How can the digital library contribute to employability?

Abstract

The DEFF project, E-learning, Information literacy and Library services, supports the education policy ambition of enhancing links between education and employment. The project consortium includes libraries from all Danish universities, university colleges and one business academy. Timeframe for the project is 2014-16.

The project understands employability as:

In close cooperation with study programmes libraries will strengthen students’ ability

to perform independently and critically in a professional context by being able to identify, collect, evaluate, organize and present information via digital platforms.

A partnership is made between the digital library (partner libraries involved) and the virtual learning environment (educational institutions), based on the above definition of employability. This is done within the framework of Learning Management Systems (LMS) and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). The libraries and academic programmes will collaborate to create e-learning objects based on the relevant digital library systems and information resources.

Departments from three Danish universities will contribute by strengthening the project participants’ skills in e-didactics and the development of e-learning objects (SDUUP, University of Southern Denmark), developing a range of flexible concepts for the integration of the virtual library into learning environments (IVA, Copenhagen University) and evaluating the project’s activities (E-Learning Lab, Aalborg University).

Sustainable results include the training of library staff to work together with academic programmes via the virtual learning environments, the development of flexible concepts for integrating the virtual library with study environments and knowledge on how inputs, created by the project for each study programme, should function.