Librarian Competencies at an IT Company
2025. May 15.
On May 7, 2025, at the invitation of the ELTE BTK Institute of Library and Information Science, our colleague Melinda Mátyás gave a presentation at the Department of Librarianship as part of the “Open Days” event series titled: Utilization of Librarian Competencies at a Software Development Company. In addition to library science students, several instructors and practicing librarian colleagues attended the event. Below, you can read a summary of the presentation’s content, and through the provided links, you can explore the sources used and view the “cards” shown during the lecture.
In her presentation, our colleague first explained the concept of competence in general and within a corporate environment, then presented core librarian competencies based on the ALA (American Library Association) classification, enriched with her own examples. The ALA defines professional and organizational, technical, as well as communication and behavioral competencies. The first category includes, among others, knowledge of library ethics and values, expertise in collection management, cataloging, and classification, commitment to the library, and teamwork and leadership skills related to project management, which is becoming increasingly important in the modern world. The second group includes, for example, effective searching in databases, knowledge of office applications, focus on technical problem-solving, and librarian web design, programming, and makerspace knowledge, which are still less common in Hungary. The third category includes competencies such as customer-centricity, ethical behavior, flexibility, and independence. Highlighted from this group is the importance of librarians communicating with an awareness of the impact their expressions have on both library users and colleagues.
Following this, based on her own experiences, she outlined the main points of how working at a software development company differs from a library environment. These included, for example, generally much greater independence, a strong emphasis on teamwork, often requiring more creativity, more rigorous performance evaluation, and the need to learn how to effectively use various task management software (e.g., Jira, Trello, PEAS).
Then followed the most important part of the presentation: the introduction of competencies that can be effectively utilized in a corporate environment, which are: customer focus, the ability to recognize needs, effective information retrieval and database usage, critical evaluation of information sources, and preparedness for the workplace environment. For this, she utilized Melissa Fraser-Arnott’s study (“The Value of the MLS or MLIS Degree Transferable Skills Identified by LIS Graduates in Non-Library Roles.” Bottom Line 29 (3): 129–41. https://doi.org/10.1108/BL-03-2016-0015). In the penultimate point, she presented corporate positions available to librarians, both entry-level roles and those accessible after additional study and practice (e.g., L1, L1 product support, tester, product owner). In the final section, several examples of potential career paths in a corporate environment were listed.
Sources used:
Fraser-Arnott, Melissa. 2016. “The Value of the MLS or MLIS Degree Transferable Skills Identified by LIS Graduates in Non-Library Roles.” Bottom Line 29 (3): 129–41. https://doi.org/10.1108/BL-03-2016-0015.
Williams, Rachel D., and Laura Saunders. 2020. “What the Field Needs: Core Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities for Public Librarianship.” The Library Quarterly 90 (3): 283–97. https://doi.org/10.1086/708958.
Regarding career paths:
Product Owner: https://www.fizetesek.hu/fizetesek/menedzsment/product-owner?search=1
Customer Service Specialist: https://www.fizetesek.hu/fizetesek/ugyfeltamogatas/ugyfelszolgalati-szakerto?search=1
Helpdesk Staff: https://www.fizetesek.hu/fizetesek/ugyfeltamogatas/helpdesk-munkatars?search=1
The presentation, designed with GAMMA AI, is available here.