Seven Baseline Data Literacy Competencies for Employees

Condon and Pothier discuss the seven baseline data literacy competencies for employees. Librarians can take the lead in teaching employees to be data literate and help employers achieve business value. They convey that we live and work in an era where data skills are not limited to specialized positions in data science, data analysis or business intelligence; rather, the need for data literacy skills reaches into positions throughout an organization. In short, to address the needs of a modern workforce, all employees require baseline data literacy skills to equip them to meet the varied demands of a data-centric workplace. However, data literacy skills within an organization are uneven, and there are few standards for assessing competencies or attaining fluency. Among the baseline data literacy competencies mentioned include communicating and presenting effectively with data, interpretation of data and evaluation of the quality of data sources.