Thought this might be of interest to the list. Thanks, Catherine
SOFTLINK RESEARCH INTO LIBRARIES IN THE CHARITY, HEALTH AND LEGAL SECTORS
Reveals how to future-proof library jobs and the future of knowledge
management in libraries
Recent research into the work of librarians in the charity, health and
legal sectors has been commissioned by Softlink Europe, specialist in
library and knowledge management systems. The research, The role of
librarians in knowledge management, was carried out during March and April
2006 with organisations in England, Scotland and Wales, including private
sector companies, charities, the NHS and Universities.
Iain Dunbar, director of Softlink Europe, explained, “Information and
knowledge are often cited as the new global currency. There is a lot of
confusion in the library market about the term knowledge management and
how it applies to libraries. We were keen to cut through the jargon to
find out what people’s individual definitions were through Delphi-style
questioning of an array of expert practitioners from the library field .
Ensuring that library and information services are well-supported by
managers and users is also something we feel strongly about and which we
support through our ongoing research and development of our product
range. Enabling librarians to find accurate information quickly and
easily is essential to the future of the service.”
The majority of respondents from the charity and legal sectors felt that
knowledge management would become a significant part of their job in the
future with 5 out of 10 of those surveyed from health backgrounds
agreeing with the statement.
Definitions of knowledge management offered by those polled were varied
with some believing it only applies to information internal to the
organisation and others feeling that it should also apply to external
information such as journals. Statements included: “gathering, organising
and exploiting items of knowledge (both implicit and explicit) and turning
this into information so that it can be managed”; “taking all the
information we have and ordering it and cataloguing it to make it easily
accessible”; “something wonderful that lets you dip into it and find
information; and “getting the right information to the right people at the
right time”.
When asked ‘do the majority of users value the services you provide’, the
majority of charity and health respondents said ‘yes, very much’ with the
majority of legal respondents (7/15) saying that their users valued their
services ‘quite a lot’.
When questioned about their managers’ view of the services, the majority
of respondents from all sectors agreed that they were ‘very much’
valued .
As to what users and managers valued about the services, the answers fell
broadly into the following categories:
• Accuracy/quality of information provided
• Speed of information provided
• Friendly staff/personal service
• Library is sole/expert source of information
• Knowledgeable staff
In order to future-proof library jobs, respondents felt that they should
take action including:
• Learning new skills/doing more training/gaining new qualifications
• Getting to grips with new technology/learn to speak the same
language as the IT department
• Raising the profile of the library service internally and
externally
• Make resources more accessible
• Gain more funding
• Demonstrate value for money
Keeping skills updated and getting to grips with new technology were
themes echoed by many interviewees.
To receive a copy of the research, please email [log in to unmask] or
register on Softlink’s website, www.softlink.co.uk/kmr
About the research
The in-depth telephone questionnaires took an average of 30 minutes to
work through with respondents, depending on how much the respondents had
to say and their level of interest in the topic! The majority of
interviewees were keen to see a copy of the research on its completion.
Job titles of interviewees included: archivist, electronic services
development officer, head of research and development, information centre
manager, information officer, information manager and analyst, knowledge
services manager, librarian, library resources manager and support
services development manager.
The research was managed by TheAnswer Ltd, public relations and
communications specialist for the library and information management
sectors. The responses are anonymous and the interviewees’ details will
not be used for marketing purposes. 10 telephone interviews were
conducted with respondents in each of the charity and health sectors and
15 with those from the legal sector.
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