On librarians’ occupational identities : ICT and the shaping of information seeking expertise

Abstract

Changes in the Scandinavian LIS (Library and information science) curriculum during the last decade, interacting with librarianship as well as with society at large, call for a deepened understanding of the social dynamics of librarians’ occupational identities. At least two central themes emerge studying the recent development of librarianship, namely the process of academisation and the implementation of contemporary ICT (information and communication technology) tools. This paper discusses Scandinavian academic librarians’ expertise, identified as the roles of information seeking experts and as information literacy mediators; both coming to expression within the professional practice of user education. This is done through a theoretical discussion with points of departure taken in current theory of professions and in Patrick Wilson’s writing on librarians’ unique competence. The discussion is empirically illustrated primarily by examples from a study on 31 Scandinavian academic libraries’ web-based tutorials for information literacy. Finally, some suggestions are made for the development of user education as well as for future research.