Abstract

For years, librarians, record managers and information scientists have seen themselves as outside of the labor market associated with new technologies. It seems that the profession remains mired in the past, rather passive and with little ambition. Certainly information and communication technologies (ICT) applications have been adopted and used, but very few information professionals have taken a leadership role at the level of designing them as one might have expected.

Abstract

New technologies require an upgrade of LIS professionals’ skills. This study analyzes changes in the field and suggests guidelines to improve LIS curriculum. We have carried out a content analysis of 20 curricula from LIS educational programs to identify terms associated with technological skills. In addition, we identified terms related to new competences from 735 job openings published on generic web sites and 170 on specific web sites. These terms include marketing, management, and content management, mainly related to web applications. The results confirm a positive trend in the demand for technological skills related to LIS. Nevertheless, there is a need to increase awareness about the competences and abilities of LIS professionals, because many relevant job openings are listed in other job categories. Therefore, we have collected a list of key technological skills. In conclusion, it is clear that computer science and the Internet are bringing new opportunities to LIS professionals.