INFORMATION

PROFESSIONALS
Competency
Competency is defined by the Council of
Europe's (CoE) document as "the set of
knowledge and skills that enable an
employee to orient easily in a working field
and to solve problems that are linked with
their professional role."
Competencies cover areas of
management, organizational,
creative, informatics and legal
skills and personal attitude –
are ones that forward-looking
information professionals
would see as core
competencies.
Competencies Have Been Divided
Into;

1. Professional competencies which,

relate to information professionals in
various areas.

2. Personal competencies
representing a set of skills, attitudes
and values.
 
Personal Competencies
 
.Is committed to service excellence
.Seeks out challenges and sees new
opportunities both inside and
outside the information world.
.Far-sighted
.Looks for partnerships and alliances

.Creates an environment of mutual

respect and trust
.Have effective communication skills

.Works well with others in a team

 
.Leadership.
.Plans, priorities and focuses on
what are critical.
.Is committed to lifelong learning
and personal career planning
.Recognizes the value of
professional networking and
solidarity
.Is flexible and positive in time of
continuing change
INFORMATION PROFFESSIONAL AND
BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
 
The new information professional must be:
 
able to acquire and process, mediate and market
information products,
aware of the characteristics, potentials and limits
of digital media,
aware of the various needs of different users
groups, both professional and private;
able to process the production and dissemination
of information and have market and service-
oriented work attitudes, and evaluate
appropriate services and products
VARIOUS CHARACTERISTICS AND
SKILLS FOR INFORMATION
PROFFESSIONAL
 
1.Analytical skills, consisting of combining
and summarizing complex information
must lead to a sophisticated capacity to
identify and solve problems.

2.Capacity to judge marketing strategies

and economic reasoning, regarding the
production and promotion of a cultural
product or service.
3.Organizational skills, with the capacity
of organising working teams, co-operation
with specialists in the same field, and to
understand and fulfil the requests of the
public.

4.Creative capabilities, with visionary

thinking, and innovative, long-term
planning.
5.Technical skills, with the mastering of
latest multimedia techniques, and a deep
understanding of computer programmes,
of standards, and of navigation tools and
search engines.

6.Cognitive skills, with the willingness to

engage in a life-long process of learning.

7.Legal skills which will be a crucial

element in successful strategies
An Information Professional Bears
the Following Responsibilities:

·Uphold the profession's reputation for

honesty, competence, and confidentiality.
·Give clients the most current and
accurate information possible within the
budget and time frames provided by the
clients.
·Help clients understand the sources of
information used and the degree of
reliability, which can be expected from
those sources.
·Accept only those projects, which are
legal and are not detrimental to our
profession.
·Respect client confidentiality.
·Recognize intellectual property rights,
licensing agreements and other
contractual agreements with vendors, and
to explain to clients what their obligations
may be to these agreements
·Maintain a professional relationship with
libraries and comply with all their rules of
access.
·Assume responsibility for employees'
compliance with this code.
 
Roles of the Association of
Information Professionals
 
1. Advance the knowledge and understanding
of the information profession;
2. Promote and maintain high professional
and ethical standards among its members;
3. Encourage independent information
professionals to assemble to discuss common
issues;
4. Promote the interchange of information
among independent information professionals
and various organizations;
5. Keep the public informed of the profession
and of the responsibilities of the information
professional.