Information professional

An information professional is an individual who preserves, organizes, and disseminates information. Information professionals are skilled in the organization and retrieval of recorded knowledge. Traditionally, their work has been with print materials, but these skills are being increasingly used with electronic, visual, audio, and digital materials. Information professionals work in a variety of public, private, non-profit, and academic institutions.

Role

Information professionals provide a wide range of services in the areas of: classification systems, taxonomies, tagging structures, thesauri, retention schedules, assessment criteria, information audits, knowledge audits, information research, information resources planning and acquisition, training programs for people using information, information and knowledge literacy campaigns and other 'finding and organizational aids and approaches'. Some typical job titles for information professionals are Archivist, Business Intelligence Officer, Chief Information Officer, Community Information Officer, Customer Service Officer, Data Researcher, Information Consultant, Information, Knowledge or Records Manager, Librarian, Program Manager, Research Officer, Web-manager or Web-master.

Education

An Information Professional may receive a range of undergraduate and graduate degrees in Archival Studies, Information Systems, Information Science, Information Studies, Knowledge Management, Library Science, Records Management and other related degree programs. In North America, most degrees are granted by institutions that are accredited by the American Library Association (ALA). In the United Kingdom, the regulating body is the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP). In South Africa, there is the Library and Information Association of South Africa (LIASA). Most countries have a professional association who oversee the professional standards of its members. These associations are all members of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA). Many of these educational institutions refer to themselves as an iSchool and are members of the iSchool Caucus. Similarly, in Asia, there exists a consortium of iSchools called the Consortium of iSchools Asia-Pacific (CiSAP).

See also

• Special Libraries Association (SLA)
• Archivist
• Chief Information Officer
• Documentalist
• Knowledge management
• Librarian
• Records manager
• ISchool
• International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions

External links

• About Information Professionals
• Competencies for Information Professionals of the 21st Century
• Association of Independent Information Professionals (AIIP)
• American Library Association accredited programs
• Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP)
• Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA)
• iSchool Caucus
• Consortium of iSchools Asia-Pacific (CiSAP)
  • Directory of Library and Information Science programs in Asia
• Standing Conference of Eastern, Central and Southern Africa Library and Information Associations (SCECSAL)
  • Library and Information Association of South Africa (LIASA)