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The purpose of this paper is to discover Spanish history students' subjective perception of their information literacy (IL) status in order to find and suggest some academic and individual improvement actions.

The implementation of the IL‐HUMASS survey provides diagnostic data on two IL quantitative dimensions (belief in importance and skills self‐assessment) and a third qualitative dimension (learning habits) deployed along 26 variables, which are grouped into four categories (search, evaluation, processing, and communication‐dissemination of information).

The analysis confirms that variables related to information processing (above all schematising and abstracting information) show high scores of belief in importance and skills self‐assessment among students. By contrast, variables related to technological advances (above all the use of bibliographic reference managers) show the worst results. In sum, there is a lack of subjective digital literacy in a set of skills related to the technologies of search, processing and communication of information. Among the less valued skills, independent learning reaches an excessive priority. However, this is really just an isolated learning.

The help of classrooms and libraries as learning tools would improve these results. Policy makers and instructors need to improve their role in the learning process by means of more extensive planning processes and the promotion of specific courses, above all on skills related to the technologies of information search, processing and communication. The concept of independent learning needs to be clarified and enhanced.

This is a pioneering study that approaches IL from a triple perspective.

This paper aims to focus on investigating information literacy (IL) capabilities and IL self-assessment of Vietnam’s upper secondary students.

The investigation was conducted in two upper secondary schools in the country using a multiple-choice questionnaire. The questionnaire was based on the IL competency-level assessment toolkit of high schools in the USA, the tool for real-time assessment of IL, to measure students’ IL in terms of developing search strategies, evaluating information sources, using information ethically and using English to engage with information effectively.

The findings reveal that students’ IL has not been well equipped. There is a real need to work toward improving the IL capability of Vietnam’s upper secondary students. The findings also reveal gender differences in IL capabilities.

The research used a closed-response questionnaire, which is considered appropriate to engage with Vietnamese high-school students, to explore students’ lower-level IL skills and their self-assessment rather than higher-level thinking competencies.

This research may help Vietnam’s educators understand high-school students’ IL competency and raise their awareness of the importance of IL to encourage the implementation of an IL programme.

This study contributes to the existing knowledge by adding substantially to current understanding of IL level of Vietnamese upper secondary students – a context which has not been explored to date. It also indicates gender inequality in IL capabilities.

The purpose of this study is to assess the training needs on emotional intelligence (EI) of librarians serving in the university libraries of Pakistan.

A structured questionnaire was used to gather data from a randomly selected sample of Pakistani university librarians. A paired sample t-test was used to examine the significance of difference between the four indicators of EI. Further, descriptive statistics were used to assess the training needs on EI.

The difference between all indicators of EI was found to be significant. The results showed less than 50 per cent of deficit, more than 50 per cent of surplus and 20 per cent of job best fit in terms of EI of university librarians. Further, results illustrated that librarians require training to cover the skill deficiencies. Similarly, top-down allocation of tasks is required to produce more person-job fit and control surplus or over utilisation of the skills.

Findings of this study have several implications for university librarians, such as designing of training programs, incorporation of EI in the performance evaluation to investigate the causes of deficit and surplus in EI, etc.

This study is a first attempt that extended the scope of EI towards librarianship in Pakistan. The findings probably motivate university librarians to improve the current level of their EI.

Talentedly is a startup focused on delivering accessible, actionable, and affordable one-on-one professional coaching virtually and at scale. By leveraging technology to deliver every aspect of the experience, Talentedly is able to ensure the quality and consistency of service and measure the impact that professional and career coaching has on individual and business outcomes. This case study explores three areas of professional coaching in the digital age: market size and overall state of coaching in the US market, a review of meta-analyses that measure the impact of coaching on the individual and company, and the outcomes, potentially predictive, of self-assessment criteria on the completion of virtual one-on-one professional coaching.

Outlines five communication skills suggested to the authors as being of major importance: enquiring, diagnosing, summarizing, proposing and directing. Presents the relationship of these skills to either a problem‐centred or solution‐centred focus by way of an easy‐to‐use model. Outlines the use of a questionnaire as a method for people to gain feedback and conduct a personal assessment on their communication skills. Describes a self‐assessment resource which can be used by managers and team members in such situations as interpersonal skills courses and leadership workshops.

This chapter reports how accounting professionals and students perceive the proficiency of their communication skills. We find that professionals perceive themselves as having higher interpersonal skills, writing skills, and speaking skills than do students. Despite decades of accounting curricula’s focus on communication skills, there remains a perception gap between students and professionals on the importance of these skills. Professionals not only perceive that they have stronger communication skills, but they also consider these skills as more important for career success than do students. Furthermore, we find that, even after controlling for the difference in perceived communication skill levels, this perception gap continues to exist between accounting professionals and students.

