Workplace literacies?

Wednesday 18th March

Different workplace, new literacies? Moving work areas even in the same organization can drop you into a completely different information environment. It will be interesting to observe progress through levels of information literacy, from outsider to high level competency in as short a time as possible. Although a detailed procedures manual has been prepared, my prime resource in this initial learning phase has been my colleagues. Establishing social and expert information contacts is important in a team environment. Identifying a range of print and electronic resources for specific information needs is the next step … and thereafter, using those independently and efficiently to field both my own and other’s queries …
Evaluating not only information need and information learned, but also the learning process and apt use of the information, certainly mark levels of workplace literacy. Doyle (1994) in ‘Information literacy in an information society: a concept for the information age’ referred to American School Librarians including evaluating ‘product’ and ‘process’(p.11) in their definition of IL. As expressed by Doyle, the IL process seems inseparable from the concept of learning;
‘The process of information literacy requires not only the learning of a constellation of skills but also a new way of thinking in order to derive meaning from learning’(p.29).
New workplace, different skills, new work processes to build on an existing knowledge base, different culture … are the learning processes the same?