Title: The future role of the Information Professional and the implications for information based courses i
1The future role of the Information Professional
and the implications for information based
courses in Higher Education
- Paul Catherall Author of Delivering E-Learning
for Information Services in Higher Education,
Chandos 2005PhD Candidate MMUhttp//www.draigw
eb.co.uk/elearning
2What is the Information Professional?
- We do not use Librarianship for a variety of
reasons one being that it is no longer much in
favour and another being its more limited
reflection of a somewhat static profession.
(Gorman and Corbitt 2002). - An Information Professional is a person who
works with information science, libraries,
museums, or archives, although the field is
changing rapidly to include other disciplines
(Wikipedia). - Many traditional information roles no long have
the term library or librarian in their job
title You may see the following job titles in
job adverts Information Manager, Internet
Librarian, Knowledge Assistant, Learning Advisor,
Web Developer (CILIP Web Site 2007). - The advent of the Internet has led to a
requirement to revisit the traditional role of
the Information Professional and a need to
refocus on core competences.(Marfleet and Kelly
1999). - Respondents reported 1,031 different job titles,
and reported to line managers with 1,163
different titles (LISU survey 2004).
3The LISU Life_at_Work Surveys
- Undertaken in 2004 and 2006 by LISU (the Library
and Information Statistics Unit) at Loughborough
University on behalf of CILIP (the Chartered
Institute of Library and Information
Professionals). - Broadly compatible surveys.
- Based on voluntary responses.
- Circulated electronically in the LIS sectors
(Library Information Services/ Science) via
email lists, CILIP Web pages, newsletters etc. - Focused on job roles / nature of work undertaken,
pay conditions, professional standing, staff
education and related areas.
4Key Results
- Both surveys revealed a perceived move away from
posts requiring professional qualifications. - Approx 82 of respondents were women in both
surveys. - Slight decrease in numbers reporting job title as
librarian or assistant librarian by 2006 (1
drop). - Wide diversity of job titles (1,031 different job
titles reported in 2004). - Decrease in numbers reporting working in in HE
libraries from 27 to 24.5 in FE from 7.6 to
5.3 and in National Libraries 4.6 to 1.0. - Small increases in numbers working in public,
health, prison and school libraries. - Significant decrease in subject-based skills
(40.8 in 2004 to 9.6 in 2006). - Increase in the following skills reported
negotiation skills, strategic planning,
marketing. - Reduction in response rate of approx 48 (2,589
valid responses in 2004 but 1,347 valid
responses in 2006). - Criticism ? little coverage of ICT skills,
digital resource skills, innovation etc.
5Is the LISU Survey representative?
- LISU Annual Library Statistics 2006
- http//www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/ls/lisu/downloa
ds/digest06.pdf
6Possible Interpretations
- Majority of respondents in both surveys were
Chartered members of CILIP (despite being open to
non-CILIP members), hence the limited response
rate within the wider LIS sector. - Approx 50 of original CILIP members failed to
complete the survey in 2006, does this reflect a
decline in CILIP membership or decline in member
activism? - Affords an incomplete view of the LIS sector and
the nature of activities undertaken (what are the
other 86,000 doing?) - Range of job titles reported are diverse, yet
this is only a small sample of the wider LIS
workforce. - Non-traditional and information science based
roles appear largely absent. - Does this demonstrate a divided information
sector - one working within the LIS
establishment and another developing
independently?
7Recent Trends in the Information Sector
- General diversification of roles across the
Library and Information sectors. - Rapid emergence of network-based resources (the
digital library) and access to these resources
from any networked computer at home, work etc. - Increasing hybridisation and encroachment of
Information and Communications Technology within
the LIS sphere of activity. - Growing awareness of the Competitive Space
(Hughes 2000) occupied by LIS services in the
liberalised Public Sector, with increasing
involvement by business, charities and other
organisations (i.e. under the Private Finance
Initiative). - Increasing remit for Third Mission activities,
including increased scrutiny of affordability,
profitability and public accountability. - Increasing remit for widening access and
accessibility to facilitate the Lifelong Learning
/ Learning Society agenda. - Significant debate since mid 90s, on how the LIS
sector will meet these challenges. - But is this being presumptuous? Will Information
Professionals even have the chance to compete to
manage LIS services in the future?
