Gymnasiebibliotekarien – informationsspecialist och pedagog: om gymnasiebibliotekariens yrkesroll och dess angränsningar till lärarrollen

Abstract

The purpose of this study has been to examine different aspects of the professional role of the high school librarian, especially the educational role, and its delimitations to the teacher's role. The methods that were used were studies of literature within the subject area and qualitative interviews with high school librarians and high school teachers of social studies. Andrew Abbot's theory on the system of professions was used in the analysis of the results of the study. The high school librarians who were interviewed enabled access to information, both intellectually and physically. They helped students develop information seeking skills and they functioned as educators and counselors. The teachers and librarians who were interviewed shared the responsibility of helping students develop information skills. Instead of working side by side throughout the process, the teachers and librarians had divided the tasks between themselves. The librarians taught students information seeking strategies, and the teachers helped students develop other information skills, such as choosing and evaluating information. The interviewed librarians had suggested that they should try to integrate the teaching of information skills with the instructional program of the school. The teachers, however, were opposed to this. Perhaps because they wanted to protect their own professional work from intrusion. The professional role of the high school librarian was influenced by several factors. Among those were the introduction of information technology into the school library and the actions of the professional groups, as well as professional claims made in literature.