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The library orientation session is an important marketing tool because it offers the first opportunity for library staff to connect with new clients (Craft and Ballard-Thrower, 2011; Rhoades and Hartsell, 2008). This paper aims to explore library orientation practices in special libraries and information centers with the goal of surveying current practices and identifying guidance for successful orientation program design and delivery.

This study explored library orientation practices in special libraries and information services through an electronic survey. The survey questions were developed based on themes that emerged from case studies on library orientations from the academic library literature. These themes included reasons for library orientation program redesigns, the importance of partnerships in orientation design and delivery and the tools and techniques used in the delivery of orientation sessions.

The results revealed that library orientations are taking place in special libraries, but there is no consistent approach to library orientation delivery. Even within a single library, multiple approaches to library orientations are taken based on client availability, demand and information needs observations of library staff. Participants’ responses were analyzed to develop recommendations for special library orientations. These include developing partnerships (particularly with human resource departments), using technology strategically, considering the timing of orientations for new potential clients in relation to their start as new employees in the host organization, customizing library orientations based on client segment, engaging in ongoing outreach, and being flexible in design and delivery methods.

This study represents a starting step in an exploration of library orientation practices in special libraries. The key limitation of this study was the low response rate leading to small sample size. A larger sample of special libraries would be needed to produce a quantitative analysis of the prevalence of practices with an acceptable degree of statistical significance. Alternately, smaller samples of special libraries organized by characteristics such as size or type (e.g. corporate libraries, law libraries and medical libraries) could be conducted to determine if distinctive trends exist within these special library types.

This study revealed information about key practices and challenges that can be used by special library practitioners seeking to implement or redesign a library orientation program in their library.

While academic and practitioner literature exists detailing library orientation activities in academic and school libraries, there are very few papers on special library orientations. This study fills a gap in the literature by investigating library orientation practices in special libraries and information centers.

Librarians are increasingly involved in projects and teams that require them to exhibit a broad range of knowledge and competencies which extend beyond traditional librarianship to include aspects of records management, information management, and knowledge management. In effect, librarians need to be information specialists, but the task of broadening one’s knowledge and competencies may be daunting, and it is helpful to explore the competencies of these various information disciplines as a guideline for competency development. The purpose of this paper is to provide some insights into the shared competencies and knowledge of these disciplines.

This paper describes an analysis of the competency profiles of librarians, records managers, information managers, archivists, and knowledge managers and provides a competency profile for information specialists that incorporates the knowledge and competencies from all of these areas. The sources used for this analysis were existing competency profiles developed by professional associations and employers of information workers such as government agencies.

The analysis resulted in the development of a competencies list which includes five competencies groups. These competency groups are: collaboration, client service, and communication; organizational understanding and strategic alignment; programme and service delivery and management; records, information, and knowledge management technical competencies; and personal qualities.

This analysis may be useful for librarians or library students who are determining which professional development opportunities to undertake as well as for managers who are seeking to define job profiles for their library staff in today’s complex information environment.

This paper bridges the disciplines of librarianship, information management, records management, archives, and knowledge management by comparing their relative competency profiles in order to create a set of competencies that are common to all disciplines.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the competencies, skills and knowledge obtained through a master’s degree in library and information science (LIS) and to identify those competencies that are most valued by graduates who obtained employment in non-library roles. These observations will contribute to an understanding of the transferability of LIS education which will assist LIS professionals and educators to frame LIS competencies in a way that appeals to employers outside of library settings who may not have any knowledge of LIS education or practice.

The grounded theory methodology was used with data collection taking the form of semi-structured interviews. Interviews were between 30 and 90 min in length and included career narratives, as well as responses to particular questions about different aspects of professional identity. Participants included graduates of master’s level LIS programs employed in a variety of positions including information managers, policy analysts, human resources specialists, marketers, vendors, taxonomists, search engine designers and information consultants. The participants were employed in sectors including government, information technology, aerospace, oil and gas and retail/online sales in both Canada and the USA.

The participants in this study found that their LIS education was valuable to their success in a number of non-library roles. Although the specific career paths of participants were each unique and the different roles they occupied required different combinations of skills, a list of key transferable LIS competencies could be identified. These included a focus on client service, the ability to identify need, and the ability to search for information and navigate databases. In addition, several participants observed that their coursework and opportunities to participate in internships, co-operative positions or work placements prepared them for such workplace conditions as deadlines and fast-paced environments.

This study involved a population of LIS graduates whose experiences have not been extensively examined in the past. This article helps to fill a gap in the understanding of the professional experiences of LIS graduates who pursue roles outside of libraries. In addition, the semi-structured interview technique allowed for deeper understanding of participants’ perceptions of which of their competencies, skills and knowledge were valuable to employees. This information was gained through answers to specific skills-focused questions intended to identify which competencies developed during their LIS education assisted them most in their careers, as well as larger career narratives. This study will have implications for library practitioners and educators. It will provide insights into valued skills for those who are designing or implementing LIS education programs, as well as LIS graduates who are seeking to market their skills to employers across industry sectors.

The purpose of this chapter is to introduce library and information science professionals to the idea of combining the tools and techniques of project management and change management to support the success of their projects. Combining these two methodologies can assist professionals not only in carrying out their projects efficiently, helping them to meet project objectives, but can also increase the likelihood that their project objectives will be accepted by their organizations.

This chapter provides an overview of project management and change management methodologies with numerous examples from academic and practitioner literature and supplements them with concrete, specific examples of how these tools and techniques were implemented in an information management project.

This chapter contributes to the development of change management and project management competencies for librarians by providing explanations of project management and change management which include advice and evidence from the literature combined with examples of how these techniques and processes were applied in a library and information management project. This chapter should therefore serve as an educational tool for library and information management practitioners seeking either to develop their project management and change management skills or to apply these techniques to their own projects.

Articles which combine project management and change management methodologies are rare. This chapter takes these concepts and applies them in a library and information management setting in a way that should be practical and approachable to library and information science practitioners.

The study aims to unpack the role of Malawi Library Association (MALA) in developing librarianship in Malawi. It also explores an array of opportunities and challenges that are present for MALA.

The study applies the interpretivist paradigm for the research design. Qualitative data were collected from a purposeful sample totaling 24 practicing librarians and paraprofessionals in different work environments to inform the study phenomenon.

The study gathers that the role of MALA has been in its infancy stage for a long time. However, the apparent developments of MALA manifest in its pro-educational initiatives. Overall, MALA is impeded by a litany of obstacles such as financial constraints and a lack of advocacy strategy.

The study theorizes the role of MALA by triangulating the advocacy coalition framework, institutional theory and professionalization theory in the library and information practice.