Poster presented at ISIC: The Information Behaviour Conference 2018 (http://www.isic2018.com/). The poster presents findings of one of three case studies the doctoral work of Lyndsey Middleton.

1. THE LITERATURE AND CONTEXT
How do we use information to help us learn to innovate in the workplace?
A case study of a Scottish University
Find me elsewhere:
Email: L.Middleton@napier.ac.uk
Twitter: @Middleton_Ly
Blog: lyndseyjenkins.org
University page: http://www.napier.ac.uk/people/lyndsey-middleton
THE METHODS AND ANALYSIS
THE FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
Lyndsey Middleton, 3rd year PhD student, Edinburgh Napier University
Supervisors: Professor Hazel Hall, Professor Robert Raeside and Dr Laura Muir
• Information literacy has been explored in
workplace contexts since the early nineties
• Focus has been on the building of skills and
competencies (e.g. Banek Zorica, Spiranec, &
Biskupic, 2014) but not workplace learning
• Researchers have explored the relationship
between innovation and learning in the workplace
(Leong & Anderson, 2012; Høyrup, 2010)
• Little research has explored the relationship
between information literacy, workplace learning
and innovative work behaviour
33 interviews
and
8 focus groups
with non-
academic
employees
Thematic
analysis to
highlight
participant
views and
context
One publically
funded
university in
Scotland
Theme 1
Information literacy is a
contributing factor to
workplace learning
Theme 2
Ease of information access and
information sharing are enablers of
workplace learning of innovative
work behaviours
Theme 3
External information, internal
databases and people are
important information sources
References
Høyrup, S. (2010). Employee-driven innovation and workplace learning: basic concepts, approaches and
themes. Trasnfer, 16(2) 143–154. // Leong, J., & Anderson, C. (2012). Fostering innovation through cultural
change. Library Management, 33(8/9), 490-497. // Banek Zorica, M., Spiranec, S., & Biskupic, I. O. (2014). What
is the employers stand on information literacy – researching employers on expected generic outcomes. In S.
Kurbanoğlu, S. Špiranec, E. Grassian, D. Mizrachi, & R. Catts (Eds.), European Conference on Information Literacy
(pp. 673–682). Dubrovnik, Croatia: Springer. http://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14136-7_70
“Well, I think before you take part in workplace
learning, you’ve got to understand that you
have a need for information” (Staff member,
Library Services)
“Because in any job I suppose, there are rolling
changes, innovations and improvements. You
need to keep going back to that information in
order to facilitate the learning in the first place.”
(Staff member, School Support Services)
“So certainly sharing within a team and using
it to develop things, whether we are robust in
taking it beyond our little environment”
(Leader, Marketing)
“So I think one of the main ways that they help me to learn
and to probably influence my innovative behaviour in the
workplace, would be sharing practice with those who do
the same role at universities across the UK.” (Staff
member, Student Support Services)
“I was speaking to someone else and they
explained about sending exam papers through
encrypted email. So I was like ‘oh, I wonder how
you do that?’ So you just pick up the phone and
ask one of the guys on the Information Services
helpdesk and then you can send your colleague
an email to say ‘oh, I just found this out…’ (Staff
member, School Support Service)
THE RESEARCH QUESTION
How does information literacy, and the
associated information behaviours, support
successful workplace learning of innovative
work behaviour?