Professional Competencies for the Dig ital Age: What Library Schools Are Doing to P repare Special Librarians By Jana Varlejs Rutgers School of Communication , Information and Library Studies Abstract What l ibrary/information science education offerings are relevant to preparing graduates for careers in the special l ibrary sector? The strengths and weaknesses of education for special l ibrarianship; the match between SLA's competencies statement and what is being taught in L IS master's degree programs; and the role of SLA in continuing education are discussed. Nearly seven years after the Special Libraries Association (SLA) approved its statement, "Competencies for Special Librarians of the 2 1 51 Century" (http://www. sla.org/content/SLA/professional /meaning/comp.cfm) , i t seemed t ime to ask whether the docurnent was sti l l viable. Given the changes in the economy, technology, and g lobal ization, what ski l ls and knowledge are now needed by information professionals? These issues were addressed by a panel at the 2003 annual SLA conference, sponsored by the Education Division and the Pharmaceutical and Health Technology Division. . The session sought to give the audience an impression of what l ibrary/information science (LIS) education was offering that was relevant to preparing graduates for careers in the special l ibrary sector; the strengths and weaknesses of education for special l i brarianship; the match between the SLA's competencies statement and what was being taught in L IS master's degree programs; and the role of SLA in continuing education. It should be noted that a revision of the competencies statement has since appeared on the SLA Web site (http://www. sla .org/content/SLA/professional /meaning/comp2003.cfm). There is one significant change that is noted below. This paper publ ished is a sl ightly edited version of one of the 2003 SLA conference presentations. Education Libraries Volume 26, No. 1 Summer 2003 What Course Catalogs Show The following "snapshot" is based on a quick review of the Web sites of 53 of the 56 Master's in Library/I nformation Science programs accredited by the American Library Association (http://www.ala.org/Content/NavigationMenu /Our _Association/Offices/Accred itation 1 /lisdi r/LIS_Directory.htm) Almost all programs offer basic courses in management, onl ine searching as well as i nformation sources and services, information technology, and organization of information (including indexing or something else on control led vocabulary) . If they do not have courses devoted to business and government information, they do have one covering the social sciences. Most provide a practicum or i nternship, and many al low i ndependent study. Thus a student with an interest and background in a special ized field such as business could focus term projects and papers and pursue individual research and field experience in that field , and graduate reasonably well -prepared for the chosen specialty. Two-thi rds of the programs have courses devoted to special l ibraries/ l ibrarianship i n general . Almost as many have courses in health sciences, and somewhat fewer have courses on legal information ard/or law l i brariansh ip . Other specialties are rarer, but 1 6 there are over twenty programs that have courses i n music, art, and other specialties. Seventeen programs offer courses in marketi ng/publ ic relations; seven offer knowledge management, six competitive intel l igence, and seven entrepreneurship (including information brokering and consu lting). Only four have courses on communication. User instruction is becoming more common, but i t is hard to tell whether a given course covers the specia l l ibrary settings. A l l schools have a reasonable array of technology courses, and quite a few have d igital l ibraries or electronic resources and services courses. Most seem to have integrated on l ine information into their reference courses. Web site and database design are included in technology courses, but often are presented as separate courses. Recent trends include freestanding courses on information architecture, metadata, and data min ing. There are very few courses concerned with the economics of information and the information industry, and there seems to be a paucity of courses deal ing in depth with financial aspects, such as vendor negotiation. Most surprising is the fact that there are sti l l relatively few courses on user needs and information seeking behavior. The revised SLA competencies statement incorporates the Association's statement on the importance of evidence based practice (http://www . s la. org/ contenUmem berservice/r esearchforum/rsrchstatement.cfm) . In l ight of this addition, which calls for the application of research to decision making, it is important to note the dearth of research methods courses in LIS programs, as reported by Dan O'Connor and Soyeon Park in American Libraries (January 2002, 50). What Strengths and Weaknesses Exist in MLIS Programs Vis-a-vis Special Librarianship? Strengths: • Core courses have evolved to incorporate technology; • management is recognized as basic; Education Libraries Volume 26, No. 1 Summer 2003 • special ized information resources are covered to some extent almost always; • students have opportun ities to customize their program of stud ies; • faculties seem to be able to introduce new topics as they arise; • practitioners are teaching those courses that need to be grounded in current practice. Weaknesses: • MLIS programs for the most part are too short to al low students to learn al l that is now required of entry level special l ibrarians; • faculties are stretched th inly, so many courses cannot be offered as regularly as they should be; • what is offered and how it is taught depends on current faculty i nterests and not necessari ly on the demands of the marketplace. How Well Does MLIS Program Content Reflect SLA's Competencies? Except for the subject expertise that must come from other study, MLIS courses general ly address the professional competencies, although no program covers them al l . Some of the personal competencies are also fostered in MLIS courses that promote service orientation , good management, and professional ism . Because programs are short and students are often mature individuals, however, ingrained attitudes and personal ity traits are unl ikely to be changed. I n regard to the SLA competency document, MLIS courses are probably at thei r best i n honing students' technical i nformation ski l ls and shaping their service orientation, and at their worst in developing "soft" ski l ls. What Are Implications for Continuing Education? SLA does a fairly good job at identifying CE needs and using i nnovative methods, such as virtual seminars , to meet those needs. Teleconferences and webcasts on topics such as communication with management, marketing, and vendor negotiation seem to 1 7 be on target, and do not take l i brarians far away from thei r workplace. There never seems to be enough on user behavior, evaluation, and costing/valuing information within the specia l l ibrary context. Quite a few of the generic business ski l ls that would benefit special l ibrarians are taught i n workshops offered by organizations such as the American Management Association. Teaching and presentation ski l ls can a lso be sought through non-l ibrary organizations. The role that the SLA should play more aggressively is that of promoter of the entire range of CE. I t should i nform members about learn ing opportunities emanating not only from SLA and other l ibrary organizations, but from other sources also, especial ly those del ivered electronically. SLA might want to consider creating a recognition system along the l i nes of the one instituted by the Medical Library Association. Concluding Comments The snapshot that has been presented here is somewhat fuzzy -- more courses on special l ibraries specifically than one might expect, but spotty coverage of some of the ski l ls that SLA thinks are important. One has to remember that MLIS degree programs are mostly very short, and that the typical LIS school or department suffers many constraints, faculty size being the most significant. On top of that, there are marketplace fai lures -- employers do not Education Libraries Volume 26, No. 1 Summer 2003 always h ire the best prepared person , nor do they always prov ide for adequate and appropriate continuing education. At the same time, professionals do not always pursue the career path for which they prepared . Some personal anecdotes i l lustrate the point: At SLA conferences, I sometimes run into people who started out to be children's l ibrarians, whi le at the New Jersey Library Association conferences I come across alumni working i n public l ibraries who graduated well qual ified to be law l ibrarians. Even when students arrive at l ibrary school with a sol i d subject background in a field in which they wish to work as an i nformation professional , accidents of geography, or tim ing , or hiring freezes may mi l itate against success in landing the desi red position upon · graduation. Meanwhi le , good opportun ities in certain businesses and industries may go begging, because there are so few MLIS graduates who have appropriate degrees in the sciences, business, law, or other fields not typically recruited into l i brarianship. Better recruitment strategies and more scholarships are needed , and the SLA might want to cons ider doing something about that. Dr. Jane Varlejs is an Associate Professor at Rutgers Un iversity. Emai l : jvaljes@rutgers.edu 1 8