8The Challenges of the Information Professional
- Above all the information professional must
become closely aligned to the business, able to - ride the wave of change in both the business and
in technology. (Marfleet and Kelly 1999). - Yes, but how is this achievable?
- 5 Key areas
- ICT (Information and Communications Technology)
and the World Wide Web - Role Diversification
- The Business Facing Library
- Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning
- Core Competencies and Critical Librarianship
9The Challenges of the Information Professional1.
ICT and the Web
- For the information professional, the question
must be how to unlearn and relearn - how to maintain a valid role in the provision
of information at a time when - developments in technology have brought the power
of information searching to - the non-specialist. (Marfleet and Kelly 1999).
10The Challenges of the Information Professional1.
ICT and the Web
- Increasing demand for ICT / network-based
information systems within Information Services,
including Library Management Systems,
Repositories, Knowledge Management Systems,
Personal Portfolios, Content Management Systems,
Virtual Learning Environments, Student Records
Systems and Web-based portals to information. - Encroachment of ICT departments on traditional
LIS areas of expertise, including management and
support of systems, system budgets, staff budgets
etc. - Increase in hybrid job titles (Systems Librarian,
E-Librarian etc.) requiring deeper ICT expertise. - Even traditional roles will be expected to
improve ICT knowledge to maintain skills for
working more closely with systems and liaising
with system administrators. - Competition from ICT providers in business (farm
solutions) and free services for users on the
World Wide Web, such as Google (Maps, Earth,
Book-Search, Scholar, Gmail etc.) - Rapid emergence of alternative information
sources on the World Wide Web, structured and
unstructured. - Steady rise in ICT literacy through statutory
education and growth in home computer and
Internet access (13.9 million households April
2007 http//www.statistics.gov.uk). - Emerging model of self-reliant user, empowered by
ICTs - at the cost of information literacy? - Information behaviour widening to include
user-focused communication tools (e.g. Blogs,
Wikis, Social Networks and other Web 2.0
systems). - Information Professionals must be flexible enough
to work within this emerging context, adopting
more specialist ICT and innovation skills whilst
maintaining the core values and ethics of
librarianship is this the real challenge? - Emerging technical roles will increasingly exist
outside the library or Information Services
department in the future.
11The Challenges of the Information Professional1.
ICT and the Web
12The Challenges of the Information Professional2.
Role Diversification
- the profession has moved out of its home in the
humanities and possibly the - softer social sciences into a more
technologically aware and harder field allied - with management, information systems, computer
science, etc. - (Gorman and Corbitt 2002).
13The Challenges of the Information Professional2.
Role Diversification
- Wide range of influences on the LIS sector -
diluting the traditional identity of the LIS
worker? - Influences include government agenda for ICT
uptake (Peoples Network) and widening access to
education (e.g. Learn Direct). Lifelong learning
targets have seen some community libraries become
the focus for community education. - Decline in public funding for public and special
libraries in some parts of the UK, resulting in
diversification of library services as community
information centres. - The national Employment and Enterprise agendas
have seen some libraries provide access to these
services, with specialist careers and enterprise
services in most FE colleges and universities. - Increasing uptake of ICTs have resulted in demand
for Information Professionals with higher levels
of IT expertise. - A higher profile for marketing, commercial and
enterprise related activities have seen LIS
services develop closer links with marketing and
enterprise departments. - Decline in subject librarianship, but growth in
demand for online learning materials, learning
objects, online repositories and cataloguing of
online resources (e.g. via Worldcat). - New managerialism within LIS departments, Total
Quality Management, Appraisal, greater
accountability and scrutiny by the organisation
as employer (e.g. HERA job evaluation in HE). - Growth in reception-style information points, not
necessarily located in libraries. - Need for Information Professionals to apply LIS
skills to a more diverse range of roles,
including information selection, content
management, knowledge management and ICT skills
across emerging non-traditional environments and
employers.
14The Challenges of the Information Professional3.
The Business Facing Library
- In a world in which information forms the basis
of economic wealth, there is going - to be increased demand for all sorts of goods and
services. Demand rises because - knowledge can lead to prosperity. (Hughes 2000).
15The Challenges of the Information Professional3.
The Business Facing Library
- Government advocacy for the Third Mission,
developing employability and economic prosperity
within the locality and nation as a whole. - Recent legislation describes a continuum between
educational providers and economic stakeholders
including The Learning Age (1998) and 21st
Century Skills Realising Our Potential (2003). - Advocacy for greater relationship by the public
sector with employers / local business,
corporations and industry. - In community libraries, emerging focus on
information provision and delivery of support
services for businesses, entrepreneurs and job
seekers in FE/ HE focus on aligning education
with business-centric subjects / programmes and
provision of related projects/ services,
including careers and enterprise support. - A period of funding uncertainty for some public
sector organisations. - Emerging Enterprise remit for developing
projects/ research, training opportunities and
financial sustainability achieved by obtaining
grants, cutting costs, diversifying services and
increasing profitability. - Impact on job roles in the LIS sector - greater
liaison with business, employability agencies
etc. potential for focus on sales or
diversification for profit-making activities,
possibility for increased marketing of
diversified services. - In the future, Information Professionals will not
simply support practitioners in these areas, but
their role will become providers of these
services.
16The Challenges of the Information Professional4.
Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning
- There are four principles underlying our approach
to improved - publicly-funded training provision for adults. It
should - Be led by the needs of employers and learners.
- Be shaped by the skill needs prioritised in each
sector, region and locality. - Make the best use of Information and
Communications Technology (ICT) to deliver and
assess learning. - Give colleges and training providers maximum
discretion to decide how best to respond to
needs... - (21st Century Skills Realising our Potential
2003)
17The Challenges of the Information Professional4.
Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning
- Wide range of recent legislation advocating
increased focus on education and training for
economic viability. - The Learning Age (1998) white paper set out the
New Labour aims for improving access and
management of education for society. - Increased remit on community libraries and all
aspects of the information sector for a more
inclusive approach to delivering and supporting
education, including measures to encourage
participation from non-traditional entrants,
mature users and minority groups. - Remit for Lifelong Learning, to encourage
continuous development of skills throughout life
to facilitate personal economic prosperity. - Impact on libraries as centres of community
learning, increased use of FE and HE resources
within communities, e.g. WULF (Welsh Universities
Lifelong Learning) project. - Increasing remit on LIS workers/ professionals to
facilitate broader range of training and user
support, beyond information literacy. - Increased diversity of users seen in increase of
access to education at all levels through
personal credit systems, alternative course entry
accreditation and remit on educational providers
to ensure courses are accessible and do not
discriminate on issues of gender, age, ethnicity
or economic background. - Growing trend toward mature age profile and
part-time study in the FE and HE sectors. - Greater demands for user/ student support often
requiring improved learning support services. - Do these emerging training demands offer a new
remit for Information Professionals?
18The Challenges of the Information Professional5.
Core Competencies and Critical Librarianship
- Period of change / pressures for LIS
professionals, emergence of new managerialism,
businessification and consumer-focused services. - Internet and Web offer a serious challenge to
authoritative information selection, description,
management etc. - Potential for employers to cut corners and opt
for user-reliant, systemised approach to
information management. - Whilst it is possible for Information
professionals to adapt to emerging hybridised and
diversified roles, core competencies remain
crucial to maintain professionalism and a quality
of service for users. - Need to remain active within the community of LIS
practitioners, e.g. maintaining awareness of
technologies and best practice, reading current
literature/ journals, communicating via
discussion groups and other channels,
collaborating with colleagues and participating
in professional events. - Need to retain core competencies of
Librarianship, especially within ICT based roles.
Gorman and Corbitt (2002) have defined the
following core competencies for emerging hybrid
LIS roles Managing Information, Disseminating
and Delivering Information, Sourcing information
and understanding User Requirements.
19The Challenges of the Information Professional5.
Core Competencies and Critical Librarianship
- Critical Librarianship is anther valuable trait,
encompassing the ability to critique and - analyse information beyond its surface quality or
value, instead questioning the - motives and rationale behind the information and
its originating source - The ways by which information is controlled and
mediated has a serious influence on the - ways people think, how they communicate, what
they believe is the "real world", what - the limits of the permissible are. This applies
equally to information that comes through - the channels of the mass media, through our
bookshops or through our libraries. - (Information for Social Change, Policy
Document 2007).
