Competencies required by special librarians: An analysis by educational levels

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a study conducted with the aim of identifying competencies needed by special librarians in Iran at three different levels of library and information science education. A list of competencies was initially identified from the literature and 21 semi-structured interviews with managers of special libraries in Iran. Then, a panel of experts was employed to validate 122 competency statements by using a seven-point Likert type scale. The results demonstrated that the panelists validated the importance of 55 competencies required by special librarians with Associate degree qualification, while all 122 competencies were validated as necessary for special librarians with Bachelors and Masters degree qualifications. The findings also indicated that the main competencies that were expected from special librarians with any qualification are information technology competencies. In addition, communication and interpersonal skills were identified as the second most important competencies for special librarians with Associate and Bachelors degree qualifications. However, for special librarians with a Masters degree qualification, the next priorities were information organization and research competencies.