Traditional versus Modern Skills for Information Professionals

What are emerging skills are needed by modern information professionals? How is this different from traditional notions of the profession?

Because libraries of today look different than the libraries of the past, it makes sense that the skills needed would be tailored differently as well. In the past, finding information meant that a librarian would look through physical documents, today many librarians still assist users in their information search albeit with a computer rather than a card catalog. In the past, librarians espoused reading literacy, today information literacy is an important aspect of teaching a new generation. One of the biggest changes from traditional libraries is the creation of Makerspaces and Learning Labs within modern libraries.

 

Technology has advanced rapidly and with the innovation can come gaps in knowledge for those who are unable to access all that is offered. Learning Labs offer patrons places to learn technology, interact with media, create projects, and engage with the community (Koh & Abbas, 2015). In positions such as these, it is important to have a variety of skills that include both hard and soft skills. When it comes to soft skills, Pradhan (2015, p. 110) found that communication skills were the most sought after skill in India. Lopatovska and Baribeau (2017) found that over the eight semesters of analysis “communication” was one term that yielded the highest results (p. 748), corroborating Pradhan’s findings in the United States.

With both Learning Labs and Makerspaces, it is important to have knowledge of technology, equipment, and software. Koh and Abbas (2015) described this best as the ability to learn (p. 119). The term encompasses more than just the knowledge one has but includes the ability to learn more than a list of duties and helps describe one’s drive to educate themselves on new and emerging technologies.

In Pradhan’s (2015) research, interpersonal skills were mentioned in 80% of the jobs. These skills such as teamwork, leadership, and problem-solving have always been important parts of the library science professions. However, the way professionals now enact these skills are different. Teamwork now includes working with IT, multiple departments, and diverse populations. Problem-solving now includes fixing the printer, finding the broken code on a sample coding program and assisting patrons with their research project.

Another way in which modern librarians have had to reassess their traditional strategies comes to their moral responsibilities. As Lor and Britz (2011, p. 12) explain, the use of technology has made librarians shift their moral responsibilities from a retrospective model to a more positive perspective model that includes “anticipating possible harmful impacts of modern ICTs” (information and communication technologies). Again, librarians have had to think of moral responsibilities in the past, but now, the way in which they approach their moral responsibilities has shifted with the unpredictability of technology.

As technology and the idea of what libraries can offer to the community continue to change, so too will the way in which librarians interact with the public and will, therefore, have an impact on the skills that are needed to do their job properly and assist their community.

References

Koh, K., & Abbas, J. (2015). Competencies for information professionals in Learning Labs and Makerspaces. Journal of Education for Library and Information Sciences, 56(2).

Lor, P. & Britz, J. J. (2011). New trends in content creation: Changing responsibilities for librarians. Libri: International Journal of Libraries & Information Services, 61(1), 12-22. doi:10.1515/libr.2011.002.

Lopatovska, I., & Baribeau, H. (2017). What information professionals need to know: Job ads analysis. Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 54(1), 747-749.

Pradhan, S. (2015). Study of employability and needed skills for LIS graduates. Journal of Library & Information Technology, 35(2), 106–112. doi: 10.14429/djlit.35.2.8312