Abstract & Overview
Essential competencies required of an information professional to work in the digital\nenvironment have been a significant discussion topic the Library and Information science\n(LIS) world. Both in Norway and Thailand, one of the issues discussed by LIS educators\nand librarians in several discussions on LIS curriculum development is the competencies\nrequired for an information professional to be effective and efficient working in the library,\narchive, museum and related areas in this digital era. However, there has been no\nempirical study which examines the opinions of educators on this topic. Therefore, this\nthesis aims to identify the essential competencies of an information professional working\nin a digital library environment, in the opinions of Norwegian and Thai LIS educators.\nThe study has used online questionnaires, face-to-face interviews, online interviews and\nemail interviews as data collection methods. The results revealed that the essential\ncompetencies, that is personality traits, required of the information professionals were\nanalytical, creative and technical competencies. In addition, the results indicated that\nMetadata, Database Development and Database Management System and User needs\nwere regarded as the most discipline specific knowledge essential competencies. Finally,\ncommunication, critical thinking, information literacy and teamwork were the generic\nskills needed for an information professional to work efficiently and effectively in a\ndigital library environment.