Новые времена, новые требования: подготовка библиотекарей в цифровую эпоху. Перевод О.А. Жеравиной

Starting from the situation of Spanish university studies in the area of libraries, the author reflects on the new professional challenges that the university must respond. The paper analyzes how university studies they have evolved in Librarianship from its origins in the 80s of the XX century to its adaptation to the demands of the European Higher Education Area. An evolution marked by the blurring of the central core of the profession and by lower demand from students, contrary to the trend noted by other university careers. The influence and the changes that have been introduced in the environment of the Information Technology and Communication (ICT) as well as the requirements of the Knowledge Society is studied. The result has been a profound transformation of libraries, which have gone from a world of references on paper to digital. New realities, new needs and demands, requiring profoundly transform the role played by libraries, as well as its professionals. Changes that must find adequate reflection in undergraduate curricula in the area of Librarianship, and which reflects the author in this paper. The role that libraries play in society in general has expanded and evolved. All of them are changing their traditional roles as collections storage centers and arrangement thereof users. Technological advances stagger the foundations of the traditional library. Current users do not need to travel to access their collections, come closer than ever to socialize, learn and work together, share knowledge or readings, to feel integrated. The role of public libraries that emerged to provide universal basic education, and provide access to essential content, adds a new task, not only provide the book or document itself; but also provide the ability to access them. If before it was enough to read for access to information and knowledge, skills and competencies now are required in the digital environment to access them as well as reading and comprehension skills. To survive this situation effective specialized libraries have made significant changes in their work and how they interact with the concerned community. Successful special libraries today are managing Intranets, digitizing collections, creating files, synthesize and analyze information and engaging in project teams in their community. At the present time, in which access to information is not the problem, but rather the management of information overload, to survive, libraries will continue to expand into new roles and functions. Librarians who want to prosper should not strive to maintain the lowest level tasks, but seizing opportunities to assume roles seen by managers as crucial to the organization and not replaceable. The author concludes with the idea that if libraries constitute a reality in profound transformation and enrichment, higher education of their future professionals should not be in crisis. To adapt the higher education level to the needs of the society and the market, Librarinship studies have to start at the base: the professorate.

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