An insight into the Portuguese professional librarian workforce in Academic Libraries

Abstract

This communication presents a summary of the results of the Survey of Information Professionals in Portuguese Academic Libraries, a work carried out by the Portuguese Association of Librarians, Archivists and Information and Documentation Professionals. The main purpose of this study is to characterize the human resources that have their activity in the field of Information and Documentation in the Academic Libraries of Portugal, for the following variables: sex, age, professionals with some deficit, nationality, professional category, qualifications and background training in the field of Information Science. Another objective is to make some reflections related to the analysis and discussion of the results obtained and the challenges faced by the profession. The questionnaire survey was sent to the managers of information institutions in Portugal between 2021 and 2023, using the LimeSurvey platform. The data collected with the questionnaire were loaded into Excel files, divided by sectors of activity and worked with pivot tables. The results of the questionnaire survey allowed to assess the existence of a total of 903 information professionals in academic libraries, with a gender distribution of 78% female and 22% male. As far as qualifications are concerned, the questionnaire data showed that professionals have relevant higher education, with 47% with a degree in Information Science and 53% without. This study is of great importance as it is the first one carried out in Portugal on this group of professionals working in academic libraries. The conclusions are presented in the form of overlapping inferences of the different variables analyzed and in the form of general recommendations that the Portuguese Association of Librarians, Archivists and Information and Documentation Professionals will use for the defense of the profession.