October is National Information Literacy Awareness Month!

The month of October features many special things, from colorful leaves to grinning pumpkins, but it

"October going November" by Ovvi

is also the national month for Information Literacy awareness!

Information literacy is the general term we use for the skills and abilities involved in identifying, searching out, evaluating, and using outside information effectively and ethically to complete a task or help develop an idea. 

Of course, we use information literacy often in our college work, but did you know information literacy is an important skill in the workplace, too?

In 2012, Project Information Literacy interviewed managers from major national employers -- including several companies from the Seattle area like Microsoft, BlueKai, KPMG and Fluke Corporation-- and asked what skills college graduates needed to better develop to be able to successfully contribute to their workplace.

The top four information literacy skills employers thought their new hires were lacking might surprise you!

Competencies Employers Say They Need -- But College Hires Rarely Demonstrate

1. Engaging team members during the research process
2.  Retrieving information from a variety of formats (using more than online information)
3. Finding patterns and making connections
4.  Taking a deep dive into the “information reservoir” (finding the best answer instead of the first result)

Note: Adapted from "How College Graduates Solve Information Problems Once They Enter the Workplace," by Alison J. Head, October 16 2012, Project Information Literacy Report, p. 12. 

We have guides and resources available at the Holman Library that can help you build up your employable Information Literacy skills, such as guides to starting your research, using a variety of sources, noticing patterns and keywords in your results, and evaluating the information you find.

Librarians are valuable team members to engage during your research process, too, and we’re always here to help you succeed! You can contact us in-person, by email, on the phone, or by 24/7 online chat. 

Happy Information Literacy Awareness Month!