QUALITATIVE REQUIREMENTS FOR INFORMATION SPECIALISTS

Elena Macevičiūtė, Faculty of Communication, Vilnius University, Universiteto 3, Vilnius, Lithuania

The Faculty of Communication of Vilnius University is moving fast to survive in competitive and changing environment. From 1991 five Bachelor's study programmes, seven Master's study programmes and one professional development post-graduate programme were established.

Sometimes we start wondering if moving at a great pace we move not too fast and if the introduction of new study programmes based on perceived needs is realistic. This was the main reason to start the survey of labour market needs for information professionals.

We were lucky to receive financial support for this research which is quite rare in Lithuania. Various methods were used to get valid results, but the main one was a survey of the employers conducted according to the recommendations of UNESCO produced by Prof. Nick Moore who is sitting there.

One of the surveyed sectors was emerging private information services the number of which is growing fast and the demand for information professionals is growing quite significantly in it. The other one the established system of libraries with constant demand for new specialists occurring to the reasons of natural withdrawal of the staff, like retirement or death. The third one which at the time of survey in 1998 was shrinking was the industrial sector traditionally employing information managers, but due to the economic instability concerned mainly with survival.

The main results have confirmed the demand for information professionals in general. But the most valuable part was the qualitative requirements that we have established.

The quality requirements for modern information specialists may be determined from the answers to the questionnaire. The most valuable competencies differ slightly in the surveyed sectors. The rating interval was a scale from 0 to 3 (3 being the highest rating for the competence).

Table 1. What competencies are most important for your institution?

The differences are defined by the nature and objectives of the information specialists working in different sectors. Libraries are non-commercial institutions, the usage of the modern information technology is at the lower level, and the functions as well as the work processes in libraries have special features. Therefore creation of bibliographies and catalogues in the libraries has much higher rating. The high rating of optimisation of information flows and functions and infosupport to decision making in industrial sector is defined by special features of information work in these organisations similar to selective dissemination of information and promotion of organisation's inforesources in information service sector. However, there are competencies: systematic search of information; information resources management; and computerised information storage and retrieval ­ that are highly rated in all sectors.

The attributes in information professionals are slightly different in information service and library sectors. The data received from the industrial sector in answer to this question is incomplete and is not presented here.

Table 2. What attributes do you prefer in information professionals?

Table 2 shows that though the computer usage at present is not as high as in information service sector, the ability to use the computer is considered to be very important. Only the foreign language skills are valued at the same rate. Need for self-improvement is as ranked higher than university degree and communication skills.

The answers to the questionnaire show that, at present, most often the information services employ specialists who have no professional education in information science: economists, journalists, engineers, teachers, designers, physicists, mathematicians, etc. Information service and library sectors form a constant and growing market for the labour of information specialists. For the lack of information specialists this niche is filled by the job seekers from different fields. The other potential sectors should be monitored and closely surveyed using special methods. The most important competencies (as measured on a three-point scale) are those from the information specialist's repertoire. Computerised information storage and retrieval as well as traditional information search abilities top the list of information specialist's competencies. Ability to use the computer is highly valued as an attribute of an employee though it does not outrank such qualities as oral and written communication skills, need for self-improvement, friendliness and knowledge of English language. The attitudes analysis has showed that professional skills and knowledge as well as the ability and willingness to acquire knowledge permanently is given a high priority among professional librarians.

According to the results of the research Vilnius University has created a new Bachelor's degree programme in Business Information Management as the need for a specialised expertise in this field was indicated by the high turnover rates revealed by the research in the information services sector. The ranking of the main competencies and skills in different sectors of the labour market were taken into account in changing curricula (e.g., introducing a Communication Skills module) for the information specialists and librarians not only at the Faculty of Communication of Vilnius University and Tallinn Pedagogical University but at the other higher educational institutions as well (e.g., in design and establishment meetings and curriculum development activities for the International Centre of Information Management Services and Systems at the Torun University).

Last updated August 31th, 2003
sirvir@tpu.ee