Online library job advertisement in United Arab Emirates: a content analysis of online sources
| Published date | 14 March 2017 |
| Date | 14 March 2017 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/LM-07-2016-0058 |
| Pages | 131-141 |
| Author | Abdoulaye Kaba |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Librarianship/library management,HR in libraries,Library strategy,Library promotion |
Online library job advertisement
in United Arab Emirates: a
content analysis of online sources
Abdoulaye Kaba
Al-Ain University of Science and Technology, Al-Ain, UAE
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to investigate and analyze library jobs advertised by higher
education institutions, newspapers and job market sites in United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Design/methodology/approach –The paper uses summative content analysis approach for data
collection, data analysis, evaluation and assessment. It reports about the accuracy of advertisements, job
titles, job categories, locations and types of libraries.
Findings –Higher education institutions demonstrate the highest accuracy level in advertising library jobs.
Librarian emerged to be the highest advertised title by the sources. e-library executive, principal-publications
and library, and primary librarian found to be the new titles in the market. The paper also found
inconsistencies and lack of uniformities among the sources in using job categories to advertise library jobs.
In fact, none of them used the term “library”in any category. Academic libraries recorded the highest
advertised jobs compared to other types of libraries.
Research limitations/implications –The paper is based on library jobs advertised on the websites.
Websites are only one source of library job advertisement.
Practical implications –The paper provides important information for librarians looking for library
jobs in the Middle East as well as for library managers and decision makers who wish to recruit
library professionals.
Originality/value –The paper represents one of the few studies conducted on library job marketing in
UAE. Findings of the study may contribute to the improvement of library job marketing not only in UAE but
also in the other gulf countries.
Keywords United Arab Emirates, Content analysis, Job market, Job websites,
Library employment opportunity, Online advertisements
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
The success of any educational program can be measured by the employment opportunities
occupied by the students. The higher the successes of an educational program the higher the
employment opportunities for students (Rogers, 2013; Huie, 2014). For more than centuries,
library and information science schools have prepared and trained thousands of students in
information management, cataloguing and classification, documentation, preservation and
conservation of manuscript, collection management, etc. However, most of these students
face many challenges for getting employment opportunities (Rayman, 1981; Reeves and
Hahn, 2010; Triumph and Beile, 2015).
Job advertisement is one of the important channels to identify and select potential
candidates for a variety of posts and positions. The advertisement can be done through
audio-visual media; such as radio and television; and print media, like newspapers,
newsletters and journals. Today most of the institutions and organizations use websites to
advertise jobs and vacancies. This is because advertising through the websites is less costly,
easy to access and update anytime and anywhere.
Like other organizations, libraries and information centers in the United Arab Emirates
(UAE) use websites for job advertisements. They do this by publishing the advertisements
on their own websites or through recruitment agencies and job marketing sites. This study
analyzes the websites of three types of sources advertising library jobs in UAE. The sources
are higher education institutions, job sites and newspapers.
Library Management
Vol. 38 No. 2/3, 2017
pp. 131-141
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0143-5124
DOI 10.1108/LM-07-2016-0058
Received 28 July 2016
Revised 18 November 2016
Accepted 2 January 2017
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0143-5124.htm
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