Alumni Stories
Cristina is a graduate in English & Hispanic Studies and works as a Publisher with Emerald Group Publishing Ltd.
"A large portion of my job is finding information whether this be for my own knowledge, or to contribute to projects or for stakeholders. However, it is often referred to as something different such as market research or competitor analysis. I have to prepare a lot of reports and presentations in a variety of formats and for different audiences.
It is expected that I provide qualitative and quantitative data and it is important that I know where to generate this information. I often use external databases such as Scopus or Thomson Reuters Journal Citation Reports. Although not a traditional information source, I use social media such as twitter and blogs to be kept abreast of the latest developments and opinions in the field.
Providing a clear audit trail is essential for my credibility with clients. I work a lot with academics and part of their specialism is manipulating data therefore I have to be rigorous and accurate when I share data with them. Any graphs, charts or tables have to be clearly labelled and referenced.
The internet is an excellent resource and I use it everyday. However, it is vital that I am discerning when evaluating the integrity of sources... and I have had to hone my skim reading skills to quickly sift through what is available.
In a roundabout way, I do think that my university education has equipped me information literacy skills such as evaluating sources, critical thinking and skim reading. However, university study is very independent and I don’t think I fully realised what was out there and how to make the most of the available resources. I did not take advantage of the information literacy training that I have since found out is available through the Library. I think this is partly through my ignorance and also my tutors not alerting me to the value of information literacy for undergraduate study. I think if I had learnt more of these skills earlier I may have earned higher marks but also saved myself precious time."