Library and Information Science (LIS) Education in the 21st Century: Emerging Skills for a Changing World.

The LIS professionals are the bridge between information resources and the readers because of the skill they possessed. In the library, resources are acquired and processed based on rules and regulations of the profession. And these rules and regulations do not come in rosy way. They are acquired from the academic world where the skills are being taught, to handle library information resources in a way that users can easily access them. The core skills traditionally associated with library/information science include information handling skills - cataloguing, classification, indexing, enquiry work and user education training skills with facilitating skills and evaluation skills. An information professional can possess a variety of these skills, depending on the sector of the library in which the person is employed. Some essential 21st century changing cross-sector skills are: IT skills, such as word-processing and spreadsheets, digitization skills, and conducting internet searches, together with skills in digitization, loan systems, databases, content management systems, and specially designed programmes and packages. Also the available soft skills include skills such as negotiating, conflict resolution, and time management, which are useful for all interactions at a workplace. In the innovative age of information science and technology, it is crucial for librarians to possess the necessary competencies for working in a specialized workplace, where the equipment and the clients' needs are changing rapidly. Thus, LIS education should incorporate the modern informationprocessing skills for verity of the profession in a changing world of the 21st century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]