The current and emerging roles of subject librarians in academic institutions: A comparative study of the University of the Witwatersrand and the University of South Africa

Abstract

The impact of information and communication technology on higher education has changed the approaches to service provision in academic libraries, including the ways in which information users find and use information with the guidance of the subject librarian. This qualitative study explored and compared the traditional, current and emerging roles of subject librarians at two institutions of higher learning in Gauteng Province, South Africa. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 25 purposively sampled subject librarians from a population of 30 respondents at the two academic institutions’ library staff. Thematic data analysis was implemented as the main framework against which the study findings were developed. The findings revealed, inter alia, that subject librarians at these two academic institutions have different job titles, but share common responsibilities and many enormous tasks, ranging from information literacy training/ user education, new course development, faculty liaison, collection development, research support, marketing, building maintenance and staff management, information provision; as well as attendance of research and departmental meetings. The study further found that subject librarians constantly embraced technology, acquired new skills and expertise, and undertook complex tasks with little relation to the early training received from their careers, and kept learning in order to enhance their roles, skills, competency and relevance. Amongst others, the study recommends that the LIS curriculum should be reinforced to reimagine and reposition the librarianship profession, and that further research be undertaken to consider the discrepancies found in different institutions in respect of the titles and work of subject librarians.