The emerging employment market for librarians and information workers in the UK

Abstract

As the rate of growth in the established market for information specialists declines, increasing attention is focused on the emerging employment market. A survey based on job advertisements suggests that in the UK this emerging market offers between 3000 and 3500 jobs at any one time which potentially are open to librarians and information workers The characteristics of these jobs are described and discussed and the results are reported of a survey which set out to discover: what were the expectations of employers, what sort of people were getting the jobs, and what impact were librarians and information workers making on the emerging employment market The results suggest that, while the market as a whole may expand, librarians and information workers will face severe competition. The research was funded by the British Library.A recent study of the established market for librarians and information workers (1) shows that, after a period of sustained growth in the 1960s and early 1970s, the rate of growth has slowed considerably to the extent that it is unrealistic to expect much expansion of the established market during Rthe coming years. Perhaps because of this, increasing attention has been focused on the potential scope for employment offered by the emerging markets for librarians and information workers.The effects can be seen most clearly in the degree of urgency with which British schools of librarianship and information studies are attempting to revise their curricula in an attempt to produce graduates who will be able to compete for places in this emerging market. The process of rapid curriculum change is endorsed by the report of the Transbinary Group set up to investigate the education and training process for librarians (2).To justify this attempt to move into a new employment market a number of people have cited research evidence which seems to suggest that we are moving into an 'Information Age', or at least a society in which information figures more significantly than it has in the past. A recent study carried out by the Technical Change Centre, for example, suggests that in NICK MOORE is a partner m Acumen, a research and information consultancy. Until 1982 he was the project ofhcer responsible for pubhc hbrary research at the British Library

Scientists and information work: the careers of the 1979-1985 MSc graduates from the Department of Information Studies, University of Sheffield

“…White [15] surveyed the careers of a small sample of those graduating from twelve library/information schools on behalf of the Transbinary Group, and earlier surveys, including those by Armstrong [1] and [2], have been reviewed by Moore and Kempson [6,7] and by Moore [4]. Moore [5] also wrote about the emerging employment market whilst Slater studied career patterns [10]. alternative careers [11], and careers guidance [1?J in this broad field.…”

“…(4) A high proportion of those in the Sheffield survey enter industry and commerce and very few indeed are in the UGC category of unknown, unemployed or temporarv employment (5). Although most first jobs are in the traditional' information fields, a substantial proportion of Sheffield MSc graduates move into the 'emerging fields' in their second or later posts.…”

Education and training for librarianship and information services in the UK: A broad overview of some trends and issues

“…They, too, noted that the "dominance of the library and information workforce by women (82 per cent) is by no means unusual and is the norm in most countries" [3, p.22]. They also commented that the special library/information sector is growing steadily and this observation ties in with Moore's findings [4,5] concerning "the emergence of new markets" in the information sector and the need for many more information professionals to cope with Britain as an "information society" where information is a vital and valuable economic resource. It could well be that the future for librarians will lie in transforming themselves into "information managers" and, more interestingly perhaps, "information analysts" who will be able not just to locate and acquire information but also to analyse and repackage it for a clientele who will be happy and willing to pay for this "value-added" product.…”

Personal transferable skills for the modern information professional: a discussion paper

“…That the possession of a certain range of transferable skills may be more important than subject knowledge is demonstrated by the many people who have entered the profession 'sideways' without having the traditional training. In a study of the emerging information job market, Moore [6] found that even where employers specified a qualification in library and information work as a prerequisite for a job, more than half the positions were taken by people without such qualifications. It should be noted that this survey deliberately excluded posts for which a specific subject degree, such as pharmacy or law, was essential.…”