Information audit

Abstract: A joint project carried out by Leeds University and Loughborough University, funded by JISC, studied the information literacy of non academic staff in higher education. The in-depth, qualitative study deployed an information audit, interviews and focus groups with eleven staff in the Finance and Research Departments at Loughborough University. The information literacy needs of staff were compared with the JISC i-skills model. The hierarchical and collaborative nature of the workplace meant that people’s experience of information literacy in the workplace was more fragmented than in the academic context. Common labels could be used to describe information literacy in the different contexts but more emphasis was placed on data, internal information and information from other people in the workplace. Time had an impact on information literacy. Social networking skills were recognised as key information literacy skills. The need for staff to know how to organise information and develop information policies wa...

Abstract: Liz Orna's original Practical Information Policies has become a standard text which has helped information managers in many countries to take productive action in their own environment: to get a job they wanted, carry through an information audit, make a successful business case for an information policy, or formulate an information strategy. This book is designed specially for students preparing to enter the information professions; working professionals in other fields, whose job includes an information-management element; and senior managers from other specialisms who have overall responsibilities for information activities. Information Strategy in Practice provides, in brief and practical form, and informal style: ¢ a reliable account of the key processes involved in developing organizational information policy and strategy, with realistic suggestions on carrying them through, drawn from actual practice ¢ a sound framework of the ideas underlying the practice recommended, which readers can relate to their own context ¢ advice from experience about dealing with the kind of problems that often beset information-strategy development, and about getting the best from the process.

Abstract: Knowledge is universally recognized as the most important strategic asset that an organization has Despite this recognition many information units are being closed or downsized and organizations are encouraging information users to acquire, control and manage their own resources that support knowledge creation and development Controlling the acquisition of, and access to, information resources is becoming increasingly difficult as vendors bypass the information professionals and market directly to the end-user Compounding this problem is the availability of information in a multitude of formats and the exponential growth in the number of products available This necessitates a higher level of evaluation and control to ensure that quality information is available to those who need it