Ahead of the game: Developing academic library staff for the twenty-first century

Alasdair Paterson

doi:10.1108/09680819910309476

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Librarian Career Development

ISSN: 0968-0810
Merged into: Library Management

Online from: 1993

Subject Area: Library and Information Studies

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Ahead of the game: Developing academic library staff for the twenty-first century

Document Information:
Title:	Ahead of the game: Developing academic library staff for the twenty-first century
Author(s):	Alasdair Paterson, (University Librarian, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK)
Citation:	Alasdair Paterson, (1999) "Ahead of the game: Developing academic library staff for the twenty-first century", Librarian Career Development, Vol. 7 Iss: 12, pp.143 - 149
Keywords:	Academic libraries, Employee development, Learning organizations, Skills
Article type:	Research paper
DOI:	10.1108/09680819910309476 (Permanent URL)
Publisher:	MCB UP Ltd
Abstract:	The paper looks at issues and trends in the building of a learning organisation for the coming century. There is initial consideration of the concept of the “hybrid library”, a phrase descriptive of the current evolutionary stage as perceived by British academic libraries, and some analysis of what this implies for the future skills requirement of information workers. Mechanisms for ensuring cyclic training and development are described, principally addressing the concepts of investment in people and organisational culture; here there is an exploration of externally administered formal schemes to assess commitment, planning, action and evaluation in relation to training programmes, the effectiveness of which is judged in terms of meeting business goals; and gauge cultural awareness within an organisation. Finally, there is some consideration of the leadership role of the library and information service director, including the availability of preparatory and ongoing leadership training.