Information literacy is a skill you will grow and develop throughout your lives. While you may not be aware of it, you use it constantly in your everyday life. You use it every time you skip over the Ads at the top of a Google search results page. It is simply the act of finding, assessing and utilising information strategically and critically. As an engineer, you need to question everything, including the information you are using to inform your decisions.

The information literacy skills you develop throughout your degree will aid you in your professional career. All employers expect university graduates to be information literate. You will need to continue to gather and analyse information to inform and solve problems throughout your career. 

According to the Surveying & Spatial Sciences Institute (SSSI) Code of Ethics all professional surveyers are expected to 

  • "develop their knowledge, skills and expertise continuously through their careers, and actively encourage their associates to do likewise” (2009, sec.5), and 
  • "take reasonable steps to inform themselves, their clients or employers of the economic, social, environmental or legal consequences which may arise from their actions” (2009, sec.7).

The Engineers Australia Code of Ethics also states that professional engineers should

  • “continue to develop relevant knowledge and expertise" (2018, sec. 2.1(a)), and
  • “in identifying sustainable outcomes consider all options in terms of their economic, environmental and social consequences.” (2018, sec. 4.3(a)).

The library is here to help you develop your information literacy skills through tutorials, advice and guidance for finding and assessing high quality information for your study.

Why is information quality important for engineers? >

Last modified: Monday, 26 February 2018, 10:39 AM