Workforce skills in the 21st century: Developing the new skills and competencies.

Libraries, archives and information services are working in an era of enormous and rapid change. They must develop and respond to these changes if they are to continue to have a vital role in the 21st century. Developing the workforce, which can form more that half of the costs of running a library, is vital if the necessary changes are to be achieved. To assist with this, National Occupational Standards are being developed within the United Kingdom to define the competencies and skills libraries, archives and information services workers at all levels will need. These will help employers not only with training and development, but also other human resource issues to ensure that they have the right staff, in the right place, at the right time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]