Librarians' skills and qualifications in a modern informational environment

Purpose The aim of the research is to investigate the qualifications and the skills of the librarian's profession as they are impressed through the job ads. Design/methodology/approach A total of 200 job advertisements were studied from the UK, Canada, Australia and the USA in 2006 and 2007. The data were derived from known web sites. Findings Overall, 38 skills and qualifications were identified through the job ads. Their percentage of appearance was recorded and this constitutes the basic element for the final findings of this research. Research limitations/implications The research restricted in ads emanated from developed countries' web sites. This methodology records the ideal model of a librarian. Originality/value The research, like others, confirms the meaning of the traditional library science in the modern informational environment.