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The Library and Information Science (LIS) discipline face challenges such as technology applications and information overload in its effort to remain relevant in the challenging job market. This study aims to determine the skills and knowledge needed for LIS professionals in the job market to rethink the current syllabus and offer better future employability.

The research used a survey method to collect data concerning personal information, LIS employment opportunities, job titles and skills needed. Content analysis followed to determine librarianship job listings and the need for LIS graduate jobs in Kuwait.

The findings suggested difficulties and challenges; they also compiled a comprehensive list of skills needed and recommended courses and institutions hiring LIS graduates. The research improves decision-making in syllabus development and experiences recommended by employers.

Academic departments can follow this research to develop and update their syllabuses according to the requirements of the job market, thus offering better future job opportunities.

As LIS graduates are provided with better education, the updating of their employability skills will help them socially by recognising their employment status and economically by raising their pay.

The research is the first in Kuwait to collect LIS job titles and analyse employability needs.

This study aims to explore the current and future employment opportunities for library and information science (LIS) graduates. It identifies future employers and emerging competitors in the information landscape. The strategies that may be used to respond to and capture the future job market are also presented for LIS schools in the light of the study findings.

The qualitative approach coupled with the interview technique was used for collecting insight into the phenomena. Face-to-face and telephonic semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 faculty members (professors, associate professors and assistant professors) from 8 LIS departments. A thematic analysis approach was used to analyze the data to present the participants’ opinions regarding various aspects of the job market in the country.

It was found that the job market was still traditional (library) and would continue to be so for the next five to seven years. However, the findings also indicated the emergence of a non-traditional job market in the country. New job titles and functions relevant to the emerging job sector other than libraries in the information environment were noted.

Findings may have a direct impact on the future orientation, survival and sustainability of LIS programs in the country. The study may inform curriculum revision and updating efforts to make it more relevant and responsive to future needs.

First, to assess the status of the job market for library and information science (LIS) professionals in Kenya and the adequacy of current curricula and training resources in LIS training institutions in the country. Secondly, to identify priority areas of training and critical IT skills required by LIS professionals in relation to current job market and performance requirements.

Using a survey research design data was collected from various categories of LIS stakeholders: students, lecturers, professionals and employers. In total 110 subjects were selected for this study using various sampling techniques and a response rate of 76.4 per cent was achieved. Questionnaires with closed and open‐ended questions were used to collect data. This was a descriptive study and therefore descriptive statistics were used.

A job market for LIS professionals in Kenya is perceived to exist. However, there is a general observation that the current LIS training programmes in the country do not sufficiently address current job market requirements due to: inadequate teaching resources in LIS training institutions; lack of adequate ICT content in the courses; courses that are irrelevant to the job market and inadequate length of industrial attachment.

The paper recommends review of the current LIS curricula in Kenya in order to enhance the suitability of graduates to the current labour market. This includes integration of modern ICT into training, recruitment of qualified teaching staff, ensuring adequate learning resources and facilities, and enhancement of industrial attachment.

The paper investigates some of the critical issues that planners of library and information science courses have to consider in the 21st century. These issues include: the emergence of the “information society”, the multidisciplinary heritage of LIS education, the choice between liberal vis‐à‐vis technical education, the emergence of the concept of digital library, and finally the need for thorough management and leadership competencies. These issues are part of the current discourse on LIS training in the sub‐Saharan Africa where communities are in transition to the “information economy”.

The purpose of this paper is to compare the cataloguing and classification curriculum offered in South African LIS schools and the job market requirement for cataloguers in South Africa (SA). It was instigated by the changes that have occurred in the LIS field over the past decade, especially in cataloguing and classification.

An interpretive, qualitative approach was used, and content analysis was used as a research and data analysis method. Data were obtained from 3 sources: cataloguing and classification course outlines obtained from 6 LIS schools, 18 interviews conducted with professional cataloguers and 10 job advertisements obtained through newspaper scanning and from the LIASA listserv.

The results indicate that LIS schools teach basic and advanced cataloguing and classification theory and practical topics. The main objective of the courses is to teach students knowledge organisation. The subjects are offered at bachelor’s degree and postgraduate diploma levels. Tools such as AACR2, RDA, MARC21, DDC and LCSH are mainly used to teach the courses. Professional cataloguers and job advertisements indicate that employers require the knowledge and skills to use the above-mentioned tools. Job advertisements also indicate that a national diploma and two years’ work experience are the minimum requirements for employing cataloguers.

