New Information Literacy Horizons: Making the Case for Career Information Literacy

Abstract

A literature review on the broad theme of information literacy and work was undertaken between January and April 2021 as part of an on-going doctoral study. The purpose of the literature review was to explore extant research on workplace information literacy (WIL) and related areas, including employability information literacy (EIL). The main findings of the analysis are that WIL is an umbrella term for the study of IL in workplace settings, and that EIL research aligns most closely with graduate entry to the labour market. The latter is formulated through three lenses, articulated here as: (1) community and library; (2) higher education; (3) employer. Published work on IL to support lifelong sustainable employability to reflect the notion of ‘career’, however, is scant. It is proposed that this gap in knowledge should be addressed in future work through consideration of career IL (CIL) as a separate stream of IL research. Here the term ‘career’ should be understood as a meaning-making device that interweaves work-related experiences into an on-going personal development project.