Hacking Your Way into College and Career Success
Hacking Your Way into College and Career Success
New and Continuing College Students
Finding the Right Information When You Need It.
Hacking usually indicates an occurrence of some sort of illegal activity. We’re going to legitimize it by showing you how to hack your way legitimately into college and career success!
First, would you agree, to know is to have choice? If you’re among the believers, then you know that being able to find, analyze, and use information from a variety of information resources is key to having choice.
We know you’re quick at finding information on your cell phone, desktop, iPad, or tablet. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re also a whiz at finding the “right” information when you really need it.
Say, for example, you’re given a 20 page paper research assignment on the topic of global warming. At first, this seems like a snap. The issue of global warming is in the headlines almost everyday.
However, your professor poses a challenge to the class. Compare public attitude on global warming 30 years ago with the public attitude of today, focusing on the countries of Burundi, Madagascar, and France. Who? What? Where? Why? Answering these types of questions substantively can make all the difference in receiving an “A” or failing grade.
The same conundrum applies to the workplace as well i.e. rolling out a new service, product, writing annual reports, making presentations, and so on. Seeking promotions and raises are subject to engagement of informational issues involving workplace performance and productivity.
Consequently, as with everything else in life, pursuing college and career success requires knowing how to access and effectively utilize the right academic, personal, and professional information…Otherwise known as information literacy practice.
What is Information Literacy?
The ability to articulate a problem or task, then find, analyze and use effectively information constitutes information literacy.
Don’t discount the complexity of this “simple” concept. Information literacy is deeply rooted throughout the course of human history.
Key Information Literacy Skills
Having the right information to make the right choices has always been and continues to be a major challenge for leadership today, no matter the venue.
Recognize that accessing and using information effectively is, in fact, a critical pathway to the personal and professional empowerment. It is also the lifeblood of any successful organization or enterprise.
Information literacy skills are in high demand among today’s employers. Ironically, information literacy practice is also one of the most underutilized human resource strategies in higher education and the world of work.
Being information literate does allow you to gain a competitive advantage, whether you’re in school or in the workplace. Information literacy practice creates effective problem solvers, a human resource technique very much in short supply these days worldwide.
Key Information Literacy Skills
So, if you want to gain that competitive advantage and “shine” in your academic and professional pursuits, then you need to incorporate these 4 simple steps into your everyday Google search/information inquiry techniques:
- First define the problem – fully understand the nature of the assignment or task.
- Find your information – make sure that you are using reliable and valid information sources.
- Analyze and evaluate your information discoveries – do they really meet your needs?
- Communicate your findings to intended audiences – who receives this information and how does it help you?
Take a moment and review the video below. Learn why information literacy really is important to your academic and professional growth.
Once you have viewed the above video, then visit our information literacy self-paced learning module and assess your own skill level.
Most of you will not encounter this skill focus in the classroom or in the workplace. So take advantage of this independent learning opportunity, gain that competitive advantage, and do so at your own pace!