SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES OF LIBRARIANS IN MODERN LIBRARY ENVIRONMENT:A CASE STUDY OF DELTA STATE UNIVERSITY,ABRAKA, NIGERIA

Abstract

The purpose of the study is identify the core skills and compelencies of librarians in modern library environment. The objectives of the study is identify the types of skills/competencies possessed by the librarians in the modern library environment, determine the means/methods through which they acquired the skills and competencies and find out the hindrances to acquiring the skills and competencies. Descriptive survey method was employed for this study. The population for the study was 35 academic librarians from the Library School and the University library. Questionnaire was used to collect data from respondents. The instrument for data collection was the questionnaire and it was administered on a one-on-one basis to the respondents to ensure high response rate. The data were analyzed using frequencies and statistical mean. Findings showed that the librarians possessed IT, Internet,professional,presentation, database, publishing and value added skills. The means/methods through which they acquired their skills and competencies were through self-study,attending workshops/seminars, formal andI informal education, from colleagues and attending IT programmes. Another finding revealed that learning IT knowledge, lack of written communication,insufficient staff in the library, and inadequate financial support are the hindrances to acquiring the skills and competencies. The study therefore concluded that the libarian should spice his/her skills and competencies with emerging ICT so as to act as both librarian and information technologist in the modern environment. The study recommended that the librarians should act in a proactive manner to support the modern library environment which must be continually updated.