The transfer from academic studies into professional life : 94 LIS-graduates’ retrospective experiences

The main purpose of this Master’s thesis is to investigate how the transfer from academic studies into professional life is experienced in retrospect by professional librarians. The aim is also to examine in which context the studies in library- and information science in Sweden has been formed. To attain the purpose of the thesis four main questions is being asked: In which context has LIS-studies from the period 1993-2007 been formed? Which competence does the professional librarian consider to be the most fundamental in professional life? Does the professional librarian experience that the knowledge attained from LIS-studies is sufficient for the actual tasks? Which are the differences between tasks at different types of libraries? The study is performed through a questionnaire survey in which 94 professional librarians express their experiences of their LIS-studies in retrospect. The previous research brought up in the thesis is divided into four major themes: the transfer from academic studies into professional life, the librarian’s competence, the librarian’s competence from the employer’s view and present research. The theoretical framework revolves around the concepts of competence, knowledge and qualifications and is used as a tool to discuss the results of the survey. The results show that information competence is considered the most fundamental competence, as well as knowledge organization and pedagogy. Several respondents consider the education too theoretical and lacking practical elements, whereas a smaller group are against practice during studies. A predominantly large part of the respondents consider their competence sufficient.Uppsatsnivå: