The essential skills and competencies of LIS professionals in the digital age: alumni perspectives survey
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/GKMC-03-2021-0049 |
| Published date | 16 August 2021 |
| Date | 16 August 2021 |
| Pages | 837-856 |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Information behaviour & retrieval,Information in society,Information literacy,Library & information services |
| Author | Akhilesh K.S. Yadav |
The essential skills and
competencies of LIS professionals
in the digital age: alumni
perspectives survey
Akhilesh K.S. Yadav
Center for Library and Information Management Studies (CLIMS),
SDTM Library, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India
Abstract
Purpose –The librarianship profession has gone through many changes over time, more so with the
emergence of digital technologies. To thrive in the library and information science (LIS) profession,
professionalsmust have knowledge, skills, competenciesand abilities to perform their job duties. The purpose
of this paper was to identifyessential knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) forthe LIS professionals.
Design/methodology/approach –The targeted survey group for the study were alumni of ten LIS
schools in India,who are now working in various library sectors. A structured questionnairewas designed to
seek their opinions, and the snowball sampling technique was adopted to collect the data. A total of 377
responseswere received from the respondents.
Findings –Five broad areas of KSAs were identified: traditionallibrary skills, research skills, computing
skills, datamanagement skills and soft skills. This studyfound that computing skills, libraryautomation and
library digitizationare considered absolutely essential for the LIS professionals. The resultsalso brought out
the importance of “soft skills”for the LIS professionals. Prerequisite knowledge of library liaison services,
technicalservices and foreign language were reportedlyimportant only for working in speciallibraries.
Practical implications –This study identified 54 skillsacross five broad areas that are essential for the
professionals working in library and information centres. The research findings will be helpful for the
educators who want to design, develop and upgrade the LIS coursecurriculum in accordance with the skills
that are in demand in the market.
Originality/value –This study establishes that though the participantsexpressed satisfaction with the
practicum of the curriculum,the LIS course curriculum needs to be improved.It would be in the best interest
of the LIS schools to identifyand rectify the gap.
Keywords Research skills, Soft skills, LIS professionals, Computing skills, Data management skills,
Knowledge and skills
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Our society is rapidly changing into an information society, and the future will growingly be
monopolized by information. Therefore, it is important for us to understand the social role played
by the workers of this field. What does their work entail? What are their distinctive
characteristics? What are their ethics and responsibilities? How are they educated and how
should they be educated? What is their contribution to the society? All these questions direct our
curiosity towards the question as to whether the people working in the information field are
The author gratefully acknowledges the financial support received for this research by the Research
Council of Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India.
Competencies
of LIS
professionals
837
Received19 March 2021
Revised23 May 2021
Accepted13 July 2021
GlobalKnowledge, Memory and
Communication
Vol.71 No. 8/9, 2022
pp. 837-856
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2514-9342
DOI 10.1108/GKMC-03-2021-0049
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
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regarded as professionals. Mason (1990) drew a coherent picture of the nature and significance of
information professionals in the present society. Professionals emerge from a profession, and a
profession is established by professionals. In this case, professionals are a group of disciplined
individuals who possess special knowledge and skills driven from research, education and
training and adhere to ethical standards of society and work for the interest of the public in the
long term. “Professionals are governed by codes of ethics and profess commitment to
competence, integrity, morality, altruism, and promotion of the public good within their expert
domain”(Australian Council of Professions, 2003).
Based on this general overview of profession and professionals, two key notions can be
drawn: professionals possess specialized knowledge and training, and the knowledge and
the skills are used in the service of others. Information professionals do possess specialized
knowledge and skills. Their skills of handling knowledge, in general, are used to improve
the intellectual state of people.The most fundamental task of the information professional is
to apply their knowledge and skills to get the right information from the right source at the
right time. Almost all information professionals share this common mission. For example,
librarians collect information from various sources, usually found in the form of books,
documents, journals, etc., at the demand of members of a defined community upon their
request. Technological expertise alone is not sufficient for an information professional; the
person must also possess critical judgment skills, managerial skills, research skills and
skills required for human understanding and interaction, and these skills must be acquired
and developed througheducation and formal training.
The professionals of library and information science (LIS) must have an understanding
of the social and personal needs of their clientsto fulfil their informational needs. This has
been attested to be a few recent studies(Vassilakaki and Moniarou-Papaconstantinou, 2015;
Bapte, 2019;Ahmed and Sheikh, 2020). Therefore, many universities and institutions have
incorporated personal skill improvement training courses into their curriculum. The
knowledge about the methods of information identification, collection, organization,
handling and disseminationhas also been incorporated as a core subject of specializationfor
information professionals. Besides, the technological boom in the recent decades has
enhanced the need for information professionals to possess advanced technological skills
(Varalakshmi,2006).
Literature review
Important research studies have been done on various aspects of the LIS workforce,
identifying its prospects, economical and geographical state, professional growth issues,
limitations, changes and so on over decades of development of the profession. There have
been several studies on LIS graduates and postgraduates mainlyfor program evaluation to
ascertain its relevanceto grooming future professionals in the field. Alumni trackingstudies
are among the important ones to evaluate the post-programscenario of the LIS graduates in
terms of their satisfaction with their training, their expectations and their on-job
experiences. In addition,various tracer studies have been undertaken with similarobjectives
of ascertaining the importance of the course curricula, job prospects of young graduates,
satisfaction of graduates with the LIS programs, alumni recommendations for improving
the curricula for future relevancy,etc.
Research done on the LIS workforce has to tackle the unique challenge of the scattered
nature of the LIS workforce. It is often difficult to identify the LIS professionals working
outside of libraries, and they tend to be spread among various occupational categories. In
the USA, some of the worth-mentioning LIS workforce studies/surveys were undertaken to
study the issue of the LIS workforce shortage that occurred towards the end of the 20th
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