Challenges in developing professionals for the “information society”: and some responses by the British schools of librarianship and information studies

Abstract

This paper identifies six major challenges facing the information profession as the “information society” emerges: assisting users to deal with information overload; the high level of technical skills required to manage the new information and communication technologies; the competition with other professions for the management positions in converged library, information, and computing services; the need to incorporate a broader range of knowledge and skills, drawn from those traditionally seen as separate sectors of the information industry such as publishing; the need to develop a higher level of skills in teaching and facilitating the use of information; and the need for a greater ability to work with other people. It points to some solutions which have been adopted by schools of librarianship in the UK, many of them involving collaboration with other disciplines to produce the required depth of knowledge. It also calls for changes in the schools’ approach to teaching, learning, and research, and in the practitioner community’s support for education in general and continuing professional development in particular. Finally, it points to the dangers of inertia.