Report on skills in archives and library sector

A draft report entitled ‘The demand for and supply of skills in library and information services, archival services and records management’ in South Africa, has been made available online by the Department of Arts and Culture. A final report will be submitted by the end of March 2010.

A few excerpts:

“A theme that recurred throughout the study was that in the eyes of funders, decision makers, students and potential students the IMS doesn’t have the standing that the respondents felt it deserves. The lack of recognition is also indicative of a need for stronger leadership and advocacy skills – especially among the professionals in the sector.” (p.xix)

“In South Africa libraries and archives face critical challenges such as inadequate infrastructure, inconsistent levels of service, a lack of staff and, in disadvantaged areas, a lack of services. These problems have already been prioritised by government and are currently being addressed by a major conditional grant available over a three-year period (for the re-capitalisation of the public or community libraries). However, in the implementation of this grant government and the National Council for Library and Information Services (NCLIS) became aware of an acute shortage of trained librarians. This shortage prompted the Department of Arts and Culture (DAC) and the NCLIS to investigate the demand for the skills and the education and training currently provided by higher education institutions for librarians, archivists, records managers and other information specialists. The overall aim of this study was to provide DAC and the NCLIS with an integrated profile of the sector and a comprehensive evaluation of education and training provision compared to the skills needs and requirements of the sector.” (p.xiii)

“There are currently more than 800 Acts that regulate record keeping – in terms of, for example, what records to create, how long to keep them, and in which format. Approximately 200 of these Acts are specifically applicable to the public service while the rest are applicable to other role players in the economy.” (p.xiv)

One of the changes that had a profound effect on the IMS was the restructuring of the South African higher education sector in the period 2000 to 2006 ... [which] led to a reduction in the number of qualifications offered.” (p.xv)

“Based on the information obtained from the employer survey, total employment in the LIS and archival services components of the IMS (excluding records management) was estimated at approximately 13 000. This is 0.16% of total formal employment in South Africa. Archival services accounts for approximately 7.5% of the total IMS employment.” (p.xvi)

The report then reviewed the gender, race and age make-up of the sector. It also looked at qualifications. “Of the archivists, 45.7% held qualifications at NQF Level 8 and above – i.e. masters or doctoral degrees – while another 21.2% held NQF Level 7 qualifications. ...“a total of 1 574 vacant positions existed in LIS and archival services, which was equal to 11.1% of total positions in the sector ... The number of vacancies that existed for archivists (155) was equal to 32.2% of total positions for archivists in the sector. The vacancy rates for professionals such as archivists and librarians are exceptionally high and are indicative of shortages in the market or the inability of employers to effectively compete for and retain the skills of these professionals. Similarly, the 27% vacancy rate in records management is also exceptionally high.” (p.xvii)

“Chapter 6 of the report focuses on the skills deficiencies in the workforce employed in the IMS. Employers’ comments showed that a number of factors have led to skills deficiencies in the current workforce and, therefore, to training needs: the pressures brought about by the rapid transformation of organisations, the unfavourable labour market conditions in the IMS (specifically skills shortages) and the budgetary constraints faced by the IMS have given rise to a situation where the current skills deficiencies cannot be addressed through informal training in the workplace alone. The specific training needs identified by employers included generic training needs (skills needed by employees in archival services, LIS and in records management) such as IT training, customer care/service delivery, literacy and language proficiency, communication and “soft skills” training and management training. These needs also included technical training specific to each of the three work environments.” (pp.xvii-xviii)

“If individual employers’ expectations of growth or decline in their respective organisations come true, total employment in these two components of the sector will increase by 1.8% per year over the period 2009 to 2014.” (p.xviii) Two areas of skills identified for future growth include IT skills and skills to run community-oriented libraries and archives.

The report then reviews current educational offerings and student numbers and concluded that “the current supply of new entrants is far from being adequate to fill the positions that become vacant” (p.xxii) although the course content generally met most of the needs of the sector except in terms of managerial skills.

The report will now be discussed in stakeholder workshops and then reviewed for the final draft in March 2010.