Emerging Competencies Needed By Lis Professional

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

The changes in technology have changed the storage and retrieval of information and also the way the user community are able to access, retrieve and use information. A large amount of information can be instantaneously accessed through the web and the advent of IT has made data and information available to anyone with a computer, a modem and a provider. The Lis professional is now required to provide quality and valid information through various forms such as podcasts, wikis, blogs etc to serve the user community on information resources and for this the lis professional have to be skilled in locating information and using the varied it tools and technologies. The lis professional have to be trained in this aspect and must be able to create high demand of e- resources among the user community too by creating the web portals by maintaining the standards and codes and adopting different storage media. The LIS schools must play a significant role in enhancing the IT skills of the LIS professional so that they are able to make the end user information literate in the electronic environment with the purpose of encouraging independent learners and critical thinkers to meet the challenges of the new information age.

KEYWORDS: Information, information technology, LIS professional, knowledge, skills, competencies.

1.Introduction :

Information is increasing at an exponential rate now a days and the libraries are incorporating different IT tools and techniques in its services so as to meet the ever increasing demands of its users. The role of the LIS professional is not just confined to remain as the custodian of the library resources but rather they have to play a significant role as a facilitator, inter-mediary as well as an end-user trainer. They have to provide scientific services such as creating semantic web by searching, controlling and filtering the chaotic information resources. And this can be achieved only if the LIS professional propagate strategic and operational planning and enhance their knowledge, skills and abilities too. Moreover they have to be techno oriented so as to be able to provide to its users access to a myriad set of information products and services such as the online catalogues, databases, CD-ROMs, podcasts, blogs, wikis etc.

It is the prime responsibility of the LIS professional to evaluate all the information resources before being handed to the user community, so that authenticity of the information resources is not lost.

Thus the LIS Professional must be trained adequately in handling techno oriented methods which is in very much demand today.

2. Need of IT skills for LIS professionals:

The e- resources have replaced the traditional print resources and have greatly been utilized by the stakeholders across the globe. The users of the library now need effective assistance for utilizing the e-resources and other web-based services of the libraries. Thus the LIS professional is now vested with the prime responsibility of developing information handling skills also among the users so that they are able to exploit the benefits of e-resources as well as the other web-based services of the library.

Thus to handle such a vast amount of e-resources, the LIS professional first have to make themselves competent enough before educating the users and for this they have to be well versed with the different IT tools and techniques so as to meet the ever increasing demand of the user community such as-

to develop and enhance skills on various IT tools and technologies

to provide relevant information to the users and enhance their knowledge

to motivate the users to use the different IT tools and techniques by themselves

to provide better and timely information to the scholars

3. Competencies needed by of LIS professionals :

The LIS professional has to play a key role in providing access to and preserving knowledge in digital form ensuring continued learning process in order to do their jobs efficiently and to meet the ever increasing demands of a tech-savy population. Now a days many employers seek applicants in LIS profession to be acquinted with various technical skills and experience. Some of the technological requirements of a LIS professional in the digital age are as follows –

Familiarity with computer programming, web development skills, course management software such as web CT

Ability to adapt to rapidly changing technologies

Integrating new technologies into the delivery of information services

Ability to provide virtual reference service

Must play an active role in the development of institutional repositories programs and digital collections.

Must be able to work with integrated library systems.

3.1. Enhancing the competencies of the Lis Professionals:

Today the LIS professional has to play a significant role in a techno oriented library environment by creating their own online pathfinders and subject guides. They must also use the social software tools to communicate with their patrons to deliver better online services. They may be expected to provide reference services via online chat and instruction via co-browsing. The LIS professionals may be required to do the online research such as from trouble shooting a remote student’s database access problem to dealing with the jam at the printer. Thus if the LIS professional don’t enhance their skills, then they may not be able to provide the services needed by their patrons or the end user. Therefore, the LIS professionals must be well versed with the different technologies such as web designing, database administration, network administration and must also be able to manage and evaluate the different technologies.

The LIS professional must attend the various workshops and seminars and other short term training courses conducted by some renowned organizations such as NISCAIR, DRTC, DELNET, INFLIBNET, IASLIC, ILA etc, from time to time to keep themselves up to date on different aspects of librarianships.

3.2. Role of LIS Professional in creating awareness among the End-Users on information resources

The LIS professional today has to first identify the information needs of the user by doing a survey through the questionnaire.

They must categorise the different information needs of the users.

Adopt innovative search technology to search the required information.

Then aggregate the retrieved information into highly segmented indexes and display them in their blogs, podcasts etc.

