Needed soft skills and their status: Self-perceptions of university information professionals

The study aimed to assess the self-perceptions of university information professionals regarding the status of their soft skills. The survey method, using a questionnaire as data collection instrument, was employed to achieve the objectives of this study. The population was information professionals working in all the central libraries of the public sector general universities in Pakistan. The findings, based on 372 responses, revealed that information professional perceived themselves ‘competent’ in overall soft skills. The values of mean score further revealed that they considered themselves ‘competent’ enough in performance management skills, interpersonal skills, and political/cultural skills, while ‘moderately competent’ in communication/persuasion skills and self-management skills. The findings established need for training in this regard. To improve various soft skills, Library and Information Management education at Master level should include courses on soft skills. Moreover, training on soft skills is also required for in-service information professionals.