Changes in the role of the academic librarian have been variously attributed to: the enterprise culture, the new managerialism, economics, IT and educational change. Explores whether the customer care movement is also having an impact on the concept of professional excellence. Presents the results of a study involving 83 professional and support staff from four West Midlands universities who were asked to define the qualifications, qualities and abilities they would require of a library director and an information specialist. Finds a demand for traditional management skills on the part of the director far exceeding professional competence or scholarly achievement; customer care was not specifically mentioned; involvement with customers was required of the information specialist, but the skills required were interpersonal and at a problem solving rather than a strategic level; there was heavy demand for IT skills. Outlines suggestions for changing the knowledge, skills and attitudes required for professional excellence.

Currently librarians and broadcast ers are both questioning fundamen tal assumptions about their role, purpose, organizational structure and sources of finance. They are also in a state of transition from a trusteeship model of service, in which scarce assets are held in trust on behalf of society, and a more market-centred model. The differ ence between the two models underlies all decision making, affects recruitment, and determines whether the way forward is through co-operation or competition.