HÖGSKOLEBIBLIOTEKARIER OCH ÄMNESKOMPETENS
En undersökning av ämneskompetensens betydelse för högskolebibliotekarier i Skåne
ämneskunskaperämneskompetensHögskolebibliotekarierHögskolebibliotekProfessionsteoriKvantitativ undersökningSubject expertiseAcademic librariansDocumentationInformationLibrary scienceArchivisticsArkiv- och bibliotekskunskapDokumentationSocial Sciences
The aim of this Master's thesis is to investigate the importance of subject expertise for academic librarians in Skåne. Virtually all librarians in Sweden have studied other subjects besides library and information science (LIS) before becoming librarians, and in this thesis we ask what happens to this expertise. How many librarians can be said to have a good background in the subjects they are working with? Do academic librarians use their subject knowledge on the job? Does it make a difference what subject one has studied when it comes to job opportunities? What do librarians themselves think of the importance of subject expertise? We are also interested in finding out how subject expertise fits in with the growing professionalization of librarianship.A quantitative questionnaire was sent to 195 academic librarians at four different institutes of higher education in Skåne. A total of 107 librarians answered questions about their LIS education, subject background and current job as well questions on how important they perceived a subject background to be for themselves and for academic librarians in general. The results were analysed with reference to theories of professions, and in particular to different strategies that librarians could use to assert their professional jurisdiction.The conclusion we drew was that subject expertise is seen as a supplement to LIS education - useful, but by no means essential, for obtaining employment or performing well on the job. There were, however, a few librarians who felt very strongly that subject expertise was important both for the librarian's status and for the library's status within the university/college. Using subject expertise as a strategy to improve librarians' overall professional status is, however, not a practical option.