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Workplace
learning in the corporate sector:
a report on library involvement in lifelong learning in the 'top 250'
companies
Executive summary
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Commercial enterprises are placing an increasing emphasis upon the
personal and professional development of their employees, and recent
government initiatives may accelerate the process. A telephone survey
commissioned by the Library Association, and carried out by LISU, examined
the patterns of information support for employee development and lifelong
learning. The top 250 companies in the list Key British Enterprises
were contacted, and 61 provided detailed responses.
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A wide range of employee development schemes were supported in the
61 companies interviewed, the most popular being computer skills (by
95% of companies), ‘soft skills’, such as interviewing techniques (by
90%), professional qualifications (by 84%), vocational qualifications
(79%), languages (67%), and academic qualifications (54%).
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Of the 250 companies contacted, 47% reported that they did not have a
library or resource centre on site - with implications for employee
development schemes offered.
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Of the 61 organisations interviewed at length, 20% had a library but did
not support employee learning, 15% gave some limited support, and 13% gave
full support. In some organisations resource centres (or learning centres)
support employee development. 21% of respondents reported the existence of
a library and a resource centre, both supporting employee learning,
8% had a library and a resource centre with only the latter supporting
employee development, and 23% had only a resource centre. Of 18 resource
centres specifically designed to support employee learning, none were
managed by a qualified LIS practitioner.
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The respective roles of ‘work-related’ libraries and resource centres
were often not clearly defined. Some organisations appeared to fall
between two stools, reporting that whatever the structure for information
services in the organisation, there was no organised information support
for a range of employee development schemes.
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Where information support was provided, from whatever source, it took
various forms, with the provision of print materials (by 84% of
organisations), electronic sources (82%), information skills training
(69%) and study space (69%) most common.
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The case study in the report gives an indication of what can be achieved
when library and information staff are fully involved in support for
employee development schemes. The support services provided - from print
and electronic materials to information skills training for users - are
fundamental to any professional information support operation.
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Library and information services in these organisations seem to be missing
opportunities to provide services for employee development, and the
organisations to be underusing skills and services already present on
site. Where libraries do support employee development, the contacts with
management tend to be informal rather than formal. There appear to be
opportunities for organisational and LIS managers to liaise more closely
and define rational structures for information support for employee
development - to the overall benefit of their organisations.
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The Library Association, September 1998
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