Employability Discourse in Digital Literacy Frameworks: Analysis in Australian University Libraries

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the relationship between digital literacy and employability within Australian university libraries through institutional digital literacy frameworks through the research question: How do Australian university libraries incorporate employability discourse within their digital literacy frameworks? There is an established discourse on the practical application of information and digital literacies in professional contexts, espoused by universities. However, there has not been obvious linkages between employability and digital literacy, but rather implicit linkages that digital literacy is critical in enhancing student employability. The value of information and digital literacy is evident in many Australian university libraries’ initiatives as they respond to the focus on graduate employability by acknowledging changes in workplace skills with the increasing proliferation of digital technologies. Overall, this paper explores what relationships there are among Australian Universities’ digital literacy frameworks within the larger context of universities’ responsibility in enhancing their graduates’ employability and how and to what extent, if any these have been communicated with the content of the frameworks.

KEYWORDS:

• Digital literacy
• university libraries
• employability
• framework

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on earlier drafts of this article.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tin Pham Nguyen

Tin Pham Nguyen research interests are in the sociology of education, diversity, and digital literacies and technologies within education. He has extensive professional experience within academic libraries, public libraries, as well as educational technologies and learning design. He is completing his Master of Educational Studies and has co-authored papers published in the British Journal of Education Studies and the Australian Educational Researcher.