From the library to the

workplace: how information

professionals can support the

development of employability skills

Megan Wiley, Head of Library Services | Pennaeth Gwasanaethau Llyfrgell

Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama | Coleg Brenhinol Cerdd a Drama Cymru

2014 SCONUL literature

review: current practice in

the development of

employability skills

sconul.ac.uk/page/employability

CC image by raster on Flickr.

New initiatives all the time: see CILIP Information Literacy Group and SCONUL.

Employability

CC image by Y (Yasser Alghofily) on Flickr.

CBI employer

survey

Helping the UK thrive:

CBI/Pearson education

and skills survey 2017

‘Business and customer

awareness’ remains an

area where many

employers are not

satisfied. See also:

‘Knowledge about their

chosen job/career’.

cbi.org.uk/index.cfm/_api/render/file/?method=inline&fileID=DB1A9FE5-5459-4AA2-8B44798DD5B15E77

Information

literacy (IL)

SCONUL’s

Seven Pillars of

Information

Skills

sconul.ac.uk/page/seven-pillars-of-information-literacy

A graduate employability

lens for the SCONUL

Seven Pillars of

Information Literacy (2015)

sconul.ac.uk/page/employability

Employability attributes and IL

○ Business and customer awareness

○ Coping with workplace complexities

○ Analytical skills and problem-solving

○ Ability to work socially

○ Career management and lifelong learning capacity

A graduate employability lens for the SCONUL Seven Pillars of Information Literacy -- incorporating a

review of sources on how graduate employability relates to information know-how (December 2015).

Examples from

librarians

https://prezi.com/rksksnawtiut/beyond-the-employer-website/

http://www.slideshare.net/infolit_group/luker-nephin

Skills and

employability

awards

Image taken from Kilgariff, M. (1999) Grace,

Beauty and Banjos Oberon Books

In conclusion…

○ IL has a place in employability

○ Careers and libraries may have different strengths

○ Every institution works differently

○ Accredit existing content / collaborate for new content

○ Information professionals’ involvement in skills awards

benefits all

○ Be proactive: make contact and learn

CC image by stevendepolo on Flickr.

Thanks for listening

megan.wiley@rwcmd.ac.uk / @wiley9000

Image licenses

Attribution 2.0 Generic

creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

stevendepolo, Y

Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic

creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/

raster