Lifelong Learning Practices of Recent Grads

If you’re not already familiar with Project Information Literacy (PIL), in short, it's a “large-scale, national study about early adults and their research habits, conducted in partnership with the University of Washington's iSchool.”  The intent of PIL is to understand how early adults learn, acquire, and use research skills not only for their course work but also in their everyday lives.  PIL distinguishes its work from other information literacy studies by conducting research nationwide across all types of post-secondary institutions.  Of further interest, PIL gathers data through student interviews and surveys.

Over the last two years, funded by an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) National Leadership Grant, PIL conducted The Lifelong Learning Study which focused on a sample of recent college graduates from 10 U.S. colleges and universities and how they employ their information literacy skills.

In January, PIL released their findings in the 112 page report, “Staying Smart: How Today’s Graduates Continue to Learn Once They Complete College.”  For a snapshot on findings, check out their infographic.  PIL’s 3 minute video on the results is worth a watch as well.

Learn about PIL’s major findings to questions like these:

• “What happens to college students once they graduate?”
• “How do they keep learning in their personal and professional lives?”
• “What continued learning needs did they have in the past year?”
• “What information sources did they rely on?”

Will the results surprise you?  How can the results help inform our work?