Library, information and knowledge management professional

This occupation is found in small, medium, and large organisations in the public, private and third sectors including public institutions, health, legal, commercial, educational, government, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), heritage/cultural, environmental, media and entertainment. Library information and knowledge management (LI&KM) professionals work in varied environments, including in an office, onsite or remotely.

This occupation is found in organisations where there is a requirement to manage the lifecycle of information and knowledge assets from identification and curation through to preservation and destruction as appropriate, in line with relevant national and international legislation and internal policies.

The broad purpose of the occupation is to promote education and knowledge through the establishment, development, and operation of libraries, information, or knowledge services. LI&KM professionals manage information and knowledge services and associated resources. This occupation requires ethical leadership and driving an ethical approach to the provision of information without bias or agenda in the management of the information asset or the provision of services to any user.

In addition, they need to ensure the ongoing development of green and sustainable libraries which may be of any size. LI&KM professionals will have a clear sustainability agenda, which includes green buildings and equipment, green office principles, sustainable economy, sustainable library services, social sustainability, environmental management and commitment to general environmental goals and programmes. LI&KM professionals actively enable equitable access to information in all forms to their communities. Typically, the role will enhance professional practice within the LI&KM community.

An LI&KM professional's daily work is governed by frequently changing complex legislation and regulations. They have a professional responsibility to ensure compliance from their organisations and users on matters such as data protection, intellectual property, privacy, diversity and equity, copyright, and licensing restrictions in the provision of LI&KM services. This technical and specialist role requires a thorough understanding of the legislative landscape in which the LI&KM professional operates as they advise and contribute to organisational policies in these areas.

They are required to ensure there are strategies and procedures in place to mitigate risk for their organisations in these areas. LI&KM professionals set and review information and knowledge strategies in line with business and operational goals. They are required to develop strategies, and analyse and manage the whole information and knowledge lifecycle.

They utilise their specialist knowledge and skills to identify continuous improvement and efficiencies to meet operational targets within budgetary parameters. Technological developments and the evolving needs of stakeholders and wider society mean that LI&KM professionals continually innovate and reformulate their specialist professional practice.

In their daily work, an employee in this occupation interacts with a range of internal stakeholders, including colleagues, other departments such as IT, legal, HR and marketing, senior management, and the board of directors, to deliver library, information, and knowledge services. The LI&KM professional is instrumental in building and managing strategic relationships. They liaise directly with external stakeholders, such as the public, students, researchers, academic and professional staff, library suppliers, and external agencies. They work in partnership with external stakeholders to achieve common goals across the library, information, and knowledge professions, such as negotiating costs with publishers, collaborating on information sharing, or advocating for LI&KM services. These include professional bodies, government bodies, pressure groups, members of the public, service users, and NGOs.

An employee in this occupation will be responsible for providing leadership and advice to their organisation on the needs of their service users. The technical and specialist advice and decision-making will be on the creation, collection, curation, storage, and provision of access to information, resources and knowledge. They will be responsible for ensuring that information can be retrieved, understood and used in all its formats for the purposes of work, education, research, health, wellbeing and entertainment. They do this by managing budgets to identify and select relevant resources to support stakeholders and organisational objectives.

LI&KM professionals will use practices such as cataloguing and classifying to industry standards in conjunction with LI&KM systems to ensure resources are searchable and retrievable for stakeholders. This would include how resources are made available in a LI&KM setting, through the purchase of databases and e-books/e-journals and the creation of digital resources and systems.

LI&KM professionals are responsible for policies concerning collection management, including which resources are collected and in which format, how budgets are spent, and information retention periods. As part of the role, they consider the carbon and climate change impacts of their strategies for the use of online data versus paper resources when selecting carbon neutral cloud providers for holding large stores of information and data. An LI&KM professional needs to be aware of issues such as critical librarianship, equity, diversity, and inclusion, misinformation and disinformation, and how the profession can act on these issues.

An LI&KM professional uses their specialist knowledge and skills to understand how their services, collections and metadata may exclude and marginalise groups in society and take steps to counteract this. The high-level responsibilities of LI&KM professionals include delivering leadership in conjunction with expertise to enable high quality, responsive LI&KM services. They take a lead on promoting and facilitating the development of information, media and digital literacy and knowledge mobilisation. This is done through delivering information sessions to stakeholders to share best practice in topics such as literature searching, accessing and searching databases and information systems, evaluating information and sources. This requires the development of teaching and presentation skills as well as professional knowledge of topics such as expert searching, critical appraisal, and information literacy.

They manage information and knowledge resources (physical and digital), including acquisition and creation, decision-making regarding choice of platform, storage, and retrieval, organisation, and categorisation as well as preservation and deletion. They are responsible for ensuring services are delivered within regulations and legal compliance for data and information use and in adherence with internal policies to mitigate risk for their organisation. Working at this level this occupational role will be responsible for reviewing and identifying potential risks and opportunities whilst continuously improving existing policies and procedures of the LI&KM function.

The LI&KM professional will work both independently and in a wide range of team settings usually accountable to a head of service. They work within agreed budgets and available resources. They will be responsible for decision making, alongside guiding, or influencing the decisions of others.

Their management responsibilities may include managing functions, budgets, people, and/or projects. They lead, mentor, coach, evaluate, anticipate resource requirements, and share best practice within their teams, across the organisation and with wider communities, both stakeholder and professional.

They work in a variety of environments and work patterns, including evenings, weekends, and public holidays. Some tasks in certain sectors may involve manual handling and working at height.