Staying Current after Graduation: A Survey of Social Work Alumni

Abstract

How do our alumni stay current once they graduate and are away from academic information resources? Very few studies have addressed how alumni stay current in their field after graduation. This research surveyed the graduate and undergraduate Social Work alumni of The College at Brockport in asking key questions. Are you able to stay current with research, especially without access to article databases? Do you receive support from your employer to stay current? Does this include money/time off for participating in Continuing Education Programs (CEP), conferences or accessing article databases? This paper looks at the methods for, and importance of, staying current and analyzes results from a survey and makes recommendations for graduates, departments and librarians regardless of profession.