| Introduction: The definition of competencies is continuing to become more
common in Library and Information Science (LIS). It is used for describing
the library positions and the means of assessment. The main object of study
was to determine the skills and knowledge that the academic medical librarians
required for the emerging roles of medical librarianship in Iran and to
find out their education and training needs. Methodology: A survey method
was used for gathering data. A structured questionnaire, listing 60 competency
statements, which covered six areas, was designed after an extensive literature
review. The structured questionnaires were sent to all academic medical
sciences departments in Iran, those who had at least an undergraduate or
Master’s degree in Library Science throughout the country. A total number of
165 questionnaires were returned and went under analysis. Results: The results
of study indicated that the essential competencies which were expected
from Iranian academic medical librarians with Bachelor’s degree qualification
were “general-and personal competencies”. In addition, “health science reference
and information services competencies” were recognized as the second
most important competencies for academic medical librarians with Bachelor’s
degree qualifications. However, the priority for academic medical librarians
with a Master’s degree qualification was “management theory and techniques
competencies”. The other priorities were “Health sciences reference and information
services competencies”. Conclusion: The study concluded that the
confirmed competencies can be used for the assessment and adjustment of the
curricula of formal education programs of medical librarianship in Iran. |