20The Implications for LIS Education
- As a consequence of trends in the wider
Information sector, it can be seen that the - corresponding academic area of LIS (Library and
Information Science) is currently - undergoing a process of transition.
- The boundaries of the LIS profession and the
academic discipline have become less - and less clearly defined. Names of organisations
have added information to library and have - even omitted the L word completely to try to
embrace the diversification caused by - information and communication technology (ICT)
and employment trends. There are more and - more jobs but fewer and fewer where LIS education
and professional status is a prerequisite. - (Lowe 2006)
21The Implications for LIS Education
- Traditional library schools have begun to
integrate with Informatics-based departments. - The HE system allows for a more diverse
programme, i.e. for a range of combined subjects,
e.g. Business, Information Studies, Computing
(within the same undergraduate degree). - Staff teaching within LIS Education are
increasingly required to demonstrate experience
in the wider, emerging LIS sector, i.e. in areas
such as managing careers libraries, in ICT and
Web development, Content Management Systems and
E-Learning (Virtual Learning Environments). - The Research Assessment Exercise, QAA audits and
other regular assessments require the LIS
department to demonstrate a portfolio of taught
modules and research which reflect the vocational
climate and current state of technology and
practice. - The employability mission, first destinations
targets etc. require the LIS department to
develop students skills to meet the demands of
the wider job market, including emerging roles
aligned to information systems, Web development,
content management, E-learning and other
non-traditional areas. - There is a new imperative to prepare the student
for flexibility in applying information skills in
a non-traditional context, not only in
information systems but in areas such as services
to business, careers and employability, student
support services and the management of
organisational data. - There is a considerable challenge from outside
the LIS tradition to manage information systems,
especially in the growing hybrid roles of
Web-based information services. It is important
to offer students basic Web development, database
and data handling skills to enable them to work
on the broad range of information systems often
involving aspects of information management such
as taxonomies, use of metadata, hierarchies,
indexing and retrieval techniques.
22Summary
- Need to develop flexible, highly skilled
Information Professionals who are conscious of
information and data as a discipline. - Need to develop graduates who can adapt
information competencies to the diverse range of
roles emerging in the wider LIS sector. - Need to recognise the decline of some aspects of
Librarianship as an inevitable effect of the Web,
but also remain conscious of the value of
specialist academic knowledge, adapting this as
necessary to job roles. - Need for the LIS academic faculty to form
partnerships with ICT, Informatics and
Information Science departments, to ensure a
rounded graduate capable of meeting the demands
of the changing job market. - Need to recognise the growth of hybrid IT / LIS
roles, equipping LIS students in core and deep IT
skills to manage systems effectively. - Recognise the growth in marketing, employability
and business-related spheres of activity,
providing core skills in these areas beyond
conventional information literacy. - Encourage the retention of librarianship ethics
and values including attention to user needs,
quality of information and services, professional
integrity, critical librarianship, continuous
self development and engagement in communities of
practice to develop knowledge and skills. - Recognise the need to update skills but to
preserve core competencies and adapt these to a
wide range of non-traditional roles.
23Selected Bibliography
- CILIP 2004 Salary Survey, Cited 06/06/07 (online
resource) http//www.cilip.org.uk/jobscareers/li
fework_survey/survey2004 - CILIP Employer Pack (Quality People Equals
Quality Service), Cited 06/06/07 (online
resource) http//www.cilip.org.uk/jobscareers/pay
andstatus/QPbenefits.htm - Gorman, G. E. and Corbitt, B. J. (2002) Core
Competencies in information management education,
New Library World, Vol. 103, No. 1182/1183, pp.
346-445 - Great Britain, Home Office (2003) 21st Century
Skills Realising Our Potential. London HMSO - Hughes, C. A. (2000) Information Services for
Higher Education A New Competitive Space, D-Lib
Magazine, Vol. 6, No. 12 - Information for Social Change Policies and
Procedures, Cited 06/06/07 (online resource)
http//libr.org/isc/policy.html - Lowe, M. (2006) LIS Education in Britain an
overview, Biblioteconomia i documentacio, No. 17 - Marfleet, J. and Kelly, C. (1999) Leading the
Field the role of the information professional
in the next century, The Electronic Library, Vol.
17, No. 6 - Wikipedia, Information Professional, Cited
06/06/07 (online resource) http//en.wikipedia.or
g/wiki/Information_professional