A framework of the transferable skills of information professionals

Jane Farmer and Fiona Campbell

Introduction
The challenges of securing a job which satises the needs and expectations of the individual during periods of professional, social and economic uncertainty are becoming increasingly difcult. Information professionals working within sectors such as healthcare and oil/energy have expressed their frustration in trying to cope with the challenges of organisational change, the restructuring of their particular sectors, a reduction in resources as well as facing the increasing demands being made on their information services. More specically, these professionals are experiencing the problems associated with solo librarianship such as professional isolation and being undervalued by organisational staff. Their difculties are to do with, not simply, the promotion of the information service within the wider organisational culture but the justication of such a service at a time when resources are scarce. Information professionals are also facing problems of career advancement. After a certain amount of time within a particular sector, they may nd that advancement is difcult due to the fact that they have built up such a specialised subject knowledge. In 1994 the Robert Gordon University ran a series of career seminars for health science librarians who expressed dissatisfaction and frustration at their inability to move to higher posts or across the sectors. There was a feeling that their skills and knowledge were too specialised and that the rapid advancement of new technology was too difcult to keep up with. These professionals felt trapped and demotivated. It was from within this context that we decided to carry out a British Library funded research project into career progression in the health and oil industry sectors.

The authors Jane Farmer is Senior Lecturer and Fiona Campbell is Research Assistant in the School of Media and Information at the Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland. Abstract Describes a research project for the British Library Research and Innovation Centre which identied and analysed the generic skills and competences of information professionals in the healthcare and oil industry sectors. The study and its ndings are described in a pack which is included with this issue of Library Management.

The research project

As 1996 was the Year of Lifelong Learning it was appropriate to address what practitioners understood by continuing professional development (CPD). This British Library funded project aimed to identify and analyse the generic skills and competences of information professionals in the healthcare and oil industry sectors. The research aimed to target and examine these skills so that professionals would focus on their continuing professional development, thereby enhancing their 302

Library Management Volume 19 Number 5 1998 pp. 302303 MCB University Press ISSN 0143-5124

A framework of the transferable skills of information professionals

Library Management Volume 19 Number 5 1998 302303

Jane Farmer and Fiona Campbell

strengths and topping up skills in areas of identied weakness. This project was carried out using a mentoring or learning pairs methodology[1]. A learning pair consisted of a learner, i.e. a librarian or information professional who occupied a middle level library position and a mentor, i.e. a person from a different but related profession (e.g. information management; information technology). These learning pairs analysed each others skills and competences through a series of meetings and observation sessions. The project yielded some interesting results which are highlighted in the complementary pack, included with this issue of

Library Management. This pack is designed not only to explain the background to the project but also may be kept for future reference when professionals are thinking about CPD. Further information may also be obtained from http://www.rgu.ac.uk/~sim/ research/ts/trans.htm.

Note
1 Adapted from Tremblay and Walls work with NHS chief executives. Tremblay, M. and Wall, A. (1994), Chief Executives Learning Together: A Report for the NHS Training Directorate, University of Birmingham Health Services Management Centre School of Public Policy, Birmingham.

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