The future of the information professional
Nick Poole, CEO, CILIP
UKeIG AGM & Members Day
June 2016
These slides online at http://www.slideshare.net/cilip

Embrace change
I believe the future for the information, library and knowledge profession is
exciting and vibrant with endless possibilities shaped by changing technology and
the changing needs of our users.
The challenge is to continue to grow and develop, learn, adapt and innovate.

The freedom to innovate
Vijay Govindarajan (Tuck Business School) proposes 3 traps to avoid:
• The Physical Trap – legacy investment in systems & materials prevent us from
pursuing fresher, more relevant investments;
• The Psychological Trap – leaders fixate on what made them successful in the
past & fail to notice when something new is displacing it, and;
• The Strategic Trap – companies and organisations focus on meeting today’s
needs and fail to plan to address new and emerging future needs
Source: https://www.tuck.dartmouth.edu/people/vg/

Discussion points
• Understanding what is changing
• Solving my boss’s problem
• Key emerging themes for information professionals
• The information profession today
• The near future
• CILIP’s evolving role
• Be prepared

IFLA Trends
New technologies will both expand and limit who has access to information
An ever-expanding digital universe will bring a higher value to information literacy
skills such as basic reading and competence with digital tools. People who lack
these skills will face barriers to inclusion in a growing range of areas.
The nature of new online business models will heavily influence who can
successfully own, profit from, share or access information in the future.
Source: http://trends.ifla.org/

IFLA Trends
Online education will democratise and disrupt global learning
The rapid global expansion in online education resources will make learning
opportunities more abundant, cheaper and more accessible. There will be
increased value on lifelong learning and more recognition of non-formal and
informal learning.
Source: http://trends.ifla.org/

IFLA Trends
The boundaries of privacy and data protection will be redefined
Expanding data sets held by governments and companies will support the
advanced profiling of individuals, while sophisticated methods of monitoring and
filtering communications data will make tracking those individuals cheaper and
easier. Serious consequences for individual privacy and trust in the online world
could be experienced..
Source: http://trends.ifla.org/

IFLA Trends
Hyper-connected societies will listen to and empower new voices and groups
More opportunities for collective action are realised in hyper-connected societies
— enabling the rise of new voices and promoting the growth of single-issue
movements at the expense of traditional political parties.
Open government initiatives and access to public sector data will lead to more
transparency and citizen-focused public services.
Source: http://trends.ifla.org/

IFLA Trends
The global information economy will be transformed by new technologies
Proliferation of hyper-connected mobile devices, networked sensors in appliances
and infrastructure, 3D printing and language-translation technologies will
transform the global information economy.
Existing business models across many industries will experience creative
disruption spurred by innovative devices that help people remain economically
active later in life from any location.
Source: http://trends.ifla.org/

Information professionals are uniquely placed to shape and lead
these changes and to help our users navigate them successfully
based on our professional skills and ethics.

Solving my boss’s problem
Managers, leaders & entrepreneurs face a common set of challenges
• How do I stay agile & make informed decisions in an ever-changing market?
• How do I enable my workforce to connect & share to drive growth?
• How do I break through information overload to reach my customers?
• How do I function effectively when there is so much knowledge to digest?
• How do I ensure people use best practice & manage risk?
Source: http://bonniecheuk.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/what-is-future-of-information.html

These are commonly presented as ‘IT’ or ‘digital’ problems. They
aren’t. They’re about people, information skills and ethics.

Future challenges
‘Information professional’ is not a mature brand
Concepts such as ‘information professional’, ‘information management’ and
‘information literacy’ are not well-understood outside of their specialist field.
In the future, we need everyone to have information skills in the same sense that
they have core skills & increasingly ‘digital’ skills.

Future challenges
Function is more important than form
We need to be defined more by our core purpose, ethos and values – and the
impact they deliver for our users - than by the specific context, format or medium
in which we are working.

Future challenges
User experience matters
Our services need to be defined around great customer service, anticipating and
adapting to meet user needs and the quality of the interfaces (physical and
digital) we provide.
We still need to deliver ‘traditional’ library & information skills, but without an
effective interface, these will continue to be devalued.

Future challenges
Market failure & the price of knowledge
The cost of content has outstripped our resources (and there is no mechanism to
align price to cost to value) but Open Access hasn’t (yet) reached the tipping
point beyond which it corrects for market failure.
We haven’t (yet) seen the fundamental disruption in the means of distributing
and re-using knowledge that has occurred in other sectors.

The information profession today...

