Librarians do fly: strategies for staying aloft
| Pages | 41-50 |
| Date | 10 January 2008 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/01435120810844630 |
| Published date | 10 January 2008 |
| Author | Julie Parry |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science |
Librarians do fly: strategies for
staying aloft
Julie Parry
Bath Spa University, Bath, UK
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine past and future predictions about academic
libraries and identify the skills that librarians will need to survive in an increasingly digital
environment.
Design/methodology/approach – A review of relevant literature, including ephemeral material
such as job advertisements, indicates a broad consensus about the skills required. The life cycle of an
academic librarian is considered from initial training, through recruitment and performance
management to staff development and training.
Findings – Various predictions about the future of academic libraries that were made during the
1990s have largely proved accurate. Therefore, this paper presumes that predictions about the skills of
academic librarians for the forthcoming decade may prove useful in their recruitment and
management.
Practical implications – Managers in library and information services are encouraged to maintain
an awareness of developing skills requirements within the sector in order to inform good practice in
staff management.
Originality/value implications – Some visions for the future are drawn together with the aim of
defining a set of professional skills.
Keywords Academic libraries, Librarians, Skills
Paper type General review
Introduction
Predicting the future is no easy task. However, by examining the current academic
library landscape we can test, to a degree, the accuracy of earlier predictions. If the
vision of commentators writing some ten to fifteen years ago has actually materialised,
it is a reasonable assumption that today’s prophets may also prove to be fairly accurate
in their forecasts. Understanding the direction in which our services are developing is
the first step in identifying the skills and personal qualities that will be needed by the
staff who provide those services.
The starting point is an influential review of academic libraries that was undertaken
by Sir Brian Follett in the UK in 1993. The Follett Report confirmed the centrality of
libraries in academic institutions and recommended investment in buildings and IT,
accurately predicting that, despite the inevitable march towards the electronic or
“virtual library”, traditional media would continue to be combined with electronic
media for the foreseeable future (Follett, 1993). At the same time, and under the
chairmanship of Follett, the Fielden Consultancy was conducting a study into library
staffing and the human resource implications of possible new models of service and
structures. The resulting report (Fielden Consultancy, 1993, pp. 31-2) identified several
key areas of competence:
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
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Librarians do fly
41
Received 3 April 2007
Accepted 20 May 2007
Library Management
Vol. 29 No. 1/2, 2008
pp. 41-50
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0143-5124
DOI 10.1108/01435120810844630
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