What competencies do special library managers and their corporate managers feel are important for special libraries and to what extent are the opinions of these groups in agreement

Abstract

Competencies are a well developed idea that have been used across a broad range of disciplines, including the library and information profession, as a means of measuring the performance of the individual or the organization. This study used competencies to explore library and corporate managers perception of the value of particular library competencies, both now and in the future, in the special library environment in New Zealand. This research offered the opportunity to determine if library and corporate managers were in agreement with regard to the types of competencies they each value in their special library service. Ur Rehmen's list of 14 competencies provided the framework for this research as a mechanism to analyse key gaps in the value placed on each of these competencies by library and corporate managers. The target population was library managers in government, law, corporate, health and non-profit sectors and their corporate managers. A web based survey instrument was used to collect quantitative data. Overall there were 29 responses from library managers and 7 responses from corporate managers. The low response rate meant that definitive conclusions could not be reached but the results did suggest that library and corporate managers do possess some minor differences in the types of competencies they value in their organization's special library. Library managers placed a higher importance on managerial competencies whereas corporate managers emphasize those competencies with a more tangible quality. Future competencies were also investigated; these findings indicated that both groups believed that competencies needed by a special library would not change significantly in the next five years. Both groups also identified a similar range of competencies that they believed would be important. This research offers a beginning step in the way that competencies can be used as a framework for exploring differences between groups in the library and information services sector.