A snapshot of the roles and qualifications of staff employed in Australian health library and information services in 2021.

Abstract

This paper presents research on the professional and para-professional employee roles and qualifications of the Australian health library and information services workforce. Long understood but not quantified, the complementary non-LIS (library and information science) qualifications held by health library staff in these institutions are also identified.

The results indicate that over 95% of staff who work in Australian health library and information services held ALIA LIS accredited qualifications. Over 70% of Australian health librarians held additional qualifications whilst nearly 10% of library technicians held additional qualifications.

Respondents indicated that their teams non-LIS qualifications were valued, but these were seen as complementary to LIS qualifications.