The library profession: challenges and future trends in the Arab world: a prospective study. 1

Abstract

It is known that libraries and information centers are institutions that are affected and affected in one way or another by the circumstances surrounding them. In today's world, due to the successive and rapid developments in information technology and the emergence of modern technologies, which have greatly affected libraries and librarians and imposed on them great challenges that require new skills and advanced services. Given that the primary goal of the existence of libraries and librarians is to provide appropriate and adequate services to meet the needs of beneficiaries, libraries must therefore work to develop their staff and prepare all the requirements that enable them to advance and develop the profession and thus enable them to face the challenges imposed by modern technologies.

The current study aims to identify the reasons for the decline of the library profession in the Arab world and seeks to anticipate its future during the next ten years. For the purpose of achieving the goal of the study, the researchers sought to benefit from the Delphi method for future expectations, where 25 academic and professional experts were accredited who specialize in library and information science, psychology, sociology, and other specializations distributed among university colleges, documentation and information centers, and university libraries. We contacted the experts to find out their opinions and expectations about the future of the library profession during the next ten years through three successive rounds, as follows:

In the first round, a questionnaire was distributed consisting of a set of reasons for the decline of the library profession and another set of expected solutions.
In the second round, the experts' observations and opinions were taken into account, and the questionnaire was returned again to the experts to obtain their opinions.
In the third round, the questionnaire items were arranged into six axes for reasons for the decline in the profession and six other axes for solutions and expectations. It was returned a third time to the experts and they were asked to rank the reasons and solutions according to their importance from the point of view of each of them.

The study produced many results and recommendations that the researchers hope will be of benefit and help improve and develop the library profession.