Research Guides: Faculty Guide to Information Literacy: Project Information Literacy Research

What is PIL?

Project Information Literacy is a national study about early adults and their information-seeking behaviors, competencies, and the challenges they face when conducting research in the digital age.

Major Findings: PIL's Day After Graduation Study

How do college graduates make the critical information transition from the campus to the workplace? What needs and expectations do employers have for how college hires solve information problems? Read PIL's 2012 research report with findings from interviews with 23 employers and 33 recent graduates in the U.S. (38 pages, 5.8 MB).

What Information Competencies Matter in Today's Workplace?

What Information Competencies Matter in Today's Workplace? PDF
* This paper is based on a study conducted by Project Information Literacy (PIL) in collaboration with Harvard University‟s Berkman Center for Internet and Society and the University of Washington’s Information School.

Research Centers

Project Information Literacy
Project Information Literacy (PIL) is a public benefit nonprofit, working in partnership with the University of Washington's Information School. We are dedicated to conducting an ongoing, large-scale research study about early adults and their research habits. We are currently collecting data from early adults enrolled in community colleges and public and private colleges and universities in the U.S.
Berkman Center for Internet & Society (Harvard University)
The Berkman Center was founded to explore cyberspace, share in its study, and help pioneer its development. We represent a network of faculty, students, fellows, entrepreneurs, lawyers, and virtual architects working to identify and engage with the challenges and opportunities of cyberspace.

Undergraduate Information Seeking and Use

Five Takeaways From PIL
What can we learn about how college students seek information? (Project Information Literacy)
Alison J. Head on Modeling the Information-Seeking Process of College Students in the Digital Age (Audio)
What is it like to be a college student in the digital age? Alison Head — lead researcher for the national study, Project Information Literacy, Berkman Fellow, and Research Scientist in University of Washington’s Information School — presents a working typology of the undergraduate information-seeking process, including students’ reliance on and use of Web sources.