Information professionals are an embedded workforce
Consulting/independent information professionals Prison
Further Education/Colleges Public
Government and Armed Forces Research
Health Care School
Social Care Special Collections
Higher Education (including LIS teaching staff) Industry (Extraction)*
Law Industry (Manufacturing)**
Museums, Archives, Galleries and Heritage Industry (Commercial Services)***
National Libraries Not working****
Not for profit/3rd sector/Charity Other
* Any extraction industries, for example: Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing, Mining, Quarrying
** Any Manufacturing industries, for example: Pharmaceutical, Aerospace, Automotive
*** Any commercial service industries: Business, Finance, Communications, Hospitality, Retail
**** Unemployed/Retired/Full-time Student/Career Break

59.4%
15.0%
5.5%
13.4%
6.7%
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
Libraries Archives Records Information
management
Knowledge
management
Approximately 87,000 people work in the information profession
Source: http://www.cilip.org.uk/about/projects-reviews/workforce-mapping

No longer defined by job title
Information
Professionals
Additional roles
Allied professions
Information
Managers
Records
Managers
Information
Rights
Knowledge
Managers
Librarians
Information
Architects
Archivists
Data
Managers
Transparency
Information
Assurance
Information
Designers
Copyright
Specialists
Researchers
Analysts
Web
Managers
Information
Risk
Information
Technology
Project
Managers
Statisticians
Communications
Economists
Historians

The library & information
workforce is 79% female and
21% male*
But 47% of top earners are men
* Source: 2015 CILIP Workforce Mapping

97% of the library and
information workforce self-
identify as white
(Compared to 88% in the overall
UK workforce)
* Source: 2015 CILIP Workforce Mapping

Approximately 45% of CILIP’s
current membership will reach
retirement age in the next 10
years (equates to broader sector
profile)
* Source: 2014 CILIP Membership Survey

“In the medium term, the information profession will experience a wave of
retirement. The ‘next generation’ effect will enable employers to address the age
and gender imbalance and further increase diversity in the sector.
Recent graduates bring new skills and a fresh perspective. While the job market
has been fairly static in recent years, the retirement wave will open up more
opportunities and instead of jobs for new entrants being hard to find, it could be
that we find ourselves by 2020 with too few professionals to fill the vacancies.”
ALIA ‘Future of Information Professionals’ Report (2014)

As the Chartered Institute for Library and Information Professionals,
CILIP is evolving to support our profession in meeting these
challenges.

CILIP’s Royal Charter
To work for the benefit of the public to promote education and knowledge
through the establishment and development of libraries and information services
and to advance information science (being the science and practice of the
collection, collation, evaluation and organised dissemination of information).

CILIP’s 2020 Objective
To put library and information skills and professional values at the heart of a
democratic, equal and prosperous society.

Key milestones
• New, better-value and more affordable CILIP Membership – January 2018
• UK Information Skills Strategy – 2019
• Manifesto support for the information profession – May 2020

CILIP Priorities
• Advocating for library & information skills & professional ethics
• Developing the library and information workforce for the future
• Delivering excellent member services
• Investing in innovation, standards and improvement
• Ensuring effective and efficient governance

CILIP Enablers
• Striving for equality and diversity in everything we do
• A modern, digital-by-default professional association
• Securing our future through an open, ethical business model
• Investing in a positive, healthy working culture
• Maintaining our commitment to partnership & collaboration
• Being an organisation that engages, listens and learns

CILIP Membership 2018
Consultation starts tomorrow!
A new, better-value, more affordable CILIP Membership Model designed to
support the changing nature and needs of today’s information professionals
• Simplified structure
• Open and inclusive
• More tailored benefits
• Better value for money
• Promotes professional development
• A strong ethical commitment
• A basis for growth
www.cilip.org.uk/membership2018 (holding page)

CILIP Policy Priorities 2020
Securing recognition of and support for information professionals in the 2020
General Election process
• Knowledge, data and information as assets
• World-leading innovation infrastructure
• Advanced skills workforce
• A society built on equality, opportunity and justice
Developing cross-departmental relationships to secure representation in all four
nations of the UK.

CILIP Workforce Strategy

As information professionals, you need to keep evolving, adapting,
innovating and advocating for the value and impact you deliver.

Be indispensible
• Be a strategic partner for your boss - help to resolve real problems
• Offer new perspectives and practical solutions
• Shape your organisation’s roadmap, practices and culture
• Be a trusted (and discreet) adviser to middle and senior managers
• Champion new ways of working and help others to see the value
• Partner with others to help them support their users
Source: http://bonniecheuk.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/what-is-future-of-information.html

Be prepared!
Aim for the top - decisions about library and information professionals are often
not made by library and information professionals. Whether you are in the public
or private sector, delivering social or economic value securing the future depends
on a generation of talented leaders with information skills
Develop your skills and network – a solid network and an up-to-date skillset
make you more resilient, agile and adaptable
Don’t be defined by a job title or sector – the future of the information
profession is built around transferable skills and portfolio careers
Support your colleagues – everyone is going through this at the same time.
Network, share, support the people around you and help them get on.

Embrace change
I believe the future for the information, library and knowledge profession is
exciting and vibrant with endless possibilities shaped by changing technology and
the changing needs of our users.
The challenge is to continue to grow and develop, learn, adapt and innovate.

Thank you!
Nick Poole
Chief Executive, CILIP
@CILIPinfo
@NickPoole1
www.cilip.org.uk
www.slideshare.net/cilip