This paper will inform academics whether they are teaching the relevant curriculum. If not, they will have to implement changes or improvements to the current curriculum. It will also help employers get a picture of what is offered in LIS schools and make judgements on whether it is relevant in the job market or not.

This paper has compared what is offered in LIS schools and what is required in the job market and found that there is match between what is offered and required, although there are areas to be improved. This is the first paper to establish that link in SA.

The main purpose of this research study is to identify the essential skills and competencies sought by prospective employers for library and information science (LIS) positions in India. The research study aims to find out various designated positions in job advertisements.

The data were collected from a major weekly job journal “Employment News” in India over five years from 2016 to 2020. The Employment News provides the latest job vacancies of central/state governments, public sector undertakings and autonomous bodies in India. Each issue of Employment News was carefully scanned and searched for job advertisements in the field of LIS. The researcher analyzed various posts on permanent, deputation and short-term contracts to gain insights into the job’s skills.

The findings highlight that public sector academic and school libraries are the top employers of LIS professionals. One of the most frequent demands of employers is profession-related work experience. Results show that employers place the strongest emphasis on library administration, computer knowledge, technical skills, managerial skills and soft skills. Library management, library supervision and procurement of journals and books are the primary job responsibilities for top-level positions.

The weekly job journal, Employment News, is the largest source of LIS jobs in publicly funded organizations and institutions in India. It does not cover private educational institutes, industries and corporates. Job-related data were collected solely from this journal for the duration of 2016–2020. Therefore, this research study does not fully represent the LIS job market with regard to private educational institutes and corporate organizations.

The research findings can help LIS professionals prepare themselves according to market needs and demands. The LIS school should integrate these required skills and competencies into the course curriculum for preparing professionals in the digital age.

The results are benchmarked to guide and evaluate LIS course curricula in India. LIS schools may emphasize soft skills in future curriculum design, which employers frequently seek.

The purpose of this paper is to report on the findings of a study that was conducted to find out the employment prospects of Mzuzu University (Mzuni) library and information science (LIS) graduates.

The study made use of a survey designehil it was mainly quantitative in nature. A census of all LIS graduates from 2006 to 2013 was taken. The study also purposely sampled some major employers of LIS graduates. Self completion questionnaires were administered to both study groups by the researcher personally, and also through emails. Data were collected between September and October 2013, and SPSS was used to analyse the data. Findings from the two questionnaires were discussed in relation to prevailing literature in the field.

The study established that there are few job opportunities for LIS graduates in the library sector. This came about because libraries have not taken deliberate steps to recruit LIS graduates while opportunities in the private sector were limited. Consequently, some LIS graduates were unemployed, while the majority had taken up alternative jobs. Nevertheless, LIS graduates had the requisite skills and attributes required for the job. Absence of a career structure for LIS professionals in the public sector, failure to recognise role of librarians and LIS qualifications and lack of training opportunities were some of the challenges which LIS graduates faced.

The study covers all LIS graduates who graduated from Mzuni between 2006 and 2013. However, lack of updated contact information means that the researcher had challenges to reach out to most of the graduates save for those working in the major libraries. Furthermore, a good number of the graduates did not respond to the questionnaire sent, particularly those who graduated from the generic programme. This led to a lower than anticipated response rate. This implies that some of the study findings may have some bias towards the LIS graduates in the mature group.

The research findings have a big bearing on policy formulation and decision making in government, the public and private sector players, professional associations and LIS training institutions.

No formal studies have been done to determine the employment prospects for Mzuni LIS graduates ever since the diploma and degree programmes were launched. This research is, therefore, the first of its kind, and could help shape the future of the programmes in terms of curriculum content and methods of delivery. Recommendations made could also help the Malawi Library Association, the Mzuni’s Department of Library and Information Science, and relevant government ministries and departments to come up with appropriate interventions to the challenges being faced.

The purpose of this paper is to explore students' perceptions and views of the instructors, in relation to information and communications technology (ICT) education in library and information science (LIS) programs.

A questionnaire survey was carried out among students from the two LIS departments in Kuwait. A focus group was conducted with faculty members of the two institutions, who provided qualitative input about the instruction of ICT, needed changes, and relevance of market needs.

