by Quincie Rivers, Washington DC Chapter, Knowledge Management Division

InfoCurrent has had a ringside seat watching the library and information science world change over the last few decades. As the Information Management Division of CORESTAFF Services, InfoCurrent has a 40-year history of providing library services to a broad spectrum of business, industry and government clients.

While InfoCurrent continues to place traditional librarians, technicians and clerks, we are constantly being asked to find highly skilled professionals who can manage digital archives, content management systems, web content, digital rights management, taxonomy, e-learning, competitive intelligence and analysis and more.

To be “future ready” in today’s market means more than being proficient in traditional Library Sciences.  It means being futuristic, strategic, and quick to adapt to change. Employers are looking for librarians who are creative, flexible, innovative – who are at ease with technology and understand how that technology can help an organization manage their resources better. Information is key to a business’s growth. Hiring managers expect a librarian to be team oriented, collaborative, people focused. They want and need librarians who can become thought leaders, strategists and innovators.

As companies are exploring ways to recover and expand in the current economic climate, budgets continue to be under strict scrutiny.  Often with limited resources, library services must continue to evolve and become leaner, smarter and faster as the new age of technology and social media transforms our markets.

Organizations and businesses realize that the management of knowledge is a valuable commodity and necessary for growth.  It is not enough, however, just to manage information and provide a service but rather to proactively adopt new technologies and economies of scale.  Businesses who have sought skilled personnel to cost effectively deliver and streamline information now view these individuals in a far less traditional role.

How does one become future ready?  Become innovative and adapt to the evolution of business strategies as it relates to your specific industry.  While the demand for MLIS/MLS professionals remains high, the work environment will be a far less conventional business.  As long as you are flexible and have a curiosity for life-long learning, there will be a place in today’s future ready business world by translating traditional skills and adapting new technologies to their best and highest use.

The day of the back office librarian is vanishing. Professional Librarians are embedded in the teams they service. They are managing virtual researchers and collections, orchestrating the delivery of these valuable resources in whatever form they take. Expect to be part of a team collaboratively working to provide innovative solutions in a dynamic environment.

It’s an exciting time to be a librarian. At InfoCurrent we see the future every day.

InfoCurrent, with offices in Washington, DC, New York City, Boston and Houston, is the Information Management Division of CORESTAFF Services specializing in library and records management services.  InfoCurrent is a full-service, nationwide staffing firm offering temporary, temp-to-hire, direct hire and project management for almost every industry, on projects large and small, and on items from legal documents to art collections.  We keep pace with trends in both Library Sciences and Records Management, sharing best practices to help our clients build faster, nimbler – and smarter – organizations.

by Nicola Franklin, Europe Chapter, Business & Finance Division

When I was asked to contribute to this series of posts on how the library & information employment scene is changing, which positions or skills are disappearing and which new ones we need to prepare for, I asked on Twitter for any input and ideas people had.  There were surprisingly few skills or roles people thought were becoming obsolete – it was much more about new skills being added onto already existing ones!

Even skills which might be thought of as ‘old fashioned’ or no longer needed were defended.  One tweet in reply said “I think cataloguing – data librarianship and records cataloguing – is making a big comeback”.

Another good point that was made was ‘library/info skills are about people, not tech, why should they become obsolete?’.  This highlights the fact that, while the media might be books, journals, databases or online, the key goal of information people is how to ensure the content of that media is available to people when they need it.  Hence the need for such a wide spectrum of skills from cataloguing (taxonomy, metadata… insert other acronym of choice!) to influencing and advocating.

If the spectrum of media in which information is available ever swings 100% away from hard-copy books or journals, then maybe some skills will disappear (shelving, for example), but other skills will morph and change to suit changing technologies – so collection management will switch from a physical collection to a digital one.  The skills of liaising with users, analysing needs and selecting expensive materials to fit a particular budget will remain, however.  Instead of a physical display, there may be promotion of resources on an intranet or other communication system not yet envisaged.

With such a varied skill set being called for, I think it is always going to be the case that information teams will be needed, with some members who are meticulous, organised and methodical while others are more outgoing, persuasive and articulate, or more adept at developing or customising technology.  The true skill will lie in co-ordinating all these varied roles within one cohesive profession.

Nicola has worked with the information profession as a recruitment consultant for just over thirteen years, working at Information Business Services, PFJ and Sue Hill Recruitment in London, UK. At Fabric Recruitment Nicola leads the Information division, helping librarians, knowledge managers and records managers find that next best step in their career, and promotes all things social media to the team.