Antonia Bernadette Donkor PhD in Information Science , Amy Pascalia Abra Asimah PhD in Information Science , Williams Ezinwa Nwagwu PhD in Information Science
{"title":"在两个世界之间挣扎:在大学图书馆工作的图书管理员对角色、地位和职业发展的看法","authors":"Antonia Bernadette Donkor PhD in Information Science , Amy Pascalia Abra Asimah PhD in Information Science , Williams Ezinwa Nwagwu PhD in Information Science","doi":"10.1016/j.acalib.2024.102861","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Librarians working in university libraries are torn between the two dominant categories (academic and professional) of university staff. Belonging to either of the categories of staff has implications for the employees' roles and duties, status, and career progression in the academic setting. This study sought to understand the perception of librarians' roles, status, and career progression with the changing frontiers of knowledge and education in contemporary times. Using the qualitative approach, fourteen (14) librarians working in seven university libraries in Ghana were interviewed using a semi-structured interview schedule. These librarians were purposively selected because they possessed the qualifications of practice and were experienced in the academic library setting. The data collected from the interview was transcribed. Using Nvivo software version 14, the researchers used the Reflexive Thematic Analysis method to garner codes and themes from the data to understand the phenomenon under study. The findings from the study showed that librarians perceived their roles and responsibilities of academic librarians to be classified into three dominant categories: research support, teaching, and managerial/administrative roles. Again, academic librarians were assigned to either the academic or professional cadre in their universities based on the university's understanding of the library as a professional or academic unit irrespective of the Librarian's qualification, roles and responsibilities and the changing academic librarianship landscape. The study revealed the challenges librarians working in academic libraries face with their promotion and career progression, including long years of waiting (6 years) to qualify for the promotion, role inconsistencies, stagnation/lack of promotion, the presence of an unclear career path, and the inability to meet promotion requirements due to the lack of time for research, all of which have implications on their job satisfaction leading to demotivation and stress among academic librarians. The findings of this study have practical implications for policymakers in the Library and Information Science (LIS) field, Higher Education Institutions (HEI), and researchers to understand the perception of the roles, status, and career progression of the librarians working in academic libraries in Ghana and to inform policy decisions.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":47762,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Academic Librarianship","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.5000,"publicationDate":"2024-02-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Torn Between Two Worlds: Perceptions of the Role, Status, and Career Progression of Librarians Working in University Libraries\",\"authors\":\"Antonia Bernadette Donkor PhD in Information Science , Amy Pascalia Abra Asimah PhD in Information Science , Williams Ezinwa Nwagwu PhD in Information Science\",\"doi\":\"10.1016/j.acalib.2024.102861\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<div><p>Librarians working in university libraries are torn between the two dominant categories (academic and professional) of university staff. Belonging to either of the categories of staff has implications for the employees' roles and duties, status, and career progression in the academic setting. This study sought to understand the perception of librarians' roles, status, and career progression with the changing frontiers of knowledge and education in contemporary times. Using the qualitative approach, fourteen (14) librarians working in seven university libraries in Ghana were interviewed using a semi-structured interview schedule. These librarians were purposively selected because they possessed the qualifications of practice and were experienced in the academic library setting. The data collected from the interview was transcribed. Using Nvivo software version 14, the researchers used the Reflexive Thematic Analysis method to garner codes and themes from the data to understand the phenomenon under study. The findings from the study showed that librarians perceived their roles and responsibilities of academic librarians to be classified into three dominant categories: research support, teaching, and managerial/administrative roles. Again, academic librarians were assigned to either the academic or professional cadre in their universities based on the university's understanding of the library as a professional or academic unit irrespective of the Librarian's qualification, roles and responsibilities and the changing academic librarianship landscape. The study revealed the challenges librarians working in academic libraries face with their promotion and career progression, including long years of waiting (6 years) to qualify for the promotion, role inconsistencies, stagnation/lack of promotion, the presence of an unclear career path, and the inability to meet promotion requirements due to the lack of time for research, all of which have implications on their job satisfaction leading to demotivation and stress among academic librarians. The findings of this study have practical implications for policymakers in the Library and Information Science (LIS) field, Higher Education Institutions (HEI), and researchers to understand the perception of the roles, status, and career progression of the librarians working in academic libraries in Ghana and to inform policy decisions.</p></div>\",\"PeriodicalId\":47762,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Journal of Academic Librarianship\",\"volume\":null,\"pages\":null},\"PeriodicalIF\":2.5000,\"publicationDate\":\"2024-02-17\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Journal of Academic Librarianship\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"91\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0099133324000223\",\"RegionNum\":3,\"RegionCategory\":\"管理学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q2\",\"JCRName\":\"INFORMATION SCIENCE & LIBRARY SCIENCE\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Academic Librarianship","FirstCategoryId":"91","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0099133324000223","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"INFORMATION SCIENCE & LIBRARY SCIENCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
Torn Between Two Worlds: Perceptions of the Role, Status, and Career Progression of Librarians Working in University Libraries
Librarians working in university libraries are torn between the two dominant categories (academic and professional) of university staff. Belonging to either of the categories of staff has implications for the employees' roles and duties, status, and career progression in the academic setting. This study sought to understand the perception of librarians' roles, status, and career progression with the changing frontiers of knowledge and education in contemporary times. Using the qualitative approach, fourteen (14) librarians working in seven university libraries in Ghana were interviewed using a semi-structured interview schedule. These librarians were purposively selected because they possessed the qualifications of practice and were experienced in the academic library setting. The data collected from the interview was transcribed. Using Nvivo software version 14, the researchers used the Reflexive Thematic Analysis method to garner codes and themes from the data to understand the phenomenon under study. The findings from the study showed that librarians perceived their roles and responsibilities of academic librarians to be classified into three dominant categories: research support, teaching, and managerial/administrative roles. Again, academic librarians were assigned to either the academic or professional cadre in their universities based on the university's understanding of the library as a professional or academic unit irrespective of the Librarian's qualification, roles and responsibilities and the changing academic librarianship landscape. The study revealed the challenges librarians working in academic libraries face with their promotion and career progression, including long years of waiting (6 years) to qualify for the promotion, role inconsistencies, stagnation/lack of promotion, the presence of an unclear career path, and the inability to meet promotion requirements due to the lack of time for research, all of which have implications on their job satisfaction leading to demotivation and stress among academic librarians. The findings of this study have practical implications for policymakers in the Library and Information Science (LIS) field, Higher Education Institutions (HEI), and researchers to understand the perception of the roles, status, and career progression of the librarians working in academic libraries in Ghana and to inform policy decisions.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Academic Librarianship, an international and refereed journal, publishes articles that focus on problems and issues germane to college and university libraries. JAL provides a forum for authors to present research findings and, where applicable, their practical applications and significance; analyze policies, practices, issues, and trends; speculate about the future of academic librarianship; present analytical bibliographic essays and philosophical treatises. JAL also brings to the attention of its readers information about hundreds of new and recently published books in library and information science, management, scholarly communication, and higher education. JAL, in addition, covers management and discipline-based software and information policy developments.