About Barbara Fister

I was fortunate enough to see an advanced draft of The New Digital Scholar: Exploring and Enriching the Research and Writing Practices of Nextgen Students, a terrific new collection of insights into how our students approach research tasks and what we can do to improve their learning. (Reader, I blurbed it.) Now that I have a print copy in my hands, I’m reading it all over again, and I expect it will become one of those books I pull off the shelf frequently, until the pages are dog-eared and rumpled. Most of the authors are in the field of composition, though librarians and technical writers also contributed. It does a fascinating job of examining how students become information literate—and what barriers get in the way.

There are plenty of reasons to be downhearted about things. But sometimes you just have to look on the bright side. This morning I found myself thinking about why I find this profession so rewarding. Here are ten easy reasons, in no particular order.

Project Information Literacy’s new report, Learning Curve: How College Graduates Solve Information Problems Once They Join the Workplace is a fascinating look at what information skills employers want from recent graduates and what our graduates will encounter when they go to work. I’m excited that this is the first in a series of “passage studies” looking closely at periods of transition as early adults negotiate information. Librarians will find this report worth discussing in the library and sharing with department chairs, the career center, and anyone else who has a stake in graduates’ future.