The purpose of this study is to examine variables explaining students’ positive and negative experiences of groupwork and connect country of residence with the perception of generic skills development and self‐reported satisfaction with groupwork. It also aims to examine the effect of prior training in groups from the perspective of Australian and Non‐Australian permanent residency Business students.

Respondents were 389 undergraduate and postgraduate Business students at an Australian metropolitan university. A path model was developed and analysed using partial least squares modeling.

Students’ country of residence had a significant influence on reporting of generic skill development and experience of groupwork. Self‐reported improvement in generic skills after groupwork assessment was associated with reporting of fewer negative and more positive aspects of working in groups.

The findings were limited by using data collected from students enrolled in one undergraduate and one postgraduate subject at the conclusion of a group assignment from one university. Future research should test the model by extending it to other universities and non‐Business units. Future research should rely on a longitudinal design, where the survey is carried out at the beginning and the end of the group assessment.

It is important to ensure both domestic and international students acquire generic skills through groupwork and that prior training in groupwork takes place before group assessments.

The study provides empirical evidence supporting the incorporation of generic skill teaching into academic practice prior to assigning groupwork to students.

Quality has permeated higher education in various guises. Investigates the potential for improving quality in the consumer studies teaching process, through group work, presentation skills and peer/self assessment techniques, culminating in a final questionnaire and group discussion. Students accepted groupwork, while they were less enthusiastic about peer assessment. They consistently overrated and although appearing to recognize good and bad presentations, this was reflected more in their qualitative feedback, rather than in the final marks awarded, perhaps reinforcing the belief that what the technique lacks in terms of precision, it compensates for in learning quality. Final‐year students developed their discriminatory abilities but were sceptical of the benefits, while year‐two students, although willing, actually marked more generously. Ultimately, there is a need to continue to involve students and to see evaluation in a positive, developmental light, incorporating qualitative feedback to define and assess teaching quality more correctly.

The aim of this paper is to describe the Polish empirical studies of information barriers. The focus is to highlight the hierarchy of barriers, and the relation between demographic variables (sex, age, discipline etc.) and perception of barriers.

After a deep literature review some empirical studies have been conducted. Respondents were divided into groups in terms of: sex, field of study (social sciences, human sciences, natural sciences and technical sciences), age, science degree and year of study. In analysis of data two statistical methods: analysis of variance (ANOVA) and a chi‐square test (χ²) were used.

The phenomenon of information barriers is very common, encountered by around 80 per cent of users. The most troublesome barriers were barriers connected with libraries. The study showed that the sex variable had varied the respondents' answers to the greatest extent. The women perceived information barriers as a more serious problem than men (p<0.001). With regard to types of discipline, the faculty group found information barriers more troublesome in such disciplines as humanities and social sciences than in natural or technical sciences (p=0.001).

The hierarchy of barriers obtained from the study is related to a particular environment, a given group of users, the equipment of home library.

Studies of this subject may prove valuable in identifying people that are likely to experience difficulties in access to information.

The knowledge of the relation between demographic variables and perception of barriers, in earlier literature, was fragmentary. Findings may lead to a better understanding of the information barriers phenomenon by librarians and library users as well.

The present research aims to explore students' perceptions of the needs of employers in terms of the personal qualities of higher education graduates.

Questionnaires were delivered to students at four universities in the Chugoku area of Japan. The students were asked to indicate how important they thought each of the personal qualities that would be needed for their future employment, and their own evaluation of their capabilities with respect to each personal quality. In addition, respondents were asked to answer other questions in relation to satisfaction with their courses, job opportunities, and sources of their personal qualities.

The key findings are that job‐seeking students tend to have a lower assessment of their own abilities than their perceived importance of those abilities. In particular, students rated their abilities significantly lower in communication and presentation skills. Although they rated themselves highly in terms of optimism, cooperation, and responsibility, they were dissatisfied with their personal traits in terms of taking initiative, having flexibility, and (especially) in demonstrating an entrepreneurial mind.

The sample is limited to university students in a limited geographical area of Japan. The generalizability of the results could therefore be questioned.

The study represents a useful source of information and impartial advice for undergraduate students planning to find a job, and for higher‐education academic staff and administrators managing undergraduate programs.

This paper fulfils an identified information and resources need, and offers practical help to reform teaching and career‐development processes in Japanese higher education.