Participants showed dissatisfaction with the currently available ICT courses in the LIS programs. Students pointed out deficiencies and inadequacies in ICT resources and facilities, and suggested upgrading software and hardware. They appeared to be satisfied with the ICT skills being targeted by LIS programs. They also appeared to be satisfied with the ICT instructors. The study pointed out a need for collaboration with professional forums for continuing education programs and the need for revisions in curricula to introduce more focused courses that meet the needs of the ever‐changing market requirements and give the students access to professional bilingual materials. The faculty members noted the demands of the job market and proposed measures for addressing them through enhanced course content and improved opportunities for hands‐on instruction.

Earlier studies reported in the literature have discussed ICT education in broader terms. This study reports the situation of ICT education in IS programs in Kuwait, focusing on specific areas such as resource, curricula, and instructors.

The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive literature review on information and communication skills (ICT) of library and information science (LIS) students in worldwide LIS education and compare them with those skills needed by the job market in Kuwait.

Published literature – articles that may describe the LIS education situation in Kuwait – on the subject were reviewed and compared. In addition, content analysis of relevant web sites, reports, and LIS syllabus were used to provide further documentation and interpretation. The paper reviews ICT skills from the published research perspective; curricula review; professional association guidelines; employers' ICT skills needs; barriers and challenges of ICT adaption; and the ICT situation in Kuwait.

ICT skills have been recognised as essential qualities for LIS graduates’ employment. Various authors have stressed this in different publications. Few reviews on ICT skills were conducted, especially in developing countries such as Kuwait. A more comprehensive literature review on the importance of ICT skills and the job market needs is attempted.

This review will help professionals in reviewing/adding to their curriculum and collaborating with employers to know their ICT skills needs. It will help employers and stakeholders to understand the ICT skills needed for LIS employability. It will also help students and graduates to improve their ICT skills to meet the needs of the job market.

The paper was built upon previous articles, reviews of literature, and has identified certain gaps that have set the ground for further research in ICT skills, curriculum review, and employers’ skills needs.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse job ads as relatively accessible indicators of the knowledge, skills and competencies required of librarians by employers. It then uses a framework provided by the literature on professional jurisdiction to examine what may be trends and shaping factors for the Library and Information Studies (LIS) profession with regard to jurisdiction in a changing information landscape.

Job ads were examined in two separate studies; one comparing job ads in Australia and the USA over eight weeks in 2004, and the other looking at one month snapshots of Australian job ads in 1974, 1984, 1994 and 2004. The text from the job ads was analysed using a content analysis software package. The literature on professional jurisdiction provided an interpretive framework.

The Australian snapshots over time showed that there is an increasing lack of clarity about the skills and competencies required of librarians. The American job ads seemed to rank jurisdictional knowledge and professional qualifications more highly than their Australian counterparts. Interpersonal skills, behavioural characteristics and technical services skills are in demand in both countries.

In addition to reporting on the knowledge, skills and competencies required of librarians, by applying an interpretive framework from the literature on professional jurisdiction the paper exposes some of the challenges ahead for the LIS profession. Research limitations/implications – The research used a small number of sources and a relatively small number of ads. It is acknowledged that job ads are only one source of information about knowledge, skills and competencies.

This study aims to explore undergraduate students’ perceptions of teaching information and communication technology (ICT) courses in the library and information science (LIS) program in Jordanian universities. It also aims at investigating the correlation between the impact of some variables, namely, gender, the type of university, academic year and student GPA on and their students’ views.

Quantitative methods were adopted. A questionnaire with 40 items was distributed on a stratified random sample of 220 students from four LIS departments in Jordan and, of whom, 203 responded with a response rate of 92.3 per cent.

Research findings indicated that teaching ICT courses was considered highly important. Students stressed on the importance of incorporating ICT courses in LIS programs. They also pointed out the competence of the teaching staff and the efficacy of their teaching methods. On the other hand, student assessments of the curriculum content, the teaching pedagogy and methods of assessment were on an average level. In addition, the findings indicated that resources and facilities necessary to teach ICT courses were available and adequate. It was noted that the “university” was the only factor that affected results; the University of Jordan students showed a higher satisfaction. The other factors (gender, academic year and GPA) did not appear to affect student perceptions.

Previous studies investigated the importance of teaching ICT courses in general but did not consider students’ perceptions. Only a few studies discussed students’ perceptions of studying ICT courses but in a different context, i.e. Kuwait. This research focused on students’ perceptions of studying ICT in Jordan as a new geographic region. This would be beneficial for other developing countries to learn from this experience and refine their ICT curricula and LIS programs accordingly.