LIS professional’s knowledge and skills: towards sustainable

development

Andiswa MfenguDepartment of Knowledge and Information Stewardship

University of Cape Town

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Introduction

• ICTs have dramatically transformed library and information services

• LIS education has a responsibility to equip LIS professionals with appropriate knowledge and skills

• LIS education and training sector in South Africa, and in the continent, has made great strides in the past 20 years

• AU2063 agenda and SDGs – developmental role of LIS professionals

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Research problem

• The role of LIS professionals took new shape and way, this is due to advancement in ICT and adoption and changes in the LIS fields

• LIS professionals require some of the special skills and competencies apart from the basic skills and practices of librarianship (Machendranath et al., 2018).

• ‘New’ knowledge and skills - pedagogical education vs heutagogical education

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Role of LIS professionals

• Empower

• Emancipate

• Inclusivity

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Role of LIS professionals

• Share skills, tools and ideas that empower their users, digital literacy (build understanding of digital environment, cybersecurity)

• Equip user with knowledge - digital rights, digital footprint

• Closing gaps of access to information and knowledge

• Access to health information, agricultural information, etc.

• Indigenous and culturally appropriate way to manage collections

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SA higher education competency index (Raju, 2017)• Discipline-specific competencies

– Reference work, Library ICTs, research support

– Collection development and management

– Digitisation and preservation

– Curation of digital content/research data, LIS research and publication

• Generic competencies

– management skills

– computer proficiency, interpersonal skills, teaching and training skills

– leadership skills, planning and organising skills

• Personal attributes

– initiative, adaptability, innovation, personal drive, etc.

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ALA competency index

• Foundations of the Profession

• Information Resources

• Organization of Recorded Knowledge and Information

• Technological Knowledge and Skills

• Reference and User Services

• Research

• Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning

• Administration and Management

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IFLA trend report 2018

Knowledge and skills for LIS professionals:

• Scenario planning

• Multiple literacies – information, computer, digital, etc.

– Privacy issues

– Fake news (misinformation)

– Open data

• Copyright

• Curate and publish

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Other literature• Coghill & Russell (2017) discusses skills for LIS

professionals:

– Adaptability

– Flexibility

– Multi-task

– Creativity

• Design thinking

• Marketing and advocacy

• Collaboration and networking

• Open access, open textbooks

• Production and preservation

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LIS professionals Knowledge &

skills

Community needs

SDGs & AU2063 agenda

Continuous Prof Dev

LIS education

and training

LIS professionals and skills – which way

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LIS education and training

• LIS education curriculum content shows evidence of increasing infusion of ICTs, broadening of curricula (Ankem, 2010)

• Many LIS schools have transformed their curriculum but not at the same rate as changes are occurring in the profession

• Formal qualification can be matched with self-directed learning

– Short courses

– Conferences, workshops, seminars, webinars and other engagements

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LIS programmes

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Conclusion

• Variety of knowledge and skills required in order to contribute towards SDGs and AU2063 agenda

• Combination of pedagogical and heutagogicaleducation is crucial

• Competencies - knowledge, skills and personal attributes

• Proactive vs being reactive

• Continuous reinvention and innovation

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References

• American Library Association [ALA]. 2009. ALA’s core competences of librarianship.

• Machendranath, Naik, U., Devaraj, S. & Kumari, U., 2018. Professional skills and soft skills for LIS professional in ICT era. Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries, 7(1): 147-160.

• Raju, J. 2014. Curriculum content and delivery: South African LIS education responses to a changing information landscape. In

• Raju, J. 2017. LIS professional competency index for the higher education sector in South Africa. Cape Town: University of Cape Town Libraries. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15641/0-7992-2536-5.

• Russel, Roger G. & Coghill, Jeff. 2017. Developing librarian competencies for the digital age. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield.