Information Society, illuminating the courses to development, prosperity and freedom. Information Literacy lies at the core of lifelong learning. It empowers people in all walks of life to seek, evaluate, use and create information effectively to achieve their personal, social, occupational and educational goals. It is a basic human right in a digital world and promotes social inclusion of all nations.” (UNESCO, 2006)

6. (SCONUL, 2011)
(VITAE, 2010)
(Eisenberg, 2008)
(Manchester Metropolitan University, 2002)
(ANCIL, 2012)

7. Information literacy in the workplace
“Information literacy should be defined as the ability to know what there is in a landscape and to draw meaning from this through engagement and experience with information” (Lloyd, 2006:570)
‘Learning’ is not the primary goal
“…productivity, quality measurements, and development of expertise” (Lundh et al, 2013)
“Effectiveness” (O'Farrill, 2010)
Information Literacy as Knowledge Management
NHS
Firefighters, Lloyd (2005, 2006)
SME and Charities (Go On UK, 2013)

8. Recent documentation Transferring information know-how
Information Literacy in the Workplace: An annotated bibliography
Information literacy is for life, not just for a good degree: a literature review
Digital skills for tomorrow’s world

9. INFORMATION LITERACY WORKPLACE
DIGITAL
ICT
COMPUTING
DATA
MEDIA
RESEARCH
PROBLEM
CURRENT
LITERACY
SKILLS
FLUENCY
COMPETENCIES
CAPABILITIES
ABILITIES
SOLVING
AWARENESS
UNDERSTANDING
EVALUATION
KNOW-HOW
KNOWLEDGE
CONFIDENCE
CAPACITY
USE
WORKPLACE
REPORTS
PRESENTATIONS
PLANS
COPYRIGHTS
CONFIDENTIALITY
INSTRUCTIONS
WEIGHTS
MEASURES
UP-TO-DATE

10. Purpose of the day
The wish to hold an event about information literacy/ competencies/ skills in the workplace came out of our information literacy project which formally ended in December This is a relatively new area for CILIP and one of the project deliverables was a statement on IL in the workplace and we hope that this event will inform this.
InformAll had similar concerns and at the time of our project were conducting research into how IL is perceived by a range of players at the interface between HE and employment. Part of InformAll’s remit is to raise awareness of IL as an important set of transferrable attributes and the research and subsequent report Transferability of IL beyond academia was a part of this work.
Beyond academia the concept of IL is not widely recognised though the importance of acquiring an ability and capacity to handle information and to understand its use, application etc is recognised as a necessary skills set amongst employers and others in the employment sector.

11. Purpose of the day
Explore what we mean by information competencies and skills
Discuss challenges and opportunities

12. Anticipated outcomes We see this event as an exploratory one
In addition to it being a learning experience for both us and delegates we would like a practical outcome for employers, careers advisers etc.

13. Programme
We’ll kick off with each of the panellists speaking about their own perceptions and experiences.
We’ll then split into groups for the workshops. You will find your group number on your badges.
There will be a reporting back session at 3.45pm when we ask the groups to think of at least one tangible idea that could have a practical outcome.
We will be having a refreshment break at 2.45pm.

14. Panellists Alan Beesley – SELEX
Lucy Hawkins – AGCAS / University of Oxford

15. Panellists Question 1: How would you define information competencies?
How relevant are information competencies and skills to an individual’s effectiveness as an employee in your organisation?
Is a lack of information competencies and skills identified as a “skills gap” by employers?
Question 2:
Can you give any examples of specific information competencies training you have experienced or instigated in your organisation?
Do you have examples of policies and strategies?
Whose job is it to make sure people have these information competencies - Educators, employers, individuals themselves?

16. Workshop 1
What do information competencies and skills mean to those around the table? What’s the problem?
Key issues:
Information leads to outcomes
Security – information as an asset
Knowledge management / transfer
Problems with transferability
Importance of context
Individuals / organisations

17. Workshop 2
Explore the challenges and how they can be addressed. What can CILIP and InformAll do to help? (Use the final 10 minutes of this session to think of at least one tangible idea that could have a practical outcome)
Key issues:
Information leads to outcomes
Security – information as an asset
Knowledge management / transfer
Problems with transferability
Importance of context
Individuals / organisations

18. Roundup
Workshop participants report back to the group

19. Summary, conclusions, next steps

20. Thank you for your participation