Information Matters Special Issue on Professional Development

Aylin Imeri, Ruhr University Bochum, Germany
Kyrie Zhixuan Zhou, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, United States

Information Science scholars face a wide range of challenges, such as the increasing pace of technology development and interdisciplinary research. In this special issue (SI), we invited authors to share their professional development experiences and insights to provide inspiration and lessons learned for junior/early-career researchers and practitioners. Such resources are currently lacking and implicit.

Before diving into what professional development is all about, we thought it would be helpful to ask ChatGPT: What is not professional development?

 

“Professional development is not a one-time event or a single training session; rather, it is an ongoing process. It is also not solely focused on obtaining certifications or degrees without practical application. […] It does not replace the need for experience or
mentorship, nor is it a guarantee of career advancement without effort and engagement in the learning process.”
(GPT4o mini, August 11^th, 2024)

It’s not like there’s only one right time to start or one particular finish line to stop at. The goal is to keep yourself motivated and to be aware of the need to constantly develop and expand your skills and knowledge, no matter if you find yourself within academia or industry; if you are a professor or an undergraduate student.

Ten submissions in this SI on professional development reflected on personal professional development journeys by referring to some aspects of professional development within academia, education and industry. Professional development is a lot like a jigsaw puzzle — it’s made up of lots of different pieces: soft skills, volunteering, networking, career transitioning, navigating work and family responsibilities, among others.

The aim of this SI is to encourage readers to think critically about their own professional development and to take time to reflect on it. Are you looking for helpful insights? Or have you ever wondered what others are doing? Then this is the place for you.

Even if you’re already successful in your own professional development, you can go even further by sharing your experience and knowledge with others. It’s a win-win situation: you have a deeper understanding of your professional development trajectory, and they benefit from your expertise.

Jelina Haines’ contribution highlighted the importance of a strong network for lifelong learning. She emphasized that a support system is crucial, especially given the non-linear nature of the process. Professional development is not a journey to be taken alone; rather, it is important to find mentors and colleagues who support your growth. Professional development also has a lot to do with your own role, responsibilities and how you manage your relationships and network. It is not just about taking it; it is also about listening to others and sharing your experiences. Developing and maintaining strong support systems are both important.

Networking and to be brave can also unlock career opportunities within academia and industry. Lynn Silipigni Connaway shared her various transitions in professional development, from a librarian to a professor to a researcher in a for-profit company, and reflected on her diverse and multifaceted career. It is important for information professionals to learn, to adapt, to be a risk taker, and to be able to relate to people. With her own experience, Connaway emphasized listening, engaging, interacting, and connecting with people as well as technology and knowledge. She further provided suggestions for information professionals to develop relationship-building skills and to build professional networks. 

Sandy Hirsh highlights the power of personal and professional networks as she tells her own story of career development. While sharing her various transitions in professional development from academia (e.g.,  joining the faculty at the University of Arizona) to industry (e.g., Microsoft) and back to academia (San José State University), networking was one of the key aspects to unlock this opportunities. Networking and getting to know other colleagues and practitioners in our field is essential, especially if you also would like to learn more about a new topic and get to know the right people. These networks can open up new job opportunities. However, her professional development, which included attending conferences and networking events in industry, clearly showed that it does not have to be one (academia) or the other (industry). What matters is your professional network, where you feel you need to be, and your motivation to develop your network.

The information science field is growing and evolving constantly, necessitating soft skills from researchers and practitioners to thrive. With technologies evolving at an unprecedented rate in the Fifth Industrial Revolution, where machines interact with humans, information professionals find it harder to keep up with the latest technological developments and integrate them into their skill sets. This is further complicated by the lack of institutional support and the human nature resisting changes. Rexwhite Tega Enakrire emphasizes soft skills required to help one thrive in the 5.0 era, such as effective communication, interdisciplinary collaboration, and interpersonal skills. Most importantly, practicing multi-skilling and cross-skilling enables information professionals to stay efficient and become well-rounded experts to understand diverse perspectives. 

Soft skills are essential to Information Science, as it is a profession based on service to others and requires collaboration and cooperation within organizations and across specialties. Lisa Hussey underscored soft skills in Information Science, from communicating with end users to understand their information needs, to quickly adapting to new ways to access and transmit information, to efficiently handling people’s questions and challenges with time management skills. She further emphasized soft skills in the workplace, ranging from listening to others to better understand their point of view to offering conflict mediation. These soft skills help information professionals deliver the best possible services to increasingly diverse and complex users. 

Developing an understanding  for the point of view of others is also a crucial aspect when it comes to interdisciplinary research. In any field, whether in practice or academia, it is not uncommon to encounter individuals with differing opinions. This can be particularly challenging during an early career stage, such as when working as a research assistant or associate, or when receiving initial reviews as a newbie researcher. Tongrui Zhang provided several recommendations on how to deal with criticism in interdisciplinary research. In addition to asking where the criticism comes from, it is also important to learn to be prepared and to understand the publication venue, the readership of the publication and, most importantly, the reviewers’ background. 

It is getting obvious that professional development is not one or another. It does not need solely to be academia or practice. Timothy J. Dickey explains that in his own professional development, listening to the concerns and the needs of librarians and practicing information professionals affected how he developed solutions and asked the right questions. Professional development is not just about learning software, it is also about understanding the interpersonal relationships that frame one’s decision making. Dickey also gave recommendations on how to become a research-informed information practitioner considering the research-informed kind of professional development, from consuming information and keeping up to date to seeking networking opportunities to learn about different roles and challenges. 

In the various phases of life you might face different challenges during your professional development. Parenting is often an overlooked factor in assessing academic tenure. Elizabeth Hoiem shared how she worked toward tenure amidst child caring duties, the pandemic, and stereotypical cultural values placed on women and mothers. Challenges in coping with family responsibilities nudged her to develop writing habits that ultimately enhanced her ability to work effectively. Having successfully advocated for better child and elder care policies, including automatic tenure extension unless employees opt out, Hoiem encouraged all faculty to do so at their institutions.

As mentors or leaders, we often ask ourselves what skills students need to grow in their professional development. Crystal Fulton, Marta Bustillo, Mx Faye Carrie, Sara Forghani, Fearghal Keenan, and Alexa MacDermot from University College Dublin developed a self-paced online course to help students learn digital skills for success in the workplace, while working closely with them. It’s important to think about how you can learn together as mentors and teachers when you’re developing learning objects for professional development for students. It’s also a great idea to bring together different people with different perspectives to create content and think about the big picture. The materials are available to everyone as open educational resources.