Professional skills
This section of the survey examined the current professional skills and knowledge needs
of the library workforce in Qatar, focusing in particular on how essential specific skills
and knowledge areas are in the library profession in Qatar both now and in the future.
Two questions were asked in this section – one concerning the relative importance
of predefined core library skills and knowledge in the workplace and the other
concerning the need for other types of skills and knowledge.
The findings from these questions provided an in-depth understanding of the
current professional landscape within Qatar libraries and of the areas where most
activity is currently being focused. Furthermore, it also highlighted areas in need of
growth and development.
Essential skills and knowledge for library positions in Qatar. A list of predefined library
skills and knowledge, including both technical and soft skills, were listed and respondents
were asked to select which ones they felt were most essential for library positions in Qatar
at present. Respondents were invited to select multiple options if they so wished.
The top six selected themes in the “Absolutely Essential” category, together with the
percentage of respondents selecting each theme, were as follows:
(1) reference and enquiry services – 72 per cent;
(2) information support to students – 72 per cent;
(3) information literacy instruction – 72 per cent;
(4) collection development and management – 57 per cent;
(5) marketing of library services – 54 per cent; and
(6) policies and procedures development – 51 per cent.
This denotes the importance of core library service development and support activities
which are critical for all libraries in Qatar, as well as the importance of specific activities
such as information literacy instruction that are critical to certain types of libraries
only, mainly academic libraries.