From Traditional Librarian to Scholar in the Field of Information and Documentation Sciences

On the Necessity for Training in an Ever-Changing Profession

Abstract

The present article comprises the results that synthesise the current professional training preferences of the members of the Romanian Library Association (RLA). The directions of professional development have emerged from a survey conducted between September and November 2022, on a national-level representative sample.
The professionals in the field were approached on the matter of their motivation to participate in the training programmes and of the extent of the importance they confer to professional training, as well as their expectations after the completion of the aforementioned programmes and the level of their involvement in such endeavours over the past 3 years (financial resources, allotted time). The analysis focused on the training topics chosen by the respondents, the criteria based on which the programmes had been selected, the difficulties that had been encountered etc.
In order to outline a comprehensive view on the evolution of the RLA members’ preferences, a comparison was made between the current results and the ones obtained in 2016 by a similar study. The analysis also covers the differences that occurred during the pandemic period, which emphasised the necessity for certain approaches that were different with respect to the means of exercising the profession, which implicitly led to the acquisition of new skills and abilities.