1. Libraries and 21st Century Workplace Literacy Skills: A study of NSCC Library services
We have been studying workplace literacy for the last year and will share some of our findings with you.

2. Learning outcomes of this session
1. Understand the importance of workplace literacy in today’s occupational training programs.
2. Learn about students who are choosing NSCC and their information needs.
3. Find out how NSCC Library Services is addressing workplace information literacy in a modern occupational training college.

3. Vocational training in Nova Scotia Then…
- These are pictures from the Halifax Campus in 1951 (NSCC Yearbook Collection). A lot has changed in vocational training in Nova Scotia since then.
- In 1996,19 separately run vocational schools, technical institutes and vocational high schools from across the province were brought together under the direction of one Board of Governors.
- Jack Buckley, the College’s first president, believed that a “high-functioning library service” was essential in supporting the “goal of becoming a modern post-secondary institution” (Debbie and Charmaine’s report), and a well-developed province-wide model of college library services was one of the first initiatives identified for this new, modern college system.
- Buckley’s successor, Ray Ivany, continued to value NSCC Library Services in its support of workplace literacy.

4. …And Now
Since a province-wide occupational training college system was envisioned for Nova Scotia we have continued to grow and change, but the College’s mandate is still to respond to the occupational training needs of Nova Scotia.
It is the goal of NSCC Library Services to support this training by helping students be prepared to manage the myriad of information they will encounter in their careers.
NSCC now has 13 campuses, each with a fully functioning library.
NSCC 2016 Graduate Survey and Incoming Student Success Survey

5. Who are our students?
Here is a quick look at what our students look like.
(Data is from NSCC Institutional Research)

6. Increasingly, students are coming to us right out of high school or within a year or two of graduation. This is a change for NSCC, which is now often a first post-secondary educational choice for recent high-school grads.
(Notes: Data underneath)

7. In response to the Ivany Report, NSCC has been working to meet the need to bring people into the workforce who have traditionally found it difficult to form an attachment to the labour market.
We have put systems in place such as counsellors for each of these three areas of support, an advisor for every student and additional student services supports to ensure students don’t fall through the cracks.

8. aSource: 2016 Incoming Student Success Survey
Our student body as a whole is quite diverse, which requires us to have many different strategies for workplace information literacy instruction.
- Almost half have had previous post-secondary experience.
- A third are the first in their family to pursue post-secondary education
Almost a third are right out of high school.
aSource: 2016 Incoming Student Success Survey

9. We have only just begun to extend our mandate to include international students, and this number will grow, as will our international population of Nova Scotian students. Besides international students, we have a growing number of Nova Scotians who have recently come to Canada and for whom English is not their first language, so we have to continue to respond to ELL requirements.

10. What are employers looking for?

11. bSource: 2016 Graduate Survey
Because NSCC is the occupational training arm of the Government of Nova Scotia, we are driven by industry and our rates are high for students who are employed in their trades or who take advantage of the university credits we provide and continue their studies.
So we should be satisfied with our occupational training, right?
bSource: 2016 Graduate Survey

12. Not quite. Our research shows that across Canada, employers are generally satisfied with the industry skills new grads have.
However, as Workopolis, Canada’s largest career site for job seekers, points out, employers are struggling to find employees with “soft” skills.
We have identified that these skills are all related to being able to manage information in the workplace.
NSCC Library Services sees our role in workplace literacy as more crucial than ever.
Workopolis: The most sought after skills in Canada (2015)

13. Essential workplace skills
… provide the foundation for learning all other skills
… enable people to better prepare for, get and keep a job, and adapt and succeed at work.
The Government of Canada has identified 9 essential skills that everyone needs to be successful in their work.
The College has to ensure that students graduate with these skills as well as with the technical knowledge of their trades. All employees need these “soft” skills. The specific requirements for specific trades are outlined in the NOC documentation.
Government of Canada, Office of Literacy & Essential Skills

14. Workplace literacy
The skills and abilities your employees need to have to function effectively, efficiently and safely in the workplace…
… reading, writing, and math skills … critical thinking skills, computer use and the ability to work with others.
We’ve observed that the soft skills come together under the umbrella of Workplace Literacy.
We feel libraries have a critical role in helping people develop effective workplace information literacy skills.

15. NSCC’s Vision: Transforming Nova Scotia one learner at a time.
In NSCC’s most recent strategic plan, an emphasis is placed on developing a safety net that is designed to ensure we don’t allow students to fall through the cracks at any phase, and Library Services is part of that concerted effort.
We are making every effort to understand how we can best support today’s students to help ensure they have the workplace information literacy skills they will need when they graduate.

16. How do our students manage information?
- Generation Z makes up the bulk of our student body now, and our research on this cohort indicates that they encounter many obstacles to being able to manage information, and employers report that this translates to the workplace.
There is a lot of information to manage in a workplace: Electronic files, , procedures, workplace standards documents, forms, and so on.
(Information is from NSCC Institutional Research)

17. The information needs of Gen Z
Digital natives
Siri is their BFF
Don’t evaluate information
24 hour customer service expected
Instantaneous communication
Will learn how & when they want
Seemiller:
- However, half of them don’t question the quality or reliability of the information they receive (44%, 27)
- Have always had access to 24 hour customer service.
- Never known a time when text messaging wasn’t available. First generation who could do everything with their phones (p. 26)
Haven’t been taught cursive (can’t read it). is too slow for them. Communicate with pictures, emojis, video. (on the fly video creation). Use Snapchat, Trello, Vine, Instagram.
90% of online content existing today has been created in the last 2 years (175). They lots of access to student supports online, practice tests, reference materials, tutoring like Khan Academy. Many watch videos online to supplement learning (33%, 75)
Mobile phone use. [Photograph]. Retrieved from Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest. 

18. Other examples include file management and organizing information.
We know students are coming to us with information disconnects. There are many ways we use information in our current workplaces that aren’t intrinsic to them.
Just one example - This is from our incoming student surveys -- Most students use text predominantly and very little, but in most office environments is the chief form of communication.
Other examples include file management and organizing information.
2016 Incoming Student Success Survey

19. How Is NSCC Library Services responding?
NSCC Library Services is a centrally coordinated work group with library staff at 13 campuses and provide a ranges of programs and services within their Student Services departments.
Each campus library responds the needs at their campuses, and there are some common themes that all staff address. We currently do not have a Workplace Information Literacy strategy, nor does NSCC, but we are all responding to the need to improve “soft” skills.

20. Industry resources available to everyone
- NSCC Library Services subscribes to a number of resources that our students will continue to use out in industry (examples: CPS, CINAHL, Safetycare, Standards), and we train our students in using these resources.
We create tools to provide access to these resources for each of our trades (eg, Subject guide for Welding).
Our policy is to provide access to all our resources to the public, so anyone can go to any of our 13 campuses to access licensed e-resources. Our trade-specific subject guides can be accessed anywhere.

21. Lifelong learning resources
Throughout their studies, our students have access to licensed resources, which they can come to a campus and continue to use after they graduate.
Video collections (Films on Demand has over 1600 industry-specific videos)
Journal collections (ProQuest Central has over 5,000 journal and newspaper subscriptions)
Ebook collections (we have about 15,000 in our various collections)
Promote libraries students may use after they graduate, eg Public Libraries, Canada Business Network, Barristers’ Library.

22. Digital skills support
Ipad/Laptop Loan program
Charging stations
Access to training videos and resources
Learning Commons
Digital skills training and support for , scanning, file management, online courses, form completion, etc.

23. Writing Skills support
Writing Center pilot at some campuses & related resources
Resume help
Job preparation support (filling in forms and applications)

24. Reading support Assignment specs Job/grant application support
Daycare reading programs
Leisure reading programs
One Book NS
Public Library Deposit Program
Public Library Card promotions events
Displays (Freedom to Read, Poetry Month, etc.)

25. Point of need support Our resources are findable with a Google search
We have a virtual help service embedded throughout our online services and collaborate with our university partners in Novanet to staff this service.

26. Thank you!
Questions?
Denise Parrott, Technical Services Librarian, Nova Scotia Community College,
Mary Jane Pittman, Lunenburg Campus Librarian,
We know that public libraries are doing a lot to address “soft skills” deficiencies too.

27. References
Here & Now: Nova Scotia Community College Strategic Plan [PDF]. (2017). Halifax: Nova Scotia Community College. Retrieved from Kaleva, D., & Borden, C. (June 1, 2013). Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC): The Rapid Evolution and Challenges of a Centralized Library Service. “Libraries & Heritage: New Research in Library History” Library History Network of the Canadian Library Association National Conference & Trade Show. Winnipeg, Manitoba. NSCC 2016 Graduate Survey [PDF]. (2016). Halifax: Nova Scotia Community College. Retireved from Seemiller, C., & Grace, M. (2016). Generation Z Goes to College. John Wiley & Sons.