Employment and career surveys: some reflections on their value and relevance

Abstract

A selection of surveys of job destinations, career progression and career patterns of former students of departments of library and information studies m the UK over the past 15 years is reviewed The value and validity of such reviews is questioned Lack of standardization m questions asked and selection of sample populations is noted Developments revealed by the surveys are summarized A decline m the number of students entenng public libraries and threats to the teaching of public librarianship, greater job mobility between types of library and between traditional library and information posts andjobs in the 'emerging market' are noted, as is continuing concern about the relevance of teaching to practice and the implementation of currriculum change and communication between teachers and practitioners.

The changing educational needs of subject librarians: A survey of UK practitioner opinions and course content

“…However, Audunson suggests that although teaching theory during library courses may mean students are less prepared for library work after graduation, in the long term their contribution and understanding may be greater because of their increased theoretical knowledge [17]. This was partially confirmed by Loughridge, who did a follow-up study of Sheffield MA Librarianship graduates and found that many respondents said some theoretical aspects of the course such as management, that seemed to be irrelevant in their first professional posts, later become useful when they moved into more senior roles [24].…”

“…One SLQ comment confirms here how perceptions of value may change over time: "my appreciation for some aspects of the course has grown over time -the management modules were deathly dull when I studied them, but have given me some sense of context in which to place my current organisational practices". This reflects Loughridge's finding that some theoretical aspects of library courses such as management, which seemed to be irrelevant in respondents' first professional library posts, later become useful when they moved into more senior roles [24].…”

“…Studies from the University of Sheffield report that MA Librarianship graduates' most common complaint about the course was that there was not enough focus on the practical skills needed to work in a library [24][25][26]. One practical skill discussed in the literature is cataloguing.…”

“…The existing research on the views of LIS graduates is of limited value to this study because much of it is too old to reflect recent changes in the profession, is based on one institution (the University of Sheffield) and covers areas of information studies not directly related to librarianship [24][25][26][27]. There is also a lack of literature regarding academic LMs' views on their employees' professional education and skills.…”

The demand for undergraduate course provision in information and library studies

“…A number of studies, such as those of Armstrong [10], Loughridge [11], Loughridge and Sutton [12], Loughridge, Oates and Speight [13], Marcella and Baxter [14], Quarmby, Willett and Wood [15] and Santos, Willett and Wood [16] have examined first destination information and career progression of former students of schools of information and library studies. These are interesting but tend to focus on postgraduate provision and tell us little of the hopes and aspirations of the students or of their reasons for choosing their course of study.…”