COMPETENCIES FOR THE INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL IN THE COMING DECADE: A DELPHI STUDY

The intent of this study was to determine if the sample population representing both librarians and information scientists would differ in their ratings of the importance of the thirty-four competencies selected for inclusion in the study. The competencies rated most important would be potential core competencies for future information professionals. These core competencies could then form the basis for a restructured core curriculum responsive to the demands of practitioners and students.;A two-round Delphi method was employed for data collection. In this research, the Delphi technique was used as a tool to correlate the judgments of an interdisciplinary group of "experts" representing the information profession. "Experts" were defined as those persons who were active participants or award winners in four professional associations from whose membership the study population was drawn.;Research conclusions were based on the fifty-one percent of the sample who completed both rounds of the Delphi. Competency ratings showed a high level of agreement among all participants, whether they had identified themselves as librarians or information scientists.;The competencies rated most highly by the respondents were interdisciplinary; and could be characterized as job "generic" versus job "specific". Participants were unified in viewing management competencies as especially important to future professionals. Ranked most important was the ability to articulate ideas, principles, concepts, and policies clearly: orally and in writing. Least important were computer programming skills.;Competencies were defined as the knowledge, skills and behaviors necessary to perform work tasks successfully. Study competencies were derived from a review of library and information science literature. The competencies selected for the study were chosen as being generic to the profession as a whole, rather than being job related.