A study on the development of Korean academic libraries' duty model based on the job analysis

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the jobs and duties involved in Korean academic libraries and to provide a clear picture of relative issues. This research will assist universities with the HR management and institutional development that are essential for appropriate role division, organizational diagnosis and rational reform, and increasing the expertise of librarians. Design/methodology/approach – All of the various duties being executed in academic libraries were identified. Korean academic libraries were requested to assist with the survey. Questionnaires were collected surveying the level of awareness of all the duties involved in the academic libraries and survey responses analyzed to determine the importance, difficulty, and professionalism of 189 library duties. Findings – Through this study, perceived levels of frequency, importance, and difficulty of duties related to academic libraries were surveyed and average values for each duty were compared and analyzed to formulate a duty model and action plan. Originality/value – This paper presents a basic library duty model reflecting the rapidly changing information technologies and information types of Korean academic libraries based on the job analysis. Through this process, university libraries will be able to optimize human resources management and achieve efficiency in organizational management, as well as creating materials to support education/training and performance management, thus ultimately helping with the rationalization of their operation.