Open AccessShaping the 21st‐century information professional: A convergence of technical and “soft” skills for workplace success
Author(s) -
Deng Liya,
Thomas Andy,
Trembach Stan
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
proceedings of the american society for information science and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1550-8390
pISSN - 0044-7870
DOI - 10.1002/meet.2014.14505101128
Subject(s) - soft skills , teamwork , curriculum , knowledge management , information science , skills management , information management , medical education , public relations , business , engineering , sociology , computer science , political science , library science , pedagogy , medicine , law
The information world has been in a continuous state of flux, affecting what skills and competencies an information professional needs. Therefore, school curricula have to be able to cover today's needs and also be adaptive enough to accommodate tomorrow's needs. This poster represents phase I and phase II of a research project conducted by the School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) of the University of South Carolina. This research aims to understand which skills are important and why from the information professionals’ perspective. In order to garner insight into what information skills and competencies are currently expected from library and information science (LIS) program graduates, the authors conducted a University of South Carolina SLIS employer survey and semi‐structured interviewes with selected employers. The results revealed that knowledge of telecommunications and networking, as well as network security are among the most important areas of expertise. Additionally, soft skills, such as teamwork, project management, and time management were viewed as important, too.