The LIS professional now thus have to evolve new initiatives so as to deliver fresh, quality and most relevant information to the user community and they must also conduct user education programmes from time to time to educate the users on the ways of using the information sources.

4. Impact of information technology in librarianship :

In this age of information technology, the librarians are to find new ways to make effective responses to the users and meet the user’s expectations in the most efficient and innovative way. Thus they are now forced to explore new ideas and implement different new techniques so as to provide better services to the user community. And one of the most basic core competency that the LIS professional has to nurture is the organization of knowledge in multiple formats so that it can be retrieved easily from the information system which requires thorough knowledge on the part of the LIS professional on bibliographic and intellectual control principles and standards which can be applied practically and in the most cost effective ways.

Thus the LIS professional adopts some of core practices in creating and storing their information products such as -

4.1. Maintaining Standards and Codes by LIS Professionals:

Standards and codes of practice are to be well maintained by the LIS professional in creating their e-resources so as to safeguard them against various risks as well as facilitates the international exchange of goods and services to meet the ever increasing demands of its user community.

4.2. Why standards are to be maintained:

To carry out their functions consistently.

Helps to demonstrate professionalism, accountability and efficiency to staff, user groups and funding bodies.

Builds confidence in the profession.

Helps to ensure customer satisfaction.

Facilitates co-operative working with other organizations within the country as well as abroad.

Helps in the preservation of the information sources in terms of continuity of service to the user community.

4.3. Storing of information sources:

The information sources whether in print on electronic form demands a specific space for their storage and that has always been a keen issue. So mass storage is required in order to meet the following needs-

Large volume digital storage system for archival management.

To provide users with immediate access to the rapidly growing volume of data and information stored in digital storage media which can be distributed on optical media in future.

To provide the users access to multimedia information quickly and intuitively by integrating the different technologies.

To transfer a large volume of data from files from one system to another.

4.4. media of Mass Storage:

Previously the libraries used the conventional media like the films, microfilms & microfiche to store the electronic information which was bulky as well as expensive. But with the advent of computer and optical technologies, mass storage has now been shifted to electronic media, such as magnetic tapes, high density floppy disks, portable hard disks and optical disks. The prime mass storage in the present time is the optical media which are essential for the multimedia application developments. Each optical media requires an appropriate drive to be connected to a microcomputer system.

Some of the optical media are the videodisk players, CD Rom drives, CD recorders, erasable drives such as Zip and Zap drives.

In this age of information technology, the librarians are to find new ways to make effective responses to the users and meet the user’s expectations in the most efficient and innovative way. Thus they are now forced to explore new ideas and implement different new techniques so as to provide better services to the user community.

5. Role of LIS schools in building competencies of LIS professionals:

The LIS schools must prepare their outputs by making them tech-savy and understanding how to apply technology to traditional library services such as –

Integrating technology into their core curriculum.

To develop courses that offer skills for integrating technologies into libraries

To have enough practical knowledge about information technologies to succeed in this profession.

Some of the IT oriented course in librarianship offered in India are-

Associateship in information science (AIS) by NISCAIR.

Associateship in documentation and information science (ADIS) offered by DRTC at the Indian Statistical Institute, Bangalore.

M.Tech programme in Information systems and management offered by the International school of Information Management, University of Mysore.

Post graduate diploma in library automation and Networking offered by University of Hyderabad and IGNOU both through distance mode.

Thus, the LIS schools should at least teach the basic foundation of information technology. The course, should given the students the opportunity to practice their technological skills in the same way that they will likely be using the technologies in their professional lives. They can be given practicum which will help the students to see the realities of the profession they are about to enter and the ways in which technology permeates everything librarians do, such that the ideal librarian of the future will be comfortable with technology and see how the technologies can be applied in their environment to provide better services to their patrons. The LIS schools thus have to nurture these skills in the leaders of tomorrow.

6.Conclusion:

Today, thus the role of the librarian has gone a tremendous change. The LIS professional is now vested with the prime responsibility of managing and organizing the e-library where he has to handle some specialized tasks of digitization of the information resources, data mining, data warehousing, metadata creation etc. The LIS professional have to be equipped with strong competencies so as to survive in their profession. To provide value added services in today’s IT environment the LIS professional have to enhance their skills in different aspects of Information technology and make themselves techno- savy to meet the present information demands of the user community.

Therefore, the LIS professional now will have to accept these challenges and adopt themselves to these new systems and techniques for surviving in this digital environment. Thus,it can be very well stated that unless and untill the LIS professional enhances their skills and competencies which is needed for working in a digitized library today they may suffer greatly and may find themselves unfit to survive in their profession at the present time .