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Communication Skills for Personality Development in Library Profession

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 ISSN: 2321-8819 (Online)
Asian Journal of 2348-7186 (Print)
Impact Factor: 0.92
Multidisciplinary Studies Volume 3, Issue 6, June 2015

Communication Skills for Personality Development in Library Profession.

Paramjinang. Moita
Librarian
ICFAI University Nagaland, India
Abstract: Communication skills are extremely important for Librarians and Library Professionals, LIS
Professionals much continually update their knowledge about new communication techniques (ICT)
emerging everyday.LIS professionals communication skills must obtain information relating to the internal
and external environments of Library information science and should acquire the knowledge and skills such
as leadership, team building, management etc.
Keywords: Communication Skill, Personality Development, Library Profession

Introduction (1)The sender can encodes the message in

different way like by words, spoken or written, or
Communication is a process of exchange, i.e give
behaviour or body language etc. Which he or she
and take of information by message or otherwise.
feels best.
It is nothing, but the process of transferring
information from one person to another. (2)The message is sent via a channel so as to reach
the receiver. It could be through mass-media, print,
The word Communication begin from Latin word
or face to face interaction.
―commūnicāre,‖ meaning "to share"impart,
participate etc. Communication could be a concept, (3)The receiver decodes the message by
fact, idea, principle or theory. It's a purposeful interpreting the message through contextual and
activity of exchanging information and meaning language skills. He also sends a feedback.
across space and time using various technical or
(4)what are the after effects of your message.
natural means, whichever is available or preferred.
Communication skills : Communication is one of
Definition of communication:
the most important life skills we can learn—yet one
Leland Brown states that communication is the we don't usually put a lot of effort into. Whether
transmission and interchange of you want to have better conversations in your
facts,ideas,feelings,or course of action. social life or get your ideas across better at work,
Theo Haiemann states that communication is the  Communication skill is the ability an
process of passing information and understanding individual displays in effectively
from one person to another. It is the process of communicating with clients, colleagues,
imparting ideas and making oneself understood by subordinates, supervisors in a professional
others. manner.
Websters dictionary defines communication as  Communication skills are generally
sending, giving, or exchanging information and understood to be the art or technique of
ideas . Communication is a means of persuasion to using oral or written language.
influence the other so that the desired effect is
 Communication skills are also influenced
consciously or unconsciously achieved.
by culture, experiences, events, actions,
Allen Louis states that communication is the sum variety of technology etc.
of all the things one person does when he wants to
 There are different communication skills
create understanding in mind of another. it involves
for different events, for e.g-formal
a systematic and continuous process of
meetings, seminars, workshops,
telling,listening and understanding.
conferences, gatherings, classrooms,
The process of communication. presentations, etc.

 Sender or the Encoder  Communication skill is effected by radio,

T.V, newspapers etc. To support this
 Message itself various technologies have emerged like
 Receiver or the Decoder mobile phones, ipods, pagers, cameras,
multi medias, etc.
 feedback

Available online at www.ajms.co.in 64

Communication Skills for Personality Development in Library Profession.

 To use them various professionals have as every subordinate is important for carrying out
emerged, now a days library professionals their work efficiently for smooth running of library.
are trained towards these new user
Negotiating skills: These skills are required on
friendly technologies.
special occasions such as handling bulk purchases,
Communication in library profession: specialized databases subscription with vendors
etc. Also some times in delicate situations like
For today‘s librarians having professional degrees
library committee meetings or avoiding undue
in library and information science is not sufficient
requirements from arrogant users etc.
unlike in the past. There is demand for librarians
having multidimensional aptitude in the areas of Writing skills: The librarians are sometimes asked
technical work, administrative work and also in to submit/help in writing research proposal/
providing user oriented services along with soft business proposal/project report, which requires
skills. Like any other profession, the soft skills are good writing skills. Today there are many library
required in day-to-day working for carrying out professionals who are contributing to various
routine jobs more effectively. The librarians publications even in-house or even by blogging for
working in large organizations like corporate sharing their experiences and helping users.
offices are already practicing these skills through
Project management skills: In corporate sector
by experience or training. One may learn these soft
many times, librarians are part of some project
skills easily provided they are aware what these
team and assigned specialized jobs such as
are!!
knowledge management or digital institutional
repository. These require dedication, understanding
Following are soft skills required to become a
of the project, time management for completion of
successful library professional:
work, teamwork and reporting back the results etc.
Listening skills: The library professionals must
Presentation skills: The presentation skills are
have good listening skills as he/she has to interact
required in report writing, library committee
with different types of users all the time. By
meetings and even in daily work which represents
carefully listening to users‘ he/she can identify the
the library management overall for users. It not
exact requirement and then provide the service
only emphasizes the individual skills but also from
accordingly.
library presentation by means of its decoration,
Communications skills: Command on language users guides, and library ambience.
especially English and also regional one will Teaching skills: This is essential for new user
improve the communication. Good communication orientations or in case new service is introduced
skills also require understanding people, self- such as online database searching. It also includes
confidence. With this one can achieve lot and solve motivating reading habits in users.
problems too.
Communication Skills:
Interpersonal skills: Librarians have to deal with
In this knowledge environment, Librarian is the
all levels of people like Management, users,
facilitator of access between knowledge and the
colleagues in library, vendors etc. To deal with
user. No matter how much professional
each one on them in rightful manner requires
competence a librarian has, he will fail to deliver
interpersonal skills. When you work in large
and satisfy users if he lacks communication and
organization, it is most important to build rapport
presentation skills. The information professional
with all departments, which helps in managing the
will command respect and acceptance among users
library and providing better services to every one.
only through the strength of his communication
Public relations: One needs to use PR very skills. It is directly proportional factor. Librarians
effectively to attract users in libraries through needs to be as emphatic listener to user demands
various ways. It also helps to bond with users and and needs. He needs to communicate the
vendors too. Also gives ability to work with other importance and usefulness of information services
professionals. to the users. Librarian also needs to have a trusted
communication with team members to achieve
Customer service: Customer is library user and to
organizational goods.
satisfy his information needs is customer service.
The librarians are always giving attention to their Communication has a great importance in
users and providing services through CAS, SDI or providing better services to users. He
other specialized services. The customer service communicates the value of library service to
emphasizes the customer satisfaction, which decision makers, staff and users. When he provides
guarantees that user will always come back to information to the user he must communicate
library. clearly and respectfully with customers and
colleagues. Always Demonstrates active listening
Leadership skills & Teamwork: Library
skills with customers and colleagues in his
management especially the big library is team
workplace. Communication is not only must be
exercise. Hence it is required to have leadership
effective with users only but must have ability to
skills to manage and guiding the team time to time,

Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies, 3(6) June, 2015 65

Communication Skills for Personality Development in Library Profession.

negotiate effectively with publishers, customers,  Due to advancements of science and

management & vendors, Communication skill technology, profound changes are taking
includes lip reading, finger spelling, sign language. place in all fields and most important
It is also the ability to receive and express among them is the Educational field,
information. In library profession, certain Research and Development.
communication skills provide the base, where one
 Library and information science generates
needs to utilize and understand. Here,
required input on all fields in the form of
communication is best achieved through proper
knowledgeable manpower to utilize these
presentation skills.
resources.
Personality Development
 It is expected that the students,
Personality development is generally defined as researchers, teachers adopt the new
deeply ingrained patterns of thoughts, feelings and technologies and apply their skill and
behaviour. When one refers to personality, it knowledge in library profession.
implies to all what is unique about an individual
 Information science for library deals with
and a typical characteristics that makes one stand
selection, acquisition, processing, storage,
out in the crowd. The word personality is derived
organization, retrieval and dissemination
from the latin word ‗persona‘ which means mask.
of the information to the people, students,
The way a person behaves, thinks, feels, the researchers and teachers.
manner in which he conducts himself in a given
 Information and communication
situation is largely determined by conditioning his
technology has brought revolutions in the
mind through his personal life experiences.
field of library science.
Definition of personality development: Allport,
 Information science is broader than
(1980) defines personality as the dynamic
documentation because it is concerned
organization within the individual of those psycho-
with the entire information and transfer
physical systems that determine his or her unique
process.
adjustment to the environment.
 Librarians are regarded as information
Personality development is directly affected by
specialists and UNESCO identifies these
certain excellent behavioural traits like -soft skills,
professionals as information scientists.
verbal skills and to some extent non-verbal
communications.  The new paradigm of librarians is to assist
others in acquiring skills in locating,
Information science in library profession:
evaluating and variety of methods of
Information Communication Technology skills ICT information, presentation such as inter
has revolutionized the information handling active networks, multimedia, instruction
activities in library & information centre. It technology is also linked with web –
involves entire gamut of technology involved in based technology.
information processing, consolidation, repacking,
 Web-tracking is another very important
communication and retrieval. It is necessary that
component used by Library professionals
LIS professionals have a comprehensive
for collection of large amount of data and
understanding of Library automation, Networking,
can generate a variety of statistics, without
hardware and software involved. Though
the researches presence and without
knowledge about Internet and its usefulness is a
interrupting the information seekers.
must, Knowledge about online databases, digital
library softwares, search engines, portals, content  The library information service is now
management is very much essential. In a nutshell, fully automated, various kinds of
LIS professionals will have to keep themselves up education and training programmes,
to date with any developments in ICT that has any functions, services, activities, mission,
implication for knowledge management process. goals etc.
There are various tools available for Knowledge  The various technologies and its
management process. Some of the tools for application, communication skills has
knowledge Capture are PC Pack, Clementine Data enhanced the activities and functions for a
mining, and Intelligent Miner. Similarly some of true, modern librarianship.
the tools used for knowledge sharing process are
 A library professional should see to it that
ART Enterprise, GrapeVINE, PKM (Personal
the programmes are arranged in such a
Knowledge Manager), Knowledge Exchange,
way, so that the thought processes are in
etc.(Bansal, A. 2000). It is essential to get adequate
training and mastery over such tools for effectively accordance with the personal needs.
handling knowledge management activities.

Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies, 3(6) June, 2015 66

Communication Skills for Personality Development in Library Profession.

 Therefore, verbal communication  E-learning is thus the high-tech, net-

skill(face to face) is essential for enabled subset of the larger universe of
enhancing personality development. distance education of distributed learning.
 Communication skills in library e-journals
information sciences can make flexible
 Transformation from print to digital
learning arrangements where the users
environment. This has provided greater
make best use of new technologies, its
speed and economy.
practical application and e-learning
process so that they have a knowledge  Online data bases stand to benefit from
based personality. this technology.
 The increasing use of information  One can access it round the clock across
technology is changing the personality geographical barriers, it reaches all the
levels of professional so as to rethink and subscribers simultaneously.
re-adjust in library profession.
 Is a boon for huge campuses where there
 It is associated with certain personality are large numbers of readers.
problems-i.e. lack of connectivity between
teacher and learner, content and  Co-operation among libraries which
comes together to share journals
community.
electronically.
 Personality is affected because verbal
 They counter the escalating cost and
communication skills are totally missing.
library budget in availing print journals.
 Too much dependence on technology is
associated with serious personality  The U.G.C Infonet e-journal consortium is
problems. the largest in the world. It uses education
and research network(ERNET) and plays
 A person is totally devoid of natural and a vital role in providing better and free
social connections of which an individual access to scholarly information.
is a participating member.
Effects on personality development
E-learning:- The term e-learning is used in a
variety of ways such as online learning, Computer  Too much indulgence into e-learning
again deviates a persons personality
Based Learning (CBL) Web Based Training
pattern.
(WBT), Online Resource-Based Learning (ORBL)
Networked Collaborative Learning (NCL),  Knowledge skills are affected as there is
Computer Supported Collaborative Learning no direct relationship with the printed
(CSCL). world.
E-learning is the extension of classroom learning,  The touch and feel sense is missing.
here the emphasis is on making available the study
material at the convenience of the user.  It is important to develop a relationship
with the natural environment and effective
In today‘s world of information technology, communication skills can be implemented.
emergence of computers, access to electronic
media, advanced telecommunication systems, multi Management of libraries
media, audio-visuals has created new possibilities  Management has come to occupy a
of digital information. prominent place for a library professional.
Information today has increased enormously, so This is due to the fact that libraries have
that no library can meet their needs alone. become bigger and more complex.

Now, libraries and information science are  A library professional needs to develop
effectively linked through net-work services, e- good communication skills and
mail, online access, soft ware and hard ware personality to be an effective manager.
systems etc. Library managers
 Computers and communication  The manager is the key communicator of
technology now a days increasingly rely library policies.
on resource sharing through electronic
media for achieving high speed access,  Responsibilities for their correct
reducing time to search information, interpretation rests with management.
shorter storage space, finding simple  They constantly demonstrate through
means for selecting materials and time various communication channels so that
reduction. their resources are being effectively and
efficiently utilized.

Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies, 3(6) June, 2015 67

 Communication Skills for Personality Development in Library Profession.

 An effective manager will clearly update their knowledge about the new
communicate to the subordinates, what is communication techniques emerging every day
expected of them and what they are (IT). The LIS Professionals communication skills
responsible, for feedback must play an must obtain information relating to the internal and
important role. external environments of library information
science.
 A library manager transmits information
through decision making role, Thus, the LIS Professionals of the 21st century have
entrepreneurship, resource allocation to prepare themselves for working in digitized
through effective inter-personal network environment and should acquire
communication skill so as to obtain and knowledge and skills such as communication,
impart information. leadership, team building, decision making,
management etc. and they should keep themselves
Conclusion
abreast with the information world and be
Library is the pivot of the educational system. competent enough to serve the digital culture. A
Communication skills are extremely important for library professional must maintain good and a
librarians and information professionals. The very strong collaborative relationship with the users.
nature of the Library and Information Science Librarians are the ultimate search engines. Thus,
Professionals job requires them to assess select, They are the glue that binds successful, efficient
process and disseminate the information through and excellent library services to the user.
verbal and non-verbal ways. it must be able to
Therefore, communication skills and information
communicate to a large number of people, whose
are directly linked with personality development in
communication skills both as senders and receivers
library profession.
differ widely. LIS Professionals must continually

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Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies, 3(6) June, 2015 68

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