Search results

The main aim of the research conducted was to identify whether the particular country environment of today's professional librarian impacts upon his/her skills capabilities as well as upon his/her access to opportunities for continued development.

Data was sourced by means of a survey administered to professional librarians mainly from the developing Caribbean Region and the developed North American countries. Firstly, the satisfaction level of librarians with regard to six recommended skills and characteristics was measured. These areas are detailed as follows: communication; training; information technology (IT); managerial; commitment and subject knowledge/profiling. Secondly, professional development opportunities were measured via skills, services and attitudes, key areas also recommended for staff development and training.

Findings demonstrated that librarians' perceptions showed noteworthy similarities and fewer differences than expected between the respective country categories. Both perspectives reflected similar zones of “skills insecurity”.

The greatest challenge faced by the researchers was to source a sample size that could yield meaningful results in relation to the hypotheses.

A comparison of librarians from a geo‐economic position (i.e. in relation to geographic location and world economic order) appears to have been largely unexplored. The study is intended as well to encourage key players from both country contexts to unite for the enhancement of librarians' professional development.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of gender on attitude towards the use of social media for continuing professional development among academic librarians in Ogun State, Nigeria.

Descriptive survey design was used for the study. Research instrument used was questionnaire where 79 copies were administered to academic librarians, using total enumeration sampling technique. Five universities in Ogun State, Nigeria were selected for the study. The data collected were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics such as percentage, frequency, mean, Pearson product moment correlation coefficient and t-test for data analysis. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS, version 19) was used to run the analysis.

The study revealed that WhatsApp (75.0 per cent) is the most frequently used social media for continuing professional development among academic librarians. Attitude towards the use of social media for continuing professional development among academic librarians is positive. There is no statistically significant gender difference in attitude towards the use of social media for continuing professional development (t = 0.097, df = 54 and p > 0.05). There is significant moderate positive relationship between attitude towards social media use and frequency of use of social media (r = 0.439; p < 0.05).

The study was necessary to identify gender difference in attitude towards the use of social media for continuing professional development by academic librarians in Ogun State, Nigeria.

The aim of this paper is to examine and discuss academic librarians’ perceptions of the benefits and challenges of adopting e-learning for continuing professional development.

To elicit the necessary information, this study adopted a descriptive survey design, using questionnaire as instrument for data collection. The study population consists of five tertiary institutions – two universities, two polytechnics and one college of education, selected as sample using the purposive sampling technique. The study also conducted a literature review on studies done on benefits and challenges of e-learning for professional development. The literature review is built on resources from online and offline.

Academic librarians in Lagos State were unanimous in their perception of benefits and challenges of adoption of e-learning for continuing professional development. The major benefits of e-learning were that e-learning opens up new frontiers for professional learning, supports knowledge generation and management and gives librarians an opportunity to broaden their knowledge. However, the major challenges to adopting e-learning for continuing professional development were inadequate power supply, inadequate knowledge of how to operate e-learning tools and limited bandwidth.

This paper establishes that the role of academic librarians in the provision of information for learning and study in academic institutions places them in an advantageous position to engage in e-learning activities for professional development. It also extols the need for top library management to deploy all resources within their reach to develop technology-enhanced learning system. This should also be complemented with the development and implementation of e-learning curriculum in library schools in Nigeria to inculcate e-learning culture.

The paper contributes to empirical research on e-learning for continuing professional development among librarians in Nigeria. Librarians who are interested in professional development will find this article useful.

This paper presents recently published resources on library instruction and information literacy, providing an introductory overview and a selected annotated bibliography of publications covering various library types, study populations and research contexts.

This paper introduces and annotates English-language periodical articles, monographs, dissertations, reports and other materials on library instruction and information literacy published in 2020.

The paper provides a brief description of all 440 sources and highlights sources that contain unique or significant scholarly contributions.

The information may be used by librarians, researchers and anyone interested in a quick and comprehensive reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy.

This paper aims to present the results of a qualitative study of the continuing professional development (CPD) activities of academic librarians in Ireland. The benefits of CPD, the methods and strategies of engagement, and the role played by professional organisations are examined, with particular emphasis on the attitudes of librarians towards CPD.

In total, 25 academic librarians were interviewed in depth from four universities in the greater Dublin region. A qualitative approach was chosen to allow the collection of data which was rich and informative.

Academic librarians engage in CPD in multiple ways, both formal and informal, but it falls primarily to the individual librarian to find, participate in, or even create such opportunities, which raises the question of personal motivation and drive. Support from employers and professional organisations is key. Barriers to participation in CPD include time, financial restraints and lack of encouragement from employers.

The authors are cognisant of the inherent limitations in using interviews as a data collection method, including the possibility of bias.

Academic librarians need to exploit innovative and accessible modes of CPD if they wish to navigate the changes occurring within the profession. Professional library organisations must also reinforce their support of their members in this endeavour. Incentives to participate should build on librarians' personal motivation and job satisfaction, likelihood of career progression, and deepening working relationships with non-LIS colleagues.

To date there has been no comprehensive Irish study which has addressed the question of how academic librarians engage with the professional body of knowledge through pursuing professional development activities. This research seeks to present an Irish perspective, but also explores issues which are globally applicable within the profession.

This paper aims to examine the current trends, needs and opportunities of professionalism in librarianship in Nigeria. The broad purpose of the paper was to investigate the level of professionalism in librarianship and to ascertain the current status, trends and opportunities within the profession among academic librarians in Nigeria. Five specific research questions were formulated which are: to examine how librarians value librarianship as a profession, to elicit the efforts made by librarians with regards to professional development, to ascertain methods of acquiring current competencies within the profession, to investigate the role of professional bodies in promoting professionalism and excellence within the library and information science (LIS) profession and to proffer strategies to enhance professionalism and excellence among librarians in Nigeria.

Descriptive survey design was adopted in the study across both quantitative and qualitative research methods. The area of the study was the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State and the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka Anambra State. Population of the study comprised a total of 63 librarians in the two universities. All librarians were sampled because of the small sample size. The instrument for data collection was oral interview and questionnaire which contained 53 items derived from the research questions and built on a four-point scale of Strongly Agree (SA), Agree, (A) Disagree (D) and Strongly Disagree (SD). The criterion mean was 2.50. Therefore, any calculated mean below 2.50 was adjudged a negative score, while any mean from 2.50 and above was regarded as a positive score.

The study revealed the challenges facing professionalism and excellence within the LIS field as lack of funding for professional development, lack of sponsorship to workshops and conferences, lack of uninterruptible internet facility and a dearth of professional mentors in the South East zone. Other problems gathered from a scheduled interview with some senior professionals in the institutions revealed that most librarians are still facing the challenge of imbibing and utilizing emerging skills in the LIS professions such as digital archiving and data mining skills for their day-to-day activities.

Recommendations arising from the study were proffered such as the creation of staff development programmes by management; collaboration and partnership by libraries within the zone; acquisition of training through workshops and conferences irrespective of sponsorship by the institutions; and teaming of academic librarians to enhance their visibility and publication output. International staff exchanges and opportunities for sabbatical leave, which hitherto was not common in the South East Zone, were recommended. Among other recommendations also were building of consortia with libraries in the country; LIS professional bodies helping to create visibility and prestige of the LIS profession; and, finally, to scale up the image of the profession the marketing of library products through profiling of patrons and furnishing them with required information has not only become necessary but critical.

Virtual communities of practice (VCoP) are becoming increasingly popular as professional networking. These communities support and shape professional development, especially in countries with limited opportunities and constrain like time and distance. This study throws light on the role of VCoP and its impact on the continuous professional development (CPD) of librarians in Pakistan.

This study is carried out with qualitative research methods to understand effects of VCoP on CPD. With a thematic content analysis on the email conversations of a library and information science (LIS) Yahoo mailing group “plagpk”, the impact of virtual communities (VCs) on librarians' professional development in Pakistan over the past 20 years was analyzed.

This study demonstrates that VCs contribute to professional learning, problem-solving, knowledge creation, professional awareness and identity creation in the LIS field. Further, this study contributes a model to explain the formal and informal professional development for individuals and groups through VCoP engagement.

It is hoped that this study will help the librarian community create, get involved in the VCoP for personal, professional development consciously and create an impact in the profession. The finding of this study is generalizable to any social sciences or humanities professionals VCoPs.

This is one of the first studies in the LIS field to analysis the impact of VCs on the professional development of the librarians.

The growth in responsibility of librarians under the country′s changed conditions requires their high‐quality professional education, flexible continuing education and professional development at all levels. Offers an overview of librarians′ professional training in Estonia, its traditions and possibilities today. Estonian library assistants study at the Viljandi College of Culture: degree courses in library and information sciences (LIS) are offered by the Tallinn Pedagogical University, including Master′s and doctoral degrees. Gives a detailed account of the undergraduate LIS curriculum at the Tallinn Pedagogical University. Systematic continuing education is a necessity because of developments in information technology and because of rapid changes in Estonian economic and social life. Touches on local and state‐wide continuing education activities. Undertakings by the Librarians Education Board in educating library staff without formal LIS education are an integral part of librarians′ continuing education and retraining. In order to disseminate information about Estonian libraries in the world professional community, our librarians must be aware of developments elsewhere. Speaks about the return of Estonian librarians into international professional organizations (IFLA, co‐operation with Baltic libraries, etc.) Deals with the prospects for Estonian librarians in co‐operation with international professional organizations (IATUL, ABDOS, IAML, IASL, etc.) in a more detailed way, including their participation in educational and developmental projects of other countries.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate and document the skills and knowledge needs of future library professionals in Qatar and to use the outcomes of this research to help develop or refine focused library and information studies course curricula that meet the needs of the local workforce and also guide or improve national or local professional development programmes.

A skills and knowledge needs assessment survey was sent to library professionals, LIS students and library managers in Qatar. A total of 109 respondents completed the survey, a representation of around 25 per cent of the current LIS workforce in Qatar.

Findings indicated that respondents felt that the most needed future job roles included more client focused positions such as research librarians, information services librarians and subject librarians, as well as technical roles such as Arabic cataloguers, electronic resources librarians and system librarians. The largest amount of needed positions was also felt to be in school libraries. Respondents to the survey also felt that there was a lack of opportunities for professional development in Qatar and that the most needed area of skills training was information literacy, followed by copyright training and technical skills including RDA and Arabic cataloguing. One further finding identified from the survey was the concern felt by respondents about the lack of a professional body in Qatar that represented LIS professionals.

This paper provides data on future roles, skills and knowledge needed by library professionals working in international and culturally diverse workforces. It also provides findings that can be used to develop LIS curriculum and professional development programmes in international LIS environments.

A detailed needs assessment of this kind has not previously been undertaken in Qatar. The library and information sector in Qatar is an emerging field with a largely international workforce. This situation provides a distinct perspective on the needs of an emerging library sector that is a blend of different cultures, workplace practices and differing expectations and understandings of the role and skills needed to be a LIS professional.

This study aims to present a detailed investigation into the approaches of academic librarians in Trinidad and Tobago in pursuing continuing professional development (CPD) activities. The paper also examines the extent of their participation in CPD at both the institutional and external levels in contributing to the development of their careers.

The instrument used was a questionnaire which assesses the effectiveness of the librarians in their involvement in and attitude toward CPD activities.

The paper demonstrates the active role and willingness of academic librarians in Trinidad and Tobago in providing and participating in CPD training and support to library and information personnel at both the national and international levels.

The paper underscores the effectiveness of a group of academic librarians in Trinidad and Tobago who pursue and provide a high level of CPD